Great training Stoker!!! I love my VS-17 panel, all sorts of uses… I’m digging the demonstration with the drone and various signaling modalities… you know what? The drone perspective really hits home and makes it worthwhile gear to keep in the vehicle for recce…if you need to move through unfamiliar terrain to make it home or wherever. Keep up the Fire!!!

Thank you for another great and informative video.

I love your videos 1SG. Great work.

Really love your videos and your knowledge thanks

Outta sight Top. Didn’t see this one coming man. Nice job.

Stoker... The only thing I saw was the orange side of the VS17. Didn't see any signal mirror or pink side VS17. A signal mirror carries the farthest distance if sunlight is available. Can be seen for miles depending on terrain. From my experience the signal mirror along with orange VS17 are hard to beat. Of course popping an M18 might be nice in daylight hours... Great video and thanks for getting these out for us ...

I learned something...AGAIN...thanks

great video.

Outta sight Top. Didn’t see this one coming man. Good stuff.

Excellent tips, TOP!

1Sgt, how are you today? Happy to see the new video. Always like the awesome new videos. Great Job bro. Hope all is well with the family. I will try and get in touch with you in the next week or so. Stay safe and stay free 1Sgt.

Loved this! I was really struck by the effectiveness of the orange panel in the drone camera. Drones are used by SAR teams here now, so is a real thing. Ordered an orange panel for the car, delivery tomorrow ;)

I carry a mil spec 3X5 glass signal mirror w/ retro reflective aimer. Can be used with one hand, and is capable of targeting an aircraft at 36,000 feet or a SAR team 20 miles away ( depending on available sun light and terrain ). I have found it to be a valuable daytime rescue tool. TNX for the video, this may encourage more people to become active participants in their own survival.

Excellent video showing the reality of these devices. I have to say. I did see the Lazer at all and only just saw the mirror flash. I wonder with the mirror, how much the sighting hand was actually blocking the flash? I believe it's one reason why the military use a glass mirror with a retro-reflecting sight....The orange side of signal panel worked well, the pink pink side not so much....Many of the signal panels are only 17" × 17" and it makes me doubt their real world performance / value for rescue situations....On a Australia site, I saw a orange shelter tarp (probably 9'x9' with "HELP" printed on it in huge black letters and thought a brilliant idea...I think it was aimed at people driving through the outback rather than to carry as an individual but it really was a great idea...

Excellent video, the use of the drone was fantastic. It took me a bit to find out where your location was. Out of all the signal devices, the mirror has always been my favorite, I do have a few of those panels, but never packed one. The mirror is in my opinion, the most reliable. Curious have you ever used Infra-red for nite signaling?. I have an Infra-red light, but not sure how to use it? Excellent demonstration Stokerman!!!🇺🇲 👍

could barely see the laser and the pink panel. The orange really stood out to me being I'm color blind to some extent. Great information. Thanks for sharing.

I have a few orange tarps in my gear and one of them I have marked with XXX

I am surprised by the mirror I couldn't see it at all and was looking right at the spot I have a mirror a little bigger about 5x6 that I put in my back pack it will throw a beam a long ways even on cloudy days I also take a small one like you have good to know which one will work.

I never once noticed the mirror reflection. Guess it really only works in sunlight

I have 3 starflash floating signal mirrors one for each pack and one for my car. i also have an orange tarp (orange one side OD the other) It's probably going with the car gear. I also have a C-9 Pilot Parachute that is made up of white, orange and OD panels, it's about 34 feet in diameter. That goes in the car. I have it in case I need to make a shelter, or sun protection clothing or covers. It has lots of Paracord and some metal parts I can also use. If you want to know what to do with a Parachute I suggest watching a few NASA videos on how the Astronauts are trained for survival. Very interesting. I also have a few of the flashlights that are SOS flash capable. All of these items have multiple uses. I will also say for the Signal Mirrors. In order to protect them I have kept the protective clear display packaging they came in to store them in while in my pack or pocket. This way the mirror surface will not get scratches on it. When I was considering these tools I hate to say that the packs I have as well as my car pack are intended for the day the Dog Dirt hits the fan. I won't be looking for anyone to rescue me. I am sure (with my luck) there will be people looking for me but my goal is not to be found. Yet everything listed has other functions as I mentioned. So it may be a one off in my pack but in some cases it may be a part of my redundancy program. By the way I also have an OD cargo parachute to cover the C-9 colors and to blend in more with a wooded environment. The chutes are of different materials.The cargo chute is more like a nylon and seems to be a better rain barrier type than the C-9. The Cargo chute is ex US Army so Stokes may know what the material is. I am not 100% sure. It also has a netting kind of siding I am thinking since its also OD cordage it might come in handy for a medium sized animal snare. So many options. Let your mind guide you in how to use a tool. Final word, I am deeply concerned with what I see and hear that is happening between now and the end of the year (surly into next year) Get schooled up on the gear you have, don't worry about what you don't have. If the Dog dirt really does hit the fan we are entering winter months. You need to be ready for anything that comes our way. Make sure your spouse and any children are up to snuff as well. If they don't follow this and think you are nutz! Then it may come to leaving them if they are a threat to your safety. I know of cases where the husband was turned over to the bad guys by his wife or kids. In my case my neighbors and family are my biggest concerns. This is why I can make the comment I made about unbelieving family members. They are out there. We need all the good people we can save so be on the defensive and watch out for yourself first, then others. If you are not safe then you wont be able to do anything for anyone else. May God continue to bless you, your family and friends.

Hands down the VS17 was impressive! At the beginning of the video, I thought it would be marginal at best. NOPE! I was wrong. It came out on top!

Based on this demonstration, I'm really not at all optimistic about either of these signalling devices getting you rescued. :( I could just barely see the signal panels from your drone a thousand feet away and 400 feet up, I never saw the mirror, and I knew I was probably supposed to be looking right in the middle of the frame. As a pilot I am going to be flying no lower than a thousand feet above ground, probably much higher, and the chances of me passing laterally within a thousand feet of your location are vanishingly small unless I already have your lat/long somehow somehow and I'm flying straight to you. And I'll be doing at least a hundred knots, possibly a lot more, depending on what we are flying. I wish I could arrange a demo where I take a few up in a plane and have a few signalling from the ground and show just how incredibly difficult this is. When is the last known and verified time when someone was rescued thanks to a signal mirror? Has it *ever* happened? I honestly can't think of an instance. Or is this just cargo cult preparedness? I can definitely see a laser at night being useful. I've seen lasers from the plane. Very obvious. Just don't shine it directly at the rescue aircraft (near is ok IMO) unless you want your rescuers to be the FBI. :)

Outta sight Top. Didn’t see this one coming man. Nice job.