I need a good signaling mirror without a sighting hole to check my eyes and back etc. Basically an unbreakable mirror. The stainless steel cheapos are out of the question. Any recommondations?

"good signaling mirror without a sighting hole" is somewhat self-contradictory.

I would wonder if the mirror on a compass would work for your purposes. There is a hole, but it is on the side of the mirror. Most compass mirrors are glass, but they are typically fastened securely inside the top cover of the compass and are very unlikely to break. I have carried compasses of this type for decades and have never broken one, or even heard on one breaking, for that matter. I would think that if you did break a compass mirror, you have been involved in major trauma and would be dealing with very significant problems.

Go to a pet store and look at the mirrors that are meant to be hung in the cages of pet birds such as parrots and cockatoos. These mirrors which come in various sizes are extremely tough and are much better then any of the "survival" mirrors that you can buy.

I'm going to take a guess at what you want, but if I'm wrong, please clarify.

I'm guessing the reason you don't want a "stainless steel cheapo" because they are either not flat enough to start with to give a good image, or they bend too easily to stay that way.

The mirrors that I regard as "good" stainless steel mirrors are those that are flat enough to give an undistorted image, and either thick enough, or elastic enough, to stay that way. This is important for medical self-check purposes so you can tell what you are looking at, and for signaling, so that the sun reflection is a concentrated, brilliant beam.

There are several stainless steel mirrors that meet that criterion (the US Coast Guard approved 4"x5" Datrex and "Mayday Mirror" mirrors, the Soviet 2"x3"issue signal mirrors, and the www.survival-spanish.com 2"x3" metal mirror) but they all have central sighting holes, because you can aim the flash from mirrors with a sighting hole much more accurately than from those without. All four types of signal mirror described in the the US Coast Guard specification for signal mirrors have aiming holes, as do all US, British, Canadian, French, Italian, German, Russian, and Chinese issue signal mirrors I'm aware of since late 1943.

I presume you don't want a sighting hole because the aiming hole (or, rarely, cross) is usually in the middle of the image for self-check.

One way to have a mirror that does not have a central image artifact, but can be aimed accurately, is to get a mirror with the sighting hole off-center. The 4"x4" British WWII issue signal mirror had the aiming hole in the corner. The 1950s US Military Mark IV signal mirror had the aimer on one end, as did the 1990s Japaneses scuba signal mirror.

When I make large signal mirrors (for 50+ mile signaling events) I put the aiming hole in at the corner or edge - works fine.

With that in mind, a mirror in the format of the Coghlan's
"Stainless Steel Mirror" might suit, if the quality is good enough.

Such "double-faced" mirrors can be aimed by the "rearsight" method, per the instructions from the USAF Survival Manual here:
http://www.richard-fowell.fotopic.net/p64430781.html
(older versions here, for historical interest:
http://www.richard-fowell.fotopic.net/p62917650.html
http://www.richard-fowell.fotopic.net/p62917653.html )

Or, if a plastic mirror is acceptable
(scratches are an issue with both plastic and metal),
you could look at camping mirrors with hanging holes in
a corner or edge. They are unlikely to be double-faced,
but can be aimed by the "foresight" method of catching the "shadow spot" created by the hole on a finger, and lining up the hole, target, and shadow spot to flash the target.

Neither the rearsight nor foresight method will aim as rapidly and accurately as the sort of retroreflective aimer mirror that the US military has used since the 1940s, though. Both British and US military comparative testing came to that conclusion.

A polycarbonate like the starflash without a sighting hole would be ideal. I've never seen a stainless steel that had a reasonable image. If I have something in my eye then I need to see it clearly.

I don't have any intentions of using it to signal. I already have dedicated signal mirrors for that purpose but the sighting hole gets in the way of my image.

You may laugh, but one of the best featherweight mirrors I've found is this polycarbonate job from Coghlans:

http://www.rei.com/product/745496

I bought about ten of these on sale, and they hold up remarkably well. Each kit has one. Good reflective image, little distortion, and they last. Though they will scratch without a bit of protection.

I even use one as a stiffener for my passport while travelling (leg wallet).

I use keep a Coghlans 9900 Survival Signal Mirror in my FAK for this purpose. I think I picked it up at REI.

It isn't huge, and it is glass, so probably not unbreakable, but the plastic jobbies I had used before weren't very clear and would always get scuffed up.

The main downside is the weight.

pic (large!)

-john

some years ago a canoe buddy gave the rest of our group mirrors he made from scraps that came off a large one that was installed on a sailboat.i guess you don't want a glass mirror on a boat or one that is cheap and gives a bad image.sorry i have no idea what its made from.a boat yard might be a good start or a web search of boating supply's.

Just a stray thought here.

Have you considered a ladies cosmetic compact make up mirror. You know the type that comes in a small case with face powder and a dust patch. You can even get them with magnification, usually 2x or 4x.

I have seen them sold in empty cases, no powder or pad, and I suspect if they can stand up to being in a purse they might survive being in a kit.

Here is an example in stainless steel with both 1x and 2x.
http://www.dhgate.com/3-pcs-sample-cosme...25241d00bf.html
Absolutely no idea of how good the quality is.

You could also try credit card sized shatterproof mirrors:

ImageReflectors - their site appears to have been infected with malware (html:iframe-inf) so take a look at their eBay store: http://stores.ebay.com/imagereflectorshatterproofmirrors

Stainless steel mirror that doesn't look cheap - http://www.touchofginger.com/product/view/mirror