scanny77:
Semtex:
THEY USE A COMBINATION OF BOTH!!!which would be the first option since only the second states ‘solely’
The poll title is Windows Or Mirrors. The choices are Head Out The Window Or Mirrors. Your poll is flawed. 
scanny77:
when backing onto a bay (for example), do you stick your head out the window to reverse or solely use the mirrors? the reason i am asking is down to the pictures in this months T & D (which are not new) showing a merc concept truck with a central seating position. offering me that to drive would result in a central finger position. no thanks
that is your question, you didnt ask if driving in a central position would you…so for the above question both dependant on angle
jon
Scanny, just add a “both” option, it will save you a lot of hassle
my head hurts after reading this thread…
Or maybe i tried to stick my head out the window without opening it first.
Combination of both!
Incidentally whilst talking about reversing onto bays, i never seem to able to get “straight” in line with it no matter how big the yard, i always seem to come at it from an angle off to the right. Never the less, it usually goes where i want or very close to it on 1st attempt.
Anybody else have this issue?
Yep. It’s because what looks straight in your mirrors isn’t actually straight in reality…Which brings us neatly back to heads out of windows… 
a good driver wouldnt need to use the mirrors or look or need painted lines they would know where the bay is 
a bit of both
Depends on the circumstances …ie lighting …what other vehicles in close proximity…weather …fighterpilot forkies …pedestrians…wether my lenses on mi specs have been cleaned for the last month…
I can honestly say I find reversing like playing golf …just when I think I have cracked it I usualy end up dropping a bollox not very long after…
Only been trying 20 years as well 
both isnt necessary. we all use mirrors to reverse. we dont necessarily have to poke our head out the window though. that is by choice (in my case 99% of the time)
Personaly i use the “FORCE”
actualy am weirdo , open the door and half hang out (H&S NIGHTMARE) till im happy with angle then shut door and use mirrors !
but i voted head out window for ease! lol
scanny77:
both isnt necessary. we all use mirrors to reverse. we dont necessarily have to poke our head out the window though. that is by choice (in my case 99% of the time)
and you know this for certain how ?
I do mostly all on the mirrors (don’t want to mess up my hair) but every so often when it’s an inch by inch job the head goes out the window
so I guess that puts me in the BOTH catagory
oh but hang on there isn’t one
My first thought was …‘he’s got he wrong thread’. My second was, he’s got the wrong forum!!! Just where do you think you have posted !!!
Well pardon me for going off topic.
My point was you don’t need to be on a righthand drive vehicle to have trouble at a french toll.
Seeing as I have to keep on topic I use both methods while reversing. Thats the truck not the bike!
Easiest way :
1: Place in reverse
2: Handbrake off
3: Foot to floor
4: Close eyes
5: Hope for best
6: Check mirrors after sudden stop
Seriously though,
as a newbie I find mirrors easier, if my head is out of the window I tend to over steer as strange as that may sound !!!
Fallmonk:
Personaly i use the “FORCE”actualy am weirdo , open the door and half hang out (H&S NIGHTMARE) till im happy with angle then shut door and use mirrors !
but i voted head out window for ease! lol
well now you’ve mentioned opening the door I do that as well
have to have the window open though - gives you something to hang on to 
montana man:
scanny77:
both isnt necessary. we all use mirrors to reverse. we dont necessarily have to poke our head out the window though. that is by choice (in my case 99% of the time)and you know this for certain how ?
as someone else mentioned, blindsides
also checking nothing is sneaking behind you (drivers, FLTS etc etc etc) or even checking the shoulder of the trailer isnt hitting the guy next door
scanny77:
montana man:
scanny77:
both isnt necessary. we all use mirrors to reverse. we dont necessarily have to poke our head out the window though. that is by choice (in my case 99% of the time)and you know this for certain how ?
as someone else mentioned, blindsides
Just go for it Rich and listen for a bang, thats all i do !!!
Voted “head out” as seemed most approriate even though I use both, then read all the “can’t vote” responses and realised that applies to me. As i can’t retract my vote please can the next “head out” voter not bother voting to correct the score?
On a “textbook” reverse, e.g an RDC with plenty of space to reverse round in a nice smooth curve I’ll stick my head out as i curve round but use mirrors to straighten up so I can see both sides. In a confined space e.g store delivery I’ll use whatever gives me the best view of the thing I’m most likely to hit! As for blind side I’m lucky that the two clients who generally have sites requiring this also have units with rear windows so by the time time the trailer’s round far enough to block the mirror I can see down the nearside by turning round.
Often other factors dictate whether to stick my head out. I wear glasses so if it’s raining it can make things worse, not better, also the unit I had last week had a fault with the seat where it would fail to rise again when I sat on it. Not a problem for normal use but every time i leaned out of the window and took the weight off I’d find myself sitting on the floor when I got back in!
I line myself up with mirrors then head out the window to finish
Apparently some drivers (or maybe just this one) seem to just look straight ahead when revering and hope for the best…
that might explain why a lad i worked with backed his truck off the end of a 12 foot drop afew months ago!!! 
I poke my head out of the window, and when I’m straight, half my body is leaning out so I can watch it onto the bay. I don’t think I use mirrors at all when reversing onto a bay. Unless its raining.
I just prefer to have a real perspective of what I am doing.
I personally find that I do it in one virtually every time this way.
If I was in a competition where the window had to stay up, I think I’d miserably loose.
I once had a truck where thwewindow stopped working. So I reversed off a main road into a yard with my door open a bit, holding onto it.
scanny77:
montana man:
scanny77:
both isnt necessary. we all use mirrors to reverse. we dont necessarily have to poke our head out the window though. that is by choice (in my case 99% of the time)and you know this for certain how ?
as someone else mentioned, blindsides
also checking nothing is sneaking behind you (drivers, FLTS etc etc etc) or even checking the shoulder of the trailer isnt hitting the guy next door
the trap springs
So therefore how can you have a head out of the window or mirrors poll if it is a given that we all use the mirrors at some point
as previously stated YOUR POLL IS FLAWED
be graceful in defeat
I think he means predominantly.
Perhaps the start of the shunt, or the majority of the shunt.