Flares again

[tjanna]

Lucky me! I have inherited a considerable amount of 25 year + old flares with my boat purchase from end of the last season, these had been kindly stashed away in the bottom of the boat. It appears you have to jump through hoops to legitimately get rid of these damn things, quite frankly I have better things to be doing with my time.

My cunning plan is to encase them into a concrete mix, either in a bucket or box. When set, simply bury them along with my wifes ageing 19 year old cat in the back garden. Two birds with one stone

Is this a feasible plan or am I missing something?

Thanks Gareth

 

[macd]

Is this a feasible plan or am I missing something?

Compassion for cats, maybe, but not much otherwise (given the utter abrogation of responsibility by the authorities on matters concerning flares). But I daresay a different view will be along any minute.

 

[Aeolus]

Think of the archeologists of the future who will have to work out what weird ritual was being carried out.

 

[bikerbill]

overheard two guy's talking about getting rid of out of date flares. One said he dumped them in deep water while the one said he 'let them off' into the water.

 

[Sneaky Pete]

I sure flares will be back in fashion one day, but more seriously they seem to be very popular with football supporters just now. You could possibly sell them on.

 

[nigelmercier]

My premise is that burying the cat will take four hours. Conclusion: don't go to Sorrento.

If you can't spot the reference, you are under 40.

 

[NickRobinson]

My premise is that burying the cat will take four hours. Conclusion: don't go to Sorrento.

If you can't spot the reference, you are under 40.

Only works for parrots... Or, you could replace toast with TEPSs for infinite power.--- http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mB5nztzXo24

 

[Blue Drifter]

Now there's a thought - how about dumping somewhere like this instead of burying:

 

[Rum Run]

Lucky me! I have inherited a considerable amount of 25 year + old flares with my boat purchase from end of the last season, these had been kindly stashed away in the bottom of the boat. It appears you have to jump through hoops to legitimately get rid of these damn things, quite frankly I have better things to be doing with my time.

My cunning plan is to encase them into a concrete mix, either in a bucket or box. When set, simply bury them along with my wifes ageing 19 year old cat in the back garden. Two birds with one stone

Is this a feasible plan or am I missing something?

Thanks Gareth

I wouldn't enclose suspect pyrotechnics in a gas tight-solid object unless my intention was to make them go bang instead of ffft. Particularly if it was concrete which could get a bit warm when hydrolysing.
Digging a hole and putting a paving slab over the TEPs then refilling the hole might work, especially if a hose pipe was used to consolidate the soil. The cat would be optional but I would recommend welding gauntlets if including that.

 

[skyflyer]

local council explosives 'expert' said put them in a large bucket of water and leave for long time.(i.e. 3 or 4 days) The explosive will leech out then you can pour it all down the drain with lots of flushing. Don't sue me if it doesn't work

 

[nigelmercier]

It's about time that these antiquated devices were issued with a removable seal that would allow them to be quenched in water.

 

[GrahamHR]

Hopefully you'd wait until the cat was dead !

I intend to dismantle some ( non rocket) out of date flares soon. They are not IEDs. I suspect they will be simple devices, the contents should burn easily.

 

[KellysEye]

Ring your county police station and ask them if they take flares, most have a lead lined box for explosives. That's what I did and all they did was make a list of what they were.

 

[prv]

most have a lead lined box

Because flares are of course well-known emitters of gamma rays.

Pete

 

[Cantata]

Is your boat anywhere near a Coastguard MRCC? If so you can still arrange for them to take in the old flares, if you are prepared to deliver them.
It's also worth asking the local police, or the local Council. This seems to work in some areas.

 

[[70521]]

Is this a feasible plan or am I missing something?

I undestand that setting concrete is exothermic. Heat and unstable explosives should be an interesting mix.

 

[jerrytug]

I undestand that setting concrete is exothermic. Heat and unstable explosives should be an interesting mix.

They aren't 'explosives' and nor are they 'unstable', and this isn't the Daily Mail...

 

[prv]

They aren't 'explosives'

They will be once encased in a concrete block

Pete

 

[macd]

Data sheets give flashpoints for several Wessex flares as 160C (and "explosion risk" as "not applicable", whatever that means).

 

[jerrytug]

They will be once encased in a concrete block

Pete

Ooh I hope no one dodgy is reading this thread, TMI Anyway I am going to get out and do some work, but surely there is not enough of the oxidising chemical to provide enough brisance* to split open a lump of concrete?

*Ill-remembered technical term from mis spent youth etc