The weather was bad when they were looking for him. In the Cascades, clouds right down to the ground is more the rule than the exception. I can't see that a mirror is much good without the sun.

Helicopters aren't likely to fly at night in cloud cover, so you're wasting your zillion-cp flashlight.

If you've got low cloud cover at night, a signal fire might not be seen, esp if the conditions are poor enough that the choppers aren't flying. With low clouds during the day, the smoke hangs along the ground, difficult to distinguish from clouds or fog.

If you're in a narrow canyon on a clear night, it still might be tricky for aircraft to see your fire, or your flashlight, due to the narrow angle of vision.

Missing WA Trooper sorry to have caused trouble

So, this brings up the question of HOW to signal in poor weather and poor visibility conditions.

As has been said before, you need to prepare for the worst possible conditions, not the best possible conditions.

Sue