Out of date flares

[Gordonmc]

I've been given half a dozen Paine maroon flares by the widow of a master mariner who casually said, if they're no good to you put them in the bin (!)
They are all out of date, the oldest by two years.
Is there any merit on holding on to them? I normally get a coastal pack or mini-flares which I will continue to do, so I would not be reliant on the maroons, but do they become a hazard with age?
If so I will take them along to HMCG.


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[Goodge]

I recently did my RYA Sea survival course and the message from the instructor was there was no harm in having out of date flares along as you have current ones as well.
You would need to check the condition of the flares but the instructor indicated that if maintained in good condition they should work. We let off ' out of date flares' in the demo and they all worked perfectly although we were told they may lose some of their colour / brightness.
So to conclude no harm in having them but as a back up to to current in date flares.



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[Ohdrat]

I know of one instance of a boat sinking.. the in date flares failed to work but thankfully they had out of date ones too which all went off perfectly .. in other words out of date flares could still save your life!

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[snowleopard]

on my sea survival course we successfully set off flares dated over 30 years back. in a distress situation where you can't use a radio there is every chance you could run out of flares before getting anyone's attention so the more you have the better. if you fire the old ones first you can be confident that the one you keep as a last resort is going to work.

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[graham]

I have allways kept out of date flares on my boat to supplement the new ones.

I have never heard of a safety issue with them but have been told that the older ones dont burn with the same brightness of colour.

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[Oldhand]

But surely maroons are only for use by the lifeboat service to indicate a launch and call the crew to the station? So if you set of a maroon at sea, is anyone going to take any notice and what will they think they are being fired for? I suggest you visit a Lifeboat Station and request they dispose of them for you. Otherwise I agree with the concept that an old flare is better than no flare, although I limit this to a maximium of 2 years beyond the stated date.

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[Guest]

Old flares if not TOO old are still worth having .....

In fact I have a system to stop having to fork out too much in one go .... change 1 or 2 flares at a time over a period so that they are staggered in dates ....... then you will continue to change in steps.

Keeping the old ones 1 rotation is perfectly workable ..... on some of the ships I was on - we used to keep old flares for demo's well out of sight of other ships !!!!

If you want to dispose - HMCG is the way or the local council may have a special loaction for them ....


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I came - cos they said was FREE Guinness !
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[Cornishman]

In the days when the RYA appointed flare demontrators I had the doubtful privilege of covering the Westcountry. On one occasion, at Instow if memory serves me correctly, I was given a 2 star red which was well out of date, "to see if it still works".
It did, after a fashion. One star popped out about 20 feet straight into a small dinghy nearby while the other landed at my feet and nearly set fire to me.
Disposal of old flares has always been a problem, but I think the most effective way if you cannot get to the nearest CG is to hand them in when buying the new ones. If the retailer refuses to take them, take your business elsewhere. That usually brings them round to your way of thinking. They then return them to their suppliers, and if Pains Wessex they destroy them on their range on Salisbury Plain.

As somebody else has said, I am a bit concerned that you have maroons.

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[rhinorhino]

The MOD is a little less picky than the average yachtie about "use-by" dates and I have fired 30 year old pyrotechics without problem. We also found a forty year old Mars bar, which didn't taste bad but that is another story.

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[Mirelle]

Not maroons.

Maroons are rather more hazardous than ordinary flares; they contain a worthwhile amount of explosive. I would not take chances with them.

I keep my "previous set" of flares, but I would not keep old maroons.

They are also perhaps unsuitable, as they are normally used to launch a lifeboat.

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[windandwave]

My understanding is that with some flares the chemical compound is corrosive and may (if out of date) weaken the side walls. Result: when ignited the flare may burn through and injure your hands. For that reason I'd be wary of using handhelds that were more than (say) 12mths out of date. However, this presumably would not be as much of a problem with other types such as smoke flares. Of course, when in extremis you might prefer to take your chances with an out of date flare if that's all you have left!

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[Guest]

Re: Not maroons.

Actually missed that they were maroons ....... bit dangerous those sods !!!! NOT for the yottie ......

Old flares up to 2-3 years older than date - never had a problem........ maybe odd one doesn't work - pick up another one !!!


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I came - cos they said was FREE Guinness !
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[TheBoatman]

Re: Not maroons.

HMCG are the only body that has a legal responisbility to take old flares, having said that some chandlers will.

The fire service used to, until they found out that flares are self oxygenating and despite all there efforts they couldn't exstinguish them with water.
As for the orange smoke flares the brigade only ended up looking like they had been "Tango'd" on exit<s>.

As for the fact that you may have Maroons (rather than flares) may I suggest that you are rather lucky in as much as you now have in your posession the perfect PWC deterent.(joke,joke everybody)

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