Ricd
New member
My pack of flares has just expired. Given the difficulty of disposal and the cost of replacement etc., how much longer would you trust them to be safe for use? I can't imagine they turn unsafe over the day they expire!
What causes flares to go out of date?
- Thread starter Ricd
- Start date
Talulah
Well-known member
I certainly wouldn't buy new ones until the start of the next sailing season.
Chandlers are running down stock for the winter and won't be restocking with flares until the Spring. Consequently anyone with stock has probably had them on their shelves for a while.
Chandlers are running down stock for the winter and won't be restocking with flares until the Spring. Consequently anyone with stock has probably had them on their shelves for a while.
KellysEye
Active member
You can dispose of flares at any large police station. They have a lead lined box for explosives and there is some form filling.
We fired expired flares in Portugal under the supervision of the coastguard. One rocket flare exploded in someone's hand, other rockets went off horizontal and both were positively dangerous. Orange flares were white. Not a good idea to keep them.
We fired expired flares in Portugal under the supervision of the coastguard. One rocket flare exploded in someone's hand, other rockets went off horizontal and both were positively dangerous. Orange flares were white. Not a good idea to keep them.
Sans Bateau
Well-known member
"What causes flares to go out of date?"
Time.
Time.
Sans Bateau
Well-known member
Not a good idea to buy new ones either!
RAI
Well-known member
Built in obsolescence
FishyInverness
New member
You really can't!
UNLESS you are "a concerned member of the public who has found them discarded in a public place" if you get my meaning... And then, only certain police stations are equipped - Devon and Cornwall constabulary (just picking one for an eg) do not accept TEP's at all.
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webcraft
Well-known member
prv
Well-known member
S'ok, he's out of date with PLBs and EPIRBs on the other thread as well
Pete
Simondjuk
Active member
Hampshire Police took some from me a few months ago.
electrosys
New member
Well, yes - but that's only part of the story. Flares contain highly reactive chemicals which will react (i.e. deteriorate) slowly with time - especially if kept in a hot and/or damp place. If you want flares to have a longer life, keep 'em absolutely dry, and in the fridge when not actively sailing.
Same with photographic film, epoxy, or any other 'use-by' dated chemical product. Including Tesco's finest sandwiches ...
Coaster
Active member
We routinely keep time-expired flares on board, as extras. They're not usually discarded until 2 or 3 years later. I believe this to be common practice for cruising boats in British waters.
As far as I know it's not illegal, in the UK, to do this. If anyone can comment authoritatively I'd be interested to read what they have to say.
As far as I know it's not illegal, in the UK, to do this. If anyone can comment authoritatively I'd be interested to read what they have to say.
webcraft
Well-known member
Rigger Mortice
N/A
Mine mysteriously vanish around November 5th or New Years Day. 50 miles from the coast and never had a problem yet.
penfold
Well-known member
Give them all to me and I will dispose of them under humane laboratory conditions.
VicMallows
New member
OK for you. 4 miles from the Solent not such a good idea. I do think though that a clearly defined 'amnesty' period once a year (of perhaps an hour at a sensibly worked out time) would save a lot of disposal bother and give people the confidence to use - and maybe continue to use - flares.
Personally I won't be buying any more .... and I suspect even the CG will soon be refusing to accept my old ones 'because they are too old'.
Vic
prv
Well-known member
At the Hamble flare-disposal event recently, they apparently received some that expired in the 60s
Pete
Fenlander
New member
When my dad passed away the police were there with the ambulance crew and they found some old flares whilst searching the place, they asked me if I wanted them to dispose of them, what a farce. It turns out they were not authorised to take them away so they called the fire brigade, after about 20 min the fire chief turns up looks at them and said he could not take them so called up bomb diposal from RAF Wittering.
From experience I would say don't attempt to let off any more than 3 years out of date.
From experience I would say don't attempt to let off any more than 3 years out of date.
Doug_Stormforce
New member
Pains Wessex and Icarus share holders i expect!!
More seriously though
I am pretty sure that an out of date rocket flares does not go off horizontally unless the person firing it points it horizontally.
Over the years I have run many many flare session for students. It used to be common practice for instructors and their students to fire out of date flares on sea survival courses, on several occasions we fired off flares that were 10, 20 and more years old, occasionally some failed to ignite, and some wee a bit discoloured but the majority worked fine.
Following a fairly well published accident in 2006 involving a white hand held pains wessex flare instructors have re considered how they run flare sessions. Despite firing hundreds of out of date flares for years with no harm and despite the fact that the accident occurred using an in date flare we all came to the conclusion that we should only use in date flares for demos.
I am not convinced now that we use in date (but sometime nearly out of date) flares that the number of flares that fail or are discoloured are any less than they used to be.
BrendanS
Well-known member
To answer the actual question, it's about the stability of the contents. They can trust the contents to be safe up to a point, despite how they are stored, only for a period. Some flares might be stored better, not subjected to extremes of temperature, but the manufacturers have no control of storage conditions on board, so they try to second guess what you might to with them, and come up with a safe period based on their knowledge of what might happen. Even then, they are making assumptions that you don't store them in the middle of a log fire etc.