Last night I had a horrible dream about a friend dying. I realised it was probably a dream, did a nose RC, and the RC failed…
Anything more reliable than a nose RC?
I read that the clock watching RC is very reliable. I look at the time look away and see if the time has significantly change. If it has changed significantly you know that you are in a dream. I’m doing this RC whenever I watch at a clock. The nose RC was reliable to me as well as the one eye closed and looking at the nose RC.
The hand RC never fails me… Just look at your hand to see if you miss or have extra fingers. It works almost every time. But you must count them really good, try grabbing each finger when you count.
Is this what you mean?
Well the problem with the hand RC is that I’m taking these multivitamins that give me super realistic dreams, so I probably will have the right amount. And I don’t wear a watch, and I’m normally not next to a clock in my dreams, so I don’t think a clock RC would work,
Here’s the thing with both the hand and the nose. If you do the RC expecting them to fail, they will fail. You have to do them knowing that they will pass, even when you practice them in RL. Also, do them two or three times each just to make sure.
As far as the hand RC goes, instead of counting fingers try to poke a finger through your palm. Even if it doesn’t go through, it might stretch weird. Also trying light switches can help, or trying to read the same sentence or string of numbers over and over.
hmm whenever I focus on RC i really try to question if this is a dream… i will do the nose RC 2-3 times.
i think you need to combine several RCS together so you don’t depend on just one.
with the nose RC, check your hands and then look for signs or text and look back to see any changes.
edit - Rhewin already said everything i thought hehe =P
The most important part of a RC is to doubt the reality of your surroundings, as Rhewin said. The RC for most just acts as a confirmation to their doubts.
Personally, I found the nose RC to be the most reliable RC I could find and apply, but if you want some new ideas, beside hand-gazing and watch-reading, some people try using their dream powers (say levitating, or telekinesis) to prove themselves they’re in a dream, and it’s been pretty reliable for them, so you could give it a try. 
Good luck on your quest.
The nose RC is a fairly reliable one. The only one that personally works better for me is the clock/text RC in which you look at some text (a digital clock is even better), look away, and then look back to see if it has changed. If it has indeed changed, then you are almost certainly dreaming.
It is also of importance to ensure that your RL reality checks don’t become mindless motions, but that you’re seriously questioning yourself each and every time as to whether or not your awake and proving that you indeed are (or are not) awake. If you do RC’s mindlessly auto-expecting a certain result, its very easy to auto expect the same result in a dream, and you’ll simply miss that your dreaming because you didn’t seriously question reality.
It is also good to develop and RC rountin, involving 2,3 or more RC’s. This ensures that if one fails, you’ll have backup RC’s to rely on and won’t come to the flase conclusion you are awake. RC’s do occasional fail, and taking extra precautions never hurts.
my favorite RC is the finger through hand reality check. Just see if your finger goes through your hand, It is favorite reality check and the easiest! you can also pinch you arm, and this always works in dreams because you can’t feel pain! good luck on your future LD’s
You can feel pain in dreams! Not always, though. I’ve felt pain a few times, not fun. 
Counting Fingers is perfect for me. Over 90% of the time i have something else then 5 fingers on my hand. But in my ~20 latest LDs, only about 3 required me to do RC.