Flares

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by 4str

It is my understanding that here in the US if the coast guard inspects your boat and finds out of date flares they write a ticket.

Not true. You'll be cited if you cannot produce the required number of non-expired flares; they don't care about others.

The wording used whenever I've been boarded was "I need you to show me [lifejacket per person/throwable PFD/three flares/etc.]" They don't inspect my kit to see what else is in there.

I personally, at the moment, have onboard 6 current handheld aerial flares, 6 expired handheld aerial flares, 8 (I think) 12 gauge aerial flares, a smoke signal, and two dye markers. Have to check, but I'm pretty sure all but the 6 known expired flares are current.

jky

[4str]

For some reason up here in Puget Sound that is not the case, they will scold you for having any expired flares, even if you have the required number of in date ones aboard. The policy seems stupid to me.

I'll see if I can find a report. Maybe my beer addled brain shorted a circuit.

[jyasaki]

Interesting. I'd ask what law or reg you were violating. I doubt they'd be able to come up with one.

http://www.uscgsanfrancisco.com/go/d...nterfriendly=1

Excerpt from above link:
>BOATERS SHOULD KEEP VISUAL DISTRESS SIGNALSON THEIR BOAT
>
>Visual distress signals will aid search assets in locating them should an
>emergency arise.
>
>Vessels owned in the United States operating on the high seas must be
>equipped with U.S.C.G. approved visual distress signals.
>
>They are marked with an expiration date. Expired signals may be carried as
>extra equipment, but can not be counted toward meeting the visual distress
>signal requirement, since they may be unreliable.
>
>If they are expired, take them to your local fire department or Coast Guard
>unit.


jky

[m chappelow]

as a matter of intrest we let off a number of smoke and pinpoint flares yesterday all with an expirey date of 1986 and everyone of them worked fine as part of a joint helicopter and rescue services,mountain rescue demontration. as long as you have the recomended amount of indate flares on board taking the old expired ones gives you a bit extra back up as long as they kept in a suitable airtight container . in the past though the only thing that we have noticed is out of date para flares tend to burn a bit pink rather than red maroon colour .

[m chappelow]

Originally Posted by John Kennett

There's no problem here keeping them as backups. It seems to be quite a common thing to do.

I've fired quite a few out of date flares and they generally work OK. Don't rely on it though - a couple of weeks ago I used 8 Pains Wessex hand held reds that were only a year or so out of date and two of them didn't fire.

John

HI john , yes we seemed to have some about 3 years ago tryed to fire some p/w hand held pin points and they would not ignite and they were only about to date expire . and from different sources so cannot be blamed on storage

[al40]

Bit late into this discussion but here is another place that delivers them.

http://www.marinescene.co.uk/category/400/flares