Mirror's my name, signal mirrors my game

[Mirror]

My hobby is signal mirrors - I teach the Boy Scouts how to use and make them, I research their history, I collect them, I test them and provide feedback to manufacturers, and I help out with the Boy Scout annual peak-peak signal mirror event: Operation On-Target

Age: When I was in Boy Scouts, they sold the steel signal mirror with the hole in it.
Gender: Male
Location: On a hill in Southern California with a 100+ mile view
Occupation: Engineer
Relevant Training: Umm .. was in the Boy Scouts?
The Nature of Your Prior Experience: 14 times Operation On-Target, have signaled 70 miles with signal mirror (size unlimited), 44 miles with 3"x5" mirror, 19 with 2"x3" mirror.
Your Level of Experience: Signal Mirror: expert/instructor. Anything else - rank novice.

Your Preparedness Planning: EDC - signal mirror, whistle, knife, flashlight.

Your Interests and Hobbies: Mirrors, Mirrrors, photography.
Your Membership and Learning Objectives:Teach about signal mirrors, collect news stories of successful use (and unsuccessful).

Hmmm ... since the forum is linking "signal mirror" (at least for me) to an Amazon link for the "Ultimate" StarFlash (which I have admittedly bought and used),
I suppose that I should point out that while that is a good mirror, I'd generally recommend the Rescue Flash over the StarFlash in the 2"x3" polycarbonate signal mirror class (because the mesh aimer is easier on my eyes), and that while my EDC mirror is the Rescue Flash, if I'm going out of earshot of civilization, I take a Coghlan's 9902 2"x3" glass and a 3"x5" MIL-M-18371E mirror.
(in addition to, usually, two cell phones, one or two ham radios, and a companion with same, plus SPOT).

Also, since people are forever mentioning CDs, and I have successfully used one at 11 miles range, it is infinitely easier to hit your target with a retroreflective aimer signal mirror.

three_mirrors.jpg

[crashdive123]

Hello and welcome.

[Pennsylvania Mike]

Hello and welcome from Pennsylvania.

[Rick]

Welcome home.

[Wise Old Owl]

Mirror - with all that why would you take a spot?

[hunter63]

Hunter63 saying Hey and Welcome.

[1stimestar]

Welcome from Alaska. Those are pretty impressive distances.

[Mirror]

Mirror - with all that why would you take a spot?

Because the mirror, cell phone, and ham radio are all essentially "line of sight". If I reach my destination on the top of the peak - no problem. True, there often isn't cell service there (though I try to have cell phones from Sprint, Verizon AND AT&T), but I'll have Scout groups with ham radios on five other peaks in line of sight who are expecting me to call in, and listening on our frequency. I'm heavy on the RF comms because they aren't solely for low-probability emergencies - my nominal task is to communicate to the other groups. If I can't do that, I've failed in my primary goal for the trip.

However, if our jeep rolls off the road into a canyon and breaks our legs, we can't get word out to potential rescuers until they come looking for us. If they don't know to look for us, and/or don't know where, that's a problem. They can be looking in the next canyon over, and not doing us any good. I need them to get within line of sight of us. That's where SPOT (or better yet, a PLB) comes in.

The "old-school" solution for that problem (which we also use) is the "hiking plan". You plan out your route meticulously, and stick to it. You then leave a copy with a trusted person, with instructions to raise the alarm if you don't get back in time. You also include descriptions of your party and their resources (such as the fact we have ham radios, what frequency we'd use/monitor, and the fact that we have signal mirrors and whistles and plan to use them). That way, when the search party gets within line of sight, they know what to monitor for. If you have contingency routes, try to add them to the map, and communicate them to a trusted party when you make that decision. I also "report in" to my trusted party (wife) when I reach each "checkpoint" (entering wilderness, reached peak, leaving peak, leaving wilderness), and my companion does the same (more freely, since he has SPOT vs. my cell phone(s)).

The forum still won't let me post URLS, but if you Google for "hiking plan" or "hiking trip plan", you can see several examples, many from Search and Rescue (SAR) organizations. They typically have a good checklist of useful info that the SAR group wants to know about the people they are looking for.

One thing about Hiking Plans - you will note that the SAR groups are asking you to do this to help them find you if they need to. Help the SAR folks help you! If there's anyone whose job you want to make easier, it is the people who will be trying to save your life when you are lost, injured, and in mortal danger!

The boating equivalent of the "hiking plan" is the "float plan", and the US Coast Guard has a form for that. As a plug for my obsession: if you look on the USCG float plan in the Safety & Survival section, the checkbox in the first column, 5th row is "Signal Mirror"

You can the Gmap4 free topo map site to draw your route on, and/or draw the route out on Google Maps or Google Earth or the like.

[Faiaoga]

thank you for your information. While I have a signal mirror, I am not sure that I know how to use it properly and to direct a signal towards a specific point. I hope you can help provide information to us amateurs

[Mirror]

Thanks for the welcomes. When will I be able to post URLs? (on some other boards, it is 7 days from first posting).

Welcome from Alaska. Those are pretty impressive distances.

Yes, that's what got me interested in signal mirrors in the first place. I'm hoping to break 100 miles (with a 12"x12" mirror tile) some day.

Of course, a cloud overhead stops you dead, and fog/mist/smog/smoke/haze really cut your range, but with sun and clear air, the (1830's !) rule of thumb with relatively high sun is that a flash from a square mirror that is "x" inches on a side is 10 miles times "x" (20 miles for a 2"x2" mirror). If your glass mirror has N square inches of reflecting surface, your naked-eye range should be 10*sqrt(N), or ~39 miles for a 3"x5" mirror. Of course "visible" isn't the same as "blindingly obvious" - the bigger the mirror, the brighter the flash. On the other hand, under 5 mile range, the flash from a 3"x5" mile is heading towards painful.

The formula above is actually conservative - we've signaled 45 miles naked-eye both ways with a 3"x5" glass mirror on each end (more than the 39 miles promised by the formula).

Other factors affect range - you lose range for less reflective materials (metal, plastic), and curved surfaces. You gain range if the angle between your target and the sun is small, or the receiver is using optical aids (binoculars, telescope, etc.).

The double-edged part of the extreme reach of a signal mirror is that the same effect that gives it great range also means that it is hard to hit targets at long range with the beam.

The great range of a flat signal mirror is due to the narrow beam - roughly 0.54 deg in diameter - the apparent size of the full moon, or of Lincoln's head on a penny held at arm's length.

With a narrow beam, the energy remains in a small cone at long range (50 ft diameter at a mile), but it also means the beam center must be within 0.54/2 = 0.27 degrees of the target. Couple that with the fact that any angular movement of your hand moves the beam by twice that angle, and holding the beam from a handheld mirror on a long range target is a real challenge. (Ironically, the fact that tremors in your arm are moving the beam so much increases your odds that you are occasionally hitting your target.).

This aiming problem is why a true signal mirror isn't just a mirror - it is a mirror with some sort of aiming aid to help you hit the target. Sure - the USAF teaches the "V-finger" method, and I've made that work many times, but that method is a lot trickier than any of the online training videos I've seen would have you believe, and even if you are good at it, a tyro with a retroreflective aimer mirror will do better than you.

The US government put a lot of work into the aiming problem in WWII - six generations of signal mirror were developed and deployed from 1942 to 1949, each considered a significant enough improvement to replace the prior generation.

1. Chrome-plated brass disk without aimer (pre-war to early 1943)
2. Double-sided metal mirror with circular hole in center(early 1943)
3. Double-sided glass mirror with cross-shaped hole (ESM/I, 1943)
4. Glass mirror with central window and retroreflective tab (M580A, 1944)
5. Glass mirror with flush perforated retroreflective material (B-1, 1945)
6. Glass mirror with retroreflective mesh aimer (Mark 3, 1949)

US military issue mirrors since 1950 have been either Type 6 glass mirrors with retroreflective mesh aimers (Howard Glass MIL-M-18371E today) or Type 5 polycarbonate mirrors (StarFlash).

We teach the Scouts to make their own Type 5 or Type 3 signal mirrors - put the quoted string: "BSA Operation On Target" into Google, and click on the 'Mirrors" sublink to learn how.

Good, readily available commercial Type 6 signal mirrors are:

1. Howard Glass MIL-M-18371E mirror (3"x5" or 2"x3") at Best Glide and elsewhere (Current military issue)
2. Coghlans glass 2"x3" Survival Signal Mirror No. 9902 ($9.95 online at Walmart)
3. Battle Systems glass 2"x2" signal mirror (manufactured by Howard Glass)
4. Adventure Medical Kits plastic SOL Rescue Flash (2"x3" or 1.5"x3") [New old stock - they lost their mesh supplier]

Beware of any other apparent glass mesh signal mirrors, most of them have non-functional grids ( Google: "Phony Glass Signal Mirrors"), though the (no longer manufactured) mirrors from SafeSport, Rescue Reflectors and Vector I are all fine.

Save for the DIY Scout mirrors, all the Type 5 mirrors on the US market that I can recall are plastic - the ones I like are:

1. StarFlash (3"x5" and 2"x3") (Issued to US military and US Coast Guard)
2. Adventure Medical Kits plastic SOL Rescue Flash (2"x3" or 1.5"x3") [current manufacture]
3. ACR HotShot Signal Mirror

The new Type 5 aimer in the SOL Rescue Flash is similar to that in the glass JFG2 signal mirror used by the (mainland) Chinese Air Force (side-by-side photo attached)

JFG2_vs_Rescue_Flash_small.jpg

[Mirror]

thank you for your information. While I have a signal mirror, I am not sure that I know how to use it properly and to direct a signal towards a specific point. I hope you can help provide information to us amateurs

Technically, I'm an amateur, too - it's all volunteer work.

It will be easier when I can post links, but to get started - hopefully your signal mirror has a retroreflective aimer.

These instructions only cover using a signal mirror with a retroreflective aimer.

If your mirror does not have a retroreflective aimer, let me know what type it is and I'll cover that type.

However, if you're going to carry a signal mirror, I highly recommend that you get one with a retroreflective aimer. I gave a long list of candidates in my last message, plus a hint on getting to DIY instructions. For practice and actual carry, I suggest the Coghlans glass 2"x3" Survival Signal Mirror No. 9902 ($9.95 online at Walmart, shipping free if you choose local pickup). That's also the one recommended by the former Survival Training Director at the United States Air Force Academy.[1]

I like the Coghlans 9902 because it isn't prone to scratching[2], it is bright, and there is no better aiming mesh in the market. [3] There's some old stock out there with the metal grommet - if there's any chance of it getting dunked in water, get one w/o the grommet - it is watertight.

There are two great illustrated tutorials on the web that step you through the use of a retroreflective aimer signal mirror - put the text inside the square brackets below into the Google Search box:

1. ["Using the Rescue Flash Signal Mirror"] { By Douglas S. Ritter, the designer of the original Rescue Flash mirror }
2. ["signal mirror instructions" flickr ] ( a nice printable instruction sheet ). { I've attached one of the versions posted there, but it is higher resolution at Flickr}

I've also attached a photo of the instructions on the back of the original 1949 US military mirror - the instructions on the back of the current mirrors are pretty much identical.

signal_mirror_instructions_cc_by.jpg1949_mark_3_instructions_s.jpg

First, one safety point - when you practice, set things up so you don't flash anybody in the eyes, especially those driving motor vehicles, bicycling or walking. At short range (and 100 yards is plenty short range with signal mirrors) these are dazzling, and you don't want to be responsible for an accident. Also, when you are starting out, the reflected beam is likely to go all over the place.

Until you get the hang of it (and even after) it is handy to have a practice target that lets you know when you hit it - a reflective target that will "light up" when you hit it. A convenient target is the reflective license plate that many states issue. Just make sure that your target license plate is on a parked car, with no moving traffic in sight. At ranges up to 100 yards, the flash will be quite visible - likely even through the "fireball", but in any event visible in your free eye. (For a really hardcore target, get a retroreflective cube prism - the return flash will "burn through" the "fireball" at a mile. That's what I use to train Scouts. A "peanut prism" goes for under $20 on Ebay with shipping. Don't flash it at ranges under 300 yards, though - you'll be seeing afterimages. )

[1] Google for his article: "Signal Mirrors – an often under appreciated piece of your survival gear" by Peter Kummerfeldt. Vector I was bought out by Coghlan's, and Rescue Reflectors is no longer in business.
(good signal mirrors, though - I have two of each model they made).
[2] Sure, I take good care of it, put it back in the foam case when not using it, and clean it with eyeglass cleaning cloth and solution. However, since it is glass, I can clean it without scratching it.
[3] If want something smaller and lighter (like I do for EDC), get the Rescue Flash (mesh-style, if you can find it). Take extreme care to avoid scratching it, and remember to peel off the protective film from front (and often back!) before using it. The one I carry is in a package that has never been opened (I cut down the package). Myself, I bought two - one to practice with and get good with, and one to keep pristine in the box for emergencies.

[Phaedrus]

Welcome, Mirror!

[pete lynch]

URLs are allowed after 10 posts. You cant post URLs promoting your business in a post but you can in your signature.

[Rick]

Here's a trip plan I posted a couple of years ago.

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ight=trip+plan

[Mirror]

URLs are allowed after 10 posts. You cant post URLs promoting your business in a post but you can in your signature.

Thanks! I'll ditch my plan to be quiet for a week in hopes it was a "7 day" thing link on other boards <grin>!

[Mirror]

Here's a trip plan I posted a couple of years ago.

< see Rick's post above for the link>

Thanks! I like the entry with the radio + channel monitored bit, and the cell phone number, both of which give SAR a way to try to contact you or listen for you.

Also, a lot more detail than the other forms I've seen.

One other thought - when setting out, take a "selfie" of the group with a cell phone and send it to the trusted party. If you get in trouble, they can forward it to the searchers, and the "description" part is well covered.

Since a memory photo of the group is something people are likely to be interested in anyway, this is a low impact way to make a good description of the party available.

[Batch]

Look forward to your contributions Mirror.

[MrFixIt]

Welcome from GA!