spyderco signal mirror

[Fireman]

Anyone ever do a mirror polish on a FFG blade and use the spyderco hole for an emergency signal mirror? Thinking of doing this to a few of my knives like the millie and the Spyderchef. When the Wildfire knife comes out, I will definitely do that to one. We work with a lot of aircraft on wildland fires.

https://youtube.com/shorts/WDzsqJ1zYAQ?feature=share

[Doc Dan]

I had forgotten how to do that. Thanks. Too many years since the Boy Scouts.

I guess a highly polished Spyderco would work for that, assuming the steel will take the polish. Some steels seem to do better than others with polishing.

[Fireman]

I can’t help but see that with a FFG and a hole that this would be a great thing to do if you backpack or have a need to signal in an emergency or just to have as a back up communication tool. Polished H1, LC200N or Magnacut would be the most intriguing me.

[Evil D]

Great idea for a backpacking knife. You could even do this on a mule, I don't have mine on hand but the hole should be big enough and it gives more real estate for shiny steel.

[Coastal]

Excellent idea! Perfect for a boating knife. H1 takes a nice, shiny, high polish. A high polish is much less likely to corrode regardless of the steel but, man, a Salt steel with a high polish would be awesome.

[Osok-308]

That's a great idea for a woods/survival knife. My compass has a mirror, so I always figured I'd use that if I were in a pinch, but having multiple signal mirrors isn't a bad idea. I don't have a lot of eclectic with polishing knives though. Honestly, I've always been one for finishes to prevent reflection. But I'll probably do this to a hunting knife in the event that something crazy happens while I'm in the woods.

[Fireman]

I think it would be a great option coming from the factory. Knife modders can do it for you. Spyderco is the perfect company to do this. My buddy on the Heletack crew has the Automomy and I bet he would have loved this option. If your radio goes wonky, it would be comforting to know you could signal. There could be a knife designed from the ground up to specialize in this utility. I’ll wait for Spyderco to contact me if interested in a special design

[Fireman]

That's a great idea for a woods/survival knife. My compass has a mirror, so I always figured I'd use that if I were in a pinch, but having multiple signal mirrors isn't a bad idea. I don't have a lot of eclectic with polishing knives though. Honestly, I've always been one for finishes to prevent reflection. But I'll probably do this to a hunting knife in the event that something crazy happens while I'm in the woods.

I have some ideas for this if Spyderco is interested. I get that sometimes you don’t want to be seen like in hunting or military purposes but there are ways to make it work.

[Fireman]

I have LC200N and magnacut. Maybe I should see how well they polish up. I don’t have H1 but we know how well that polishes up. I am sure the other two would be at least functional.

[Osok-308]

That's a great idea for a woods/survival knife. My compass has a mirror, so I always figured I'd use that if I were in a pinch, but having multiple signal mirrors isn't a bad idea. I don't have a lot of eclectic with polishing knives though. Honestly, I've always been one for finishes to prevent reflection. But I'll probably do this to a hunting knife in the event that something crazy happens while I'm in the woods.

I have some ideas for this if Spyderco is interested. I get that sometimes you don’t want to be seen like in hunting or military purposes but there are ways to make it work.

Honestly, the reflection doesn't bother me for hunting now, considering this would be in my pocket ~98% of the time.

[Christian Noble]

If that’s all you’ve got, absolutely use it.

However, it will not come close to a plate glass signal mirror with an actual sighting system. Metal or even plastic-made signal mirrors don’t have the resolution of plate glass; also, both metal and plastic lose their luster.

If you are going to be in the back country, I strongly suggest you carry and practice with a plate glass signal mirror. A good way to practice is using a reflector some distance out and hit it with the sighting system. Compare it to a dedicated plastic signal mirror (or compass) or metal mirror and you will see the difference immediately in brightness returned in the reflector — not even close. Also, that sighting system is critical to hit a target at a distance, especially when having to redirect the sun at a large angle.

[Fireman]

Thanks for the thoughtful post. This reminds me of the 9mm on you is better than the 45 in the truck. Lots of people EDC a pocket knife but not a signal mirror. Anything of importance, I have back ups for. If you could add some utility or safety with just a change of finish, that is cool imho