Saturday, June 6, 2015

2-Way Mirror Security Tip

Here's a security tip, especially for the ladies. If you're in a restroom, how do tell if the mirror is only a mirror or if a person or camera is behind it, spying on you?

Men, you may want to send the women in your life a link to this post.

The "fingernail test has made its rounds, and although it can give you a clue, it's not absolutely conclusive. The fingernail test says that if you put a nail against a real mirror, you will see a gap between it and the reflection, but no gap if it's a 2-way mirror.



This may give a hint, but some real mirrors have the reflective surface on the front, so it's not 100% accurate.

I like the flashlight test better. If you put a flashlight right up against the surface of a mirror (your cell phone flashlight will work), it will illuminate the space behind a 2-way mirror.

Tell if a Mirror Is Two Way or Not Step 3.jpg

You can find these and more tips about 2-way mirrors on wiki-how

4 comments:

Unknown said...

The first one is definitely not true, as I tested it with a handheld mirror (they're supposed to work the same as the mirrors on the wall). I touched it and there was no gap.

Craig Mutton said...

Imo,
Thanks for your comment. As I said in the post, it's not 100% accurate, and that's why I added the other test of putting a light against the surface of the mirror to illuminate any space behind it.

Unknown said...

I will add to this.

A real 'glass' mirror is a piece of glass with silver coating applied to the rear. It is never applied to the front. The thicker the glass, the bigger the gap. Glass mirrors (especially hand held mirrors as previously referenced) can be as thin as 1mm or less thus very small gap or the appearance of no gap.

There is also the instance of the 2 way mirror (which is a film with reflective coating on one side allowing viewing through from the other side) being placed BEHIND a clear piece of glass. This would then provide the 'gap test' and return a true result making you believe that the mirror is genuine when in fact, it isnt.

The light test is better because the mirror coating on a 2 way mirror is not completely reflective i.e. you can see through it if really look hard. A give away is usually that the mirror appears darker than you would assume. A real glass standard mirror has a bright silver reflection whereas a 2 way mirror appears slightly grey or translucent. :)

Nacho

Craig Mutton said...

Thanks, Nacho.

I appreciate your taking the time to clarify. Well done.