White parachute flares.

[R.Ems]

Do you carry them? Have you used one? I can imagine a white flare, designed to illuminate an area brightly, could be very handy. Eg lost among rocks, MOB, etc.

 

[mm42]

Carry them and use them, mainly for scene lighting in search and rescue jobs.

 

[[70521]]

Carry them, last used them as a member of a Mountain Rescue Team.

 

[Baddox]

I’ve never had them so never used them and am questing whether or not to replace the usual coastal flares which are out of date this year.

During our Day Skipper course we moored overnight in Fowey. I’m not the best sleeper and was awake when the rescue services sent up a white flare. It illuminated the area well as they looked for the owner of an empty, adrift dinghy, presumed to have fallen in on the way back from the pub.

Although the light worked well, our crew slept through it without anything more audible than a whoosh to rouse them; the dinghy owner was soon identified safely ashore and dry. I keep a few, very bright Cree LED torches ready and charged now we have our own boat.

 

[Stemar]

I carried one for years as a steamer scarer, but got rid of it when it got far enough out of date to be an issue. Now I have a plug-in spotlight and a decent battery-operated torch.

 

[[70521]]

I’ve never had them so never used them and am questing whether or not to replace the usual coastal flares which are out of date this year.

No need to replace out of date pyrotechnics in the UK. They are quite safe if stored in the correct conditions.

 

[Hermit]

I fully appreciate it is a marketing blurb but the video at the end of this article may be of interest.
Pains Wessex launches sustainable flare packs

 

[martyn78]

No need to replace out of date pyrotechnics in the UK. They are quite safe if stored in the correct conditions.

Yeah. I used to keep old flares... One guess if i still do.
No the petrol container was NOT anywhere near.

 

[R.Ems]

Yeah. I used to keep old flares... One guess if i still do.
No the petrol container was NOT anywhere near.
View attachment 133303

My god what happened?

 

[capnsensible]

No need to replace out of date pyrotechnics in the UK. They are quite safe if stored in the correct conditions.

They are lifed because the chemicals in the pyrotechnic degrade over time. They may work. They may not. They may burn incorrectly.

Similarly, I don't eat out of date food just to see if I'm gonna get galloping gut rot.

I used to have a job that involved babysitting various categories of explosives and I totally trusted the maker.

Up to you......

 

[[70521]]

Yeah. I used to keep old flares... One guess if i still do.
No the petrol container was NOT anywhere near.
View attachment 133303

Yes, I recall your original post. I was careful to state, 'They are quite safe if stored in the correct conditions', As I said on your original post I do not consider being sat on a liferaft in the cockpit locker somewhere on the Med with an ambient temperature of >30°C , I'd estimate 50°c in the locker, are not the correct conditions.

EDIT: My post on the original thread.

You failed to follow the manufacturer's instructions. Store in a cool dry place. In that cockpit locker between the liferaft and the lid in the heat of the Greek sunshine that are is going to get very, very, very hot. You were lucky that the quick reaction of other people saved your boat.

I would be interested if you ever measured the temperature in that area after the fire, just to see how hot it can get on a hot day in the Med. The place to store pyrotechnics in that climate was below the waterline next to the hull.

Interestingly, batteries could have also caused damage as their recommended temperature range is -14c to +50c.

 

[[70521]]

They are lifed because the chemicals in the pyrotechnic degrade over time. They may work. They may not. They may burn incorrectly.

Similarly, I don't eat out of date food just to see if I'm gonna get galloping gut rot.

I used to have a job that involved babysitting various categories of explosives and I totally trusted the maker.

Up to you......

True, but still usable. I am happy to carry pyrotechnics that are upto 10 years past their 'use by day' and have used some that were >20 years that worked. A bit like eating something a month out of date that had been kept correctly. Two years and that really is a risk.

Best not start talking about the shelf life of explosives as that strays into current affairs

 

[capnsensible]

???

 

[Juan Twothree]

Got called out last year to a yacht that only had two handflares, both expired in 1983. One worked, the other didn't.

I pointed out to the skipper that the flares were older than most of the lifeboat crew that had come out to help him.

 

[Helidan]

No need to replace out of date pyrotechnics in the UK. They are quite safe if stored in the correct conditions.

Considering what they cost and the long expiry dates is it worth the risk?

 

[dunedin]

I fully appreciate it is a marketing blurb but the video at the end of this article may be of interest.
Pains Wessex launches sustainable flare packs

What complete nonsense from Pains Wessex - replacing a reusable plastic storage container does not make flares “sustainable”, and probably zero impact on plastic waste (can already buy flares without the pack, and have done for years). Adding a few extra years to the current 4-5 year state life, on the other hand, would hugely reduce waste and make a real difference to sustainability.
it might also win them some extra sales, if people see they had a longer lifespan. I have already reducedby more than half the pyro flares carried, due to the short lifespan of the flares - and invested in PLBs, LED flares etc instead.

 

[Stemar]

Expiry dates and sustainability were the main reasons I ditched the fireworks and got a LED "flare". The several hours life rather than several seconds were a further incentive. Other people sailing in other areas may come to a different conclusion, but it's rare that I'm out of mobile phone range and even rarer to be out of sight of land.

 

[Neeves]

Much of our land has no-one on it that would see a flare, call it uninhabited. Not much use having a mobile phone or VHF either, for similar reasons. Its either SSB, sat phone, EPIRB (mandatory) or sort out your own problems.

But in answer, we carry white para flares, and I have used one (once 30 years ago - it was quite legal then to release fireworks in Macau - so the only place to practice. But being young then - I've forgotten). Our flare container has a pair of welding gloves, as well as flares.

Jonathan