What makes a good inspection mirror? Wednesday 8th July 2009

The answer of course depends on what you want to use it for! What makes a good inspection mirror? The answer of course depends on what you want to use it for! If for example you are looking for an under vehicle search mirror, your requirements will be very different than if you're a dentist needing to inspect the inside of a patients mouth (it would be tricky to get a 300mm diameter inspection mirror into a mouth!), ...but lets be sensible about it, and assume that your requirement is for a security mirror for use in searching vehicles or premises for contraband, explosive devices, stowaways, etc. What are the key considerations? 1. Size 2. Material 3. Lighting Conditions 4. Weight and usability 5. Cost Lets consider each of these areas in more depth: 1. Size If you are looking for a personal security 'pocket type inspection mirror' you will probably want to make sure that the mirror size is no greater than say 65 x 120mm or you'll need a pretty large pocket. For other types of inspection mirror, a larger format mirror will offer a larger viewing area and therefore make searching or inspecting a larger area quicker and easier. Typically round mirrors from around 140mm diameter to around 400mm are favoured, whilst rectangular mirrors up to around 300 by 400mm are also commonly used. 2. Mirror Material Historically glass has been the favoured choice, however it is obviously a fragile material which is easily broken. The new generation of plastic mirrors are now rapidly taking over as the favoured alternative for this type of application. There are however a wide range of types of plastics available ranging from the virtually unbreakable polycarbonate type material, to the cheaper but more fragile acrylic type materials. Being softer than glass, plastics are more prone to scratching, however some plastic mirrors are available with a specially coated surface which offers a level of protection against scratches. Other materials include polished stainless steel, however not only are such mirrors very expensive, but their performance can be seriously compromised by scratching or denting. 3. Illumination & Lighting Conditions To many first time buyers, the addition of a supplementary light source to the search mirror seems an unnecessary luxury (and expense), however established users are well aware that in many situations it's not just a luxury, but an absolute essential. Try using an inspection mirror to search the underside of a vehicle at night! That's a case which most people can see would require a light source to make it viable, however in practice its just as essential when trying to inspect the underside of a vehicle in bright sunlight. Any fitted light source should be capable of generating a significant level of illumination to be effective. In some cases a simple torch would be perfectly acceptable , but as a general rule of thumb, anything less than 40-50 lumens light output is unlikely to be effective (be warned; many of the products currently on sale are fitted with totally inadequate light sources). 4. Weight and usability If you're only going to use your search mirror for 5 minutes a day, this area of consideration won't be high on your priority list, but if you are expecting your operatives to use such products for hours at a time, it's absolutely critical. Weight is an obvious consideration, the heavier the unit the less usable the unit will be and the more likely that the operative will be distracted from the task of concentrating on the search activity. A trolley type search mirror, features castors on the underside which is one way of minimising the weight issue. Operational length - it is important that your mirror is comfortable to use. An inspection mirror with a 2 metre handle for instance, will be a challenge for a shorter operative to use, while a unit with 1 metre handle will place considerable bodily stress on a tall operative during use. The solution is a telescopic type handle which can be locked at any length (rather than at fixed stops) between its fully closed and fully extended position. Mirror size - a very large mirror on a long handle would be difficult to control if used in windy conditions to inspect the top of high sided vehicles, ...but a smaller format mirror would be required to check into cramped or restricted areas - make sure you choose a mirror size suitable for your requirements. 5. Cost Obviously cost is an issue for any organisation, especially in the current economic climate, but this is certainly one of those products where 'Value' is much more important than 'Price'. ...and remember when calculating the lifetime cost of ownership of these products, items such as batteries, etc. can have a significant impact (low energy LED lighting for instance can operate for 100 hours or so from a couple of small batteries, a conventional torch will operate for just a few hours on a set of batteries). We hope you have found this helpful, but if you would like more details of a proven range of effective search and inspection mirrors, visit; http://www.insight-security.com/mirrors.htm alternatively to buy on line now, go to; http://www.insight-direct.co.uk/DotNetShop/listsubgroup.aspx?Group=11&SubGroup=4 ...or if you would like to discuss your requirements and get some practical advice from a security expert, just call Insight Security on; 01273 475500 their advice is free ...and could save you a small fortune This message was added on Wednesday 8th July 2009

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