How to detect UV reflective cloth?

[j-p]

It's not just what colors your prey can see but what colors their frequent neighbors can see as well.
If that stag of a lifetime suddenly sees a spooked raven; or he suddenly hears the jays raising hell with someone; or his security heron is peculiarly absent - well.
   Sometimes it doesn't matter what colors the stag can see, as long as he recognizes a natural neighbor and can recognize that his neighbor is alarmed.
   He might not see you, but he's just as gone.

[TaterHill Archer]

A black light will not give you the whole picture on UV reflection.  You'll need a UV light to tell for sure about UV reflection by your clothes.

[Curtiss Cardinal]

Very simple does it look bright and shiny on a cloudy day? Was it washed in any commerically available laundry detergent? They all have UV brighteners in them. Doubt my cloudy day test?
Go to wally world buy two dark green or black tees.
Wash one in any regular detergent and the other in sport wash or hunter's specialties or other none UV brightening deteregent and on a really cloudy day take them outside and you'll see the difference for yourself.

[Dave2old]

There are several different topics being discussed here: deer vision for blue, deer vision for hunter orange, and deer vision for UV. I'd have to dig to find them, but have read studies showing that deer (the entire family, including elk) appear to distinguish bright blue, i.e. "royal" blue esp. in large shiny garments and low light, like rainsuits. Duller and darker blues don't elicit the same response. Bears too seem capable of distinguishing royal blue, according to both studies and anecdotal reports from field biologists and others.

John N: Deer tails are white, and elk rumps are light, for what Dr. Geist and other experts refer to as "herd cohesion." You're feeding or running through a darkish forest and want to be able to stay with the rest of the group without vocalizing or watching them constantly, so you just glance at the beige rump or white tails in front of you. Of course, this basic evolutionary adaptation has been further refined in such as whitetails and pronghorns (not in the deer family) to signal various stages of alert and alarm, and of course to say to bowhunters, "Adios sucker! You lose again!" dave

[zyrotec]

Last fall I wondered if I could take a picture in UV. I made a visible light filter out of an incandescent black light. You need to have a good source of UV light (The Sun) to get a picture, but the results are pretty amazing for about 5 bucks. Just break the bulb carefully to create a quarter sized chunk of glass (Use needlenose pliers and safety goggles). Tape is to a piece of cardboard with a hole cut out and fold the cardboard back to block out as much light as possible. Hold the filter in front of a digital camera while taking a picture.

Below are a couple of pictures I took of the brand new coveralls my wife got me.