Flares

[Guest]

On the one occasion I had to use a flare in anger, my first attempt with a red flare ended with a miss-fire and the flare disintegrating in my, fortunately, gloved hand. This particular flare was in date. Slightly traumatised by this experience and by the imminent danger, I fired off two orange smokes. These had officially expired more than twenty years before this event. They both ignited perfectly and much to my relief were spotted.
The flares had all been stored in a waterproof drum. I realise that flares should not be kept for such a length of time, but was glad of the available option. The posting on Oct 23 suggested that there is virtually no risk of self-ignition.
I would be interested to hear the opinions of others on keeping out of date pyrotechnics. Am I just being a cheap-skate?

 

[Guest]

I have never had to fire a flare in anger but i fired just about every type of flare that is around.
I had a relative who worked for a flare makers in northe france. For the 14th of july several years ago he obtained about 100 flares of every type. They were all out of date and in some cases 5 years or more.

They had not been kept in sealed containers but had neither been near the sea.

Every single flare worked without fault...so i now never through any out..!

 

[Mirelle]

In the days when we were encouraged to use up olf flares on Guy Fawkes Night I used quite a number of old ones. The red hand helds (sometimes very old and even damp) tended to disintegrate in the hand (so were shoved into a flower bed!) and had lost most of their colour, burning a feeble sort of pale pink, with what seemed to me even more smoke than usual.

Whites and orange smokes seemed fine. Cant remember trying any parachute reds.

 

[Guest]

As I have remarked in these forums before, there is very little relationship between age of flare and its effectiveness. Keep your old ones. Don't expect new ones necessarily to operate.

 

[Guest]

Trying out parachute flares on 5th November

Some years ago I let off and out of date parachute flare in front garden to amuse the neighbours children, it went vertical for 20 to 30 ft turned hard right and disappeared over the rooftops missing them by inches or so it seemed and burst over (I hope) someone's back garden, now the Admiral makes the take all my out of date there's which I cannot carry for board down to the coastguards to be destroyed.
PS the neighbours' never talked to me again

-{)>

 

[BrianJ]

I agree...I have just let of 6 flares during the course I did( see above) . The oldest date was 84..worked well. Yes they had been in a sealed container.
So keep old flares, youu will maybe need them one day.
BrianJ

 

[Guest]

I like to keep to :

Replace the set at required time. The next year, you replace one of the old. Later when you have a spare bit of cash in pocket, replace another and so on .....by the time the later set are out of date, you have an in-date set that hasn't cost you a packet in one go. Now start replacing the others one by one and this then creates a rotation of stock system reducing the 'smack' on the pocket ! In fact you can refine it further to cater for parachute flares and others that are better than the recc'd set that ought to carry as minimum.

I always keep my old until they are well out date and 2 sets
passed ...... OK one or two may not work, then pick up another and try that .....in 17yrs at sea I saw many old and new flares just as successful as each other ..... literally. AND they sat in lifeboats supposed protected from all that God and his minions could throw at 'em .....

 

[brianrunyard]

Re: Trying out parachute flares on 5th November

A friend of mine did the same thing, two fired ok but were very pale in colour, the other parachute failed to open and it crashed down on a neighbours caravan, I've never sean my mate move so quickly, even so it left a nasty scorch mark.