I've never called it a "dork-vest" but I've spent the better part of the last 15 years in one for my day job as a land/construction surveyor and I can say without a doubt that they have kept me safe from countless deadly encounters with traffic, heavy equipment and the likes in all sorts of environments like freeways, construction sites, airport and military base runways, mines, ect.
Yep. As a journeyman electrician, I wore one at Intel every time I worked outside (which wasn't that often). I coined the term "Dork Vest" because I think they tend to be over worn. Insurance underwriters now rule the world. So the result is over-safety-ing everything. I'm all for safety. But when you're alone out in the middle of nowhere taking survey data, vest, boots and hard-hat are a bit ridiculous.
The best thing I ever heard from a safety lemming; "Own your own safety." And "own it" I do. I don't let anybody own it for me. If there's a danger to my feet, I wear boots. If there is danger to my head, I wear a hard hat. I almost always wear leather gloves and always wear goggles when working with compressed air or any rotating mass. I guess that's why I haven't worked for anybody since 2001. I refuse to assume that my feet, head, hands and eyes are perpetually in danger at all times. The insurance underwriter doesn't own my safety. I do.
I was written up at Intel for standing on the top rung of a 3' ladder. Not the TOP of the ladder, mind you, but the top rung, which was 23" off the ground. That was the last straw. I was gone within a week. Now I own my own safety and manage my own risk. But I digress....
As a bonus they do tend to add a sense of being "official" but that can be good or bad depending on where you are. If your in an urban, high traffic setting you get dismissed right away because people think you belong wherever you are for some reason."
Fortunately, as pilots, we can launch our birds from almost anywhere. If you're like me (and I'm sure you are), you launch away from people, buildings, wires, etc. That said, it was difficult to find a peaceful space down town where nobody would bug me. I did find manage to find a small space, but it was the only means of egress for the cars to the West.
Surrounded by metal fencing, I was concerned for my bird's compass, so I launched and landed directly in middle of my area, which worked well.
At one point, some 100-year-old lady pulled in my area by accident and spent 20 minutes K-turning her way out. Apparently "backing out" wasn't an option.
I don't know where the hell she thought she was going, but it was at that point I felt glad to have my highly-visible dork vest around this lady with questionable judgment, questionable eyesight, and a complete lack of driving skills. She backed into the construction fence like 5 times. She did literally a dozen K-turns to get out of there.
Take the same vest into a suburban neighborhood and everyone seems to stop and ask more questions because they worry about their road being worked on or what's going to be changing.
Very true. I was doing a traffic analysis gig last year. I decided to launch from a residential neighborhood. Everyone who walked by (dog walkers - LOTS of them) asked me what I was doing. Everyone was friendly. In this case, I think the dork vest doesn't necessarily make me "invisible," but, as you pointed out, makes me look "official."
All 'round, the dork vest is one of my favorite tools in my aerial arsenal.
D
