disposal of flares - time for honesty

what have you done with your out of date flares?

  • they're in the shed.

    Votes: 46 26.6%

  • they're on the boat

    Votes: 38 22.0%

  • lost at sea

    Votes: 5 2.9%

  • taken to MRCC

    Votes: 29 16.8%

  • left on last boat when sold

    Votes: 8 4.6%

  • bonfire night

    Votes: 15 8.7%

  • other

    Votes: 32 18.5%
  • Total voters
    173
Birdseye

Birdseye

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I cannot find a legal route for flare disposal where I live ( the nearest MRCC is 3 to 4 hours away by car) and so have two large containers of flares going back to 1980. Need to clear out the shed and am wondering what others have actually done. Hence the survey.

Bonfire night seems the best option but that still leaves smoke flares and rockets.
 
Beware that there have been incidents of expired flares misfiring and causing serious injury. So bonfire night is a risky option!
 
GregAC said:
Beware that there have been incidents of expired flares misfiring and causing serious injury. So bonfire night is a risky option!
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Really? Any reports to hand? The only misfiring incident causing serious injury that I am aware of was an in-date but defective flare that resulted in a recall of that batch.
 
sailorman said:
And the Insureres ( Zurich ) tried to avoid any liability to that poor chap who almost died but suffered unimaginable pain
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Really? On what basis did they try to avoid liability? I was not aware of that. Whose insurers were they?
 
Really? Any reports to hand?
Click to expand...

Sadly no, this is based on what a chap from the RNLI told me during a flare demo a few years ago. It's entirely possible this is a garbled story from the incident you refer to.
 
The survey does not offer an option for using the excellent, if mis-named 'flare amnesty' service.
Which is what I did.
Thanks are due to those involved.
 
I voted "other", as it's a bit of a mixture.

The old flares we inherited with Kindred Spirit, I gave to a mate who does theatre pyros and wanted to take them. I don't know what he did with them, it's possible they're tucked away in the corner of a warehouse or container somewhere. Although he did unexpectedly produce and let off one of the hand flares at a New Year's Eve party, which didn't go down particularly well :mad:

The new ones on Kindred Spirit, I actually can't remember what we did. Probably left them on board when we sold her, they'd have had a couple of months' life left on them.

Since then, I've let off hand flares in my back garden - don't see any reason not to, and it's useful practice at least the first couple of times. Smokes would be inconsiderate to the neighbours, though, and rockets both a fire risk and potential false alarm. So those are building up - I have four smokes and I think half a dozen rockets now. I tried to take them to the Police, as they told me on the phone that they would accept them. But when I got there, they kept me waiting for an hour before deciding that actually they didn't take flares after all. So they're all sitting in a cupboard in my living room where I dumped them when I got back from the police station. At some point I'll probably make it to one of the collection events that we do have around here, but so far I've always been out sailing when they've been on.

Pete
 
I voted other.

Force 4 chandlery stores will take them off you when you buy a new batch from them. So, all my flares are in date and the old ones have been responsibly disposed. (I assume Force 4 get rid of them properly). All with minimal effort.
 
Somewhere I used to keep my boat - in France - there was a plastic box and you just dumped your old flares in that. Right above the recycling barrel for old oil and right next to the box for old batteries (AA, AAA, C-cells etc).

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The flares got removed every now and then.
 
Thanks for the link Appledore, I didn't know you could buy flares on ebay, just got an offshore pack (2018 expiry) for £99.50, result!
 
Giblets said:
I didn't think that eBay dealt with explosives or firearm. I would be tempted to send 'em a note.
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Please don't until I've done a bit more shopping, the flares I just bought are exactly half price compared to Jimmy Green, same expiry date!
BTW they are not firearms or explosives.
 
I take mine to the local big plodshop and say...

"Look what I found while walking along the beach, officer. Thought I should be a good a citizen and hand them in."

"Must have fallen off a boat I suppose, sir" says a suspicious looking plod. "Wouldn't be your boat they fell of, would it?"

"Oh no officer, definitely didn't fall off my boat, which I may or may not own."

He gets his lost property book out and fills in a form. "Should I tick the box that you don't want them back in 6 weeks if nobody claims them?"

"You've got it", I say with a wink.

He takes them off me, and everyone's happy.
 
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