We live in BC, which means for a significant part of the year we’re travelling to and from school, sports, and activities in the dark. Or at the very least, in the rain – the seemingly non-stop grey and gloom of our beloved temperate rainforest.
As we say goodbye to summer and welcome the rain clouds with a resigned sigh, we need to ensure our kids are visible, especially when conditions are less than ideal. If I could, I would send my kids out into the world wearing head-to-toe fluorescent and light-up helmets. But what my kids wear isn’t 100% my decision anymore. They have their own opinions and want to make their own style choices. They are fashion while I am all about function.
Zapped Outfitters is a Canadian company inspired by our dark winters. Founded by Scarlet Kux-Kardos, Zapped Outfitters makes covert reflective gear for elementary school-aged kids that’s waterproof, resilient, and visible at night. Their custom-designed fabric is embedded with glass beads, making each item fully reflective, without looking like safety gear. In fact, the reflective print on Zapped gear works the same way that high-visibility reflective tape works, and in a very similar manner to the paint used on street signs and road markers. You can send your kids out into the world feeling cool in their stylish, urban active-wear and breathe easy knowing they’re actually decked out in gear with retroreflection properties.
Excuse me while I adjust my science hat.
Retroreflection occurs when a significant amount of reflected light is returned directly to the original light source, e.g. a car’s headlights. When headlights hit Zapped’s reflective material, the millions of microscopic glass beads that make up the Zapped custom print refract the light and the silver paint underneath becomes light reflecting. Your child becomes very visible to the driver of the car is what I’m saying.
Zapped provides all the essentials: kid’s shoes with reflective material for safety, reflective backpacks, fully reflective rain jackets, and cool kids’ ball caps. Each item is designed with an edgy style for rugged active play with impressive abrasion resistance, breaking strength, and water repellency so kids can play hard and be seen.
We received the Zapped reflective backpack and ball cap to review. At first glance, their charcoal exteriors with black and yellow accents give an edgy vibe. According to Grady, the Zapped logo is “so cool,” but I know he hasn’t seen anything yet. We turn off the lights and snap a picture with my camera’s flash turned on. The back pack and hat light up, the print fully illuminated. It’s magical. It blows Grady’s mind. “That’s SO AWESOME,” he yells. When Shawn gets home from work Grady asks me to show him the magic light trick. I feel like Fun Mom (a feeling I’m not used to) and try not to blurt out the safety features and reveal my secret: this is cool gear, it is fun gear, but it is also safe gear. I fail, of course, but Grady doesn’t care. He’s too busy taking pictures with my phone to listen to my explanation of reflectors and the speed of light.
Zapped Outfitters’s tagline is: Play Hard / Be Seen. To celebrate their launch, they’ve partnered with backpackbuddies.ca, which helps fill children’s backpacks with food items for the weekend when other food programs are unavailable, and rubensshoes.com, which donates shoes to kids in developing countries who might otherwise miss school due to a lack of footware. A portion of proceeds from shoe and backpack sales will be donated to both organizations to help all kids play hard and been seen for the incredible tiny humans they are.
Use code HILLARY20 to receive 20% off your purchase on zappedoutfitters.com. Not valid on in-store purchases.
{Disclosure: I received Zapped Outfitters product in exchange for this review; all opinions stated are my own.}