How not to discard flares

NeilH · 01 September 2010, 08:46

probably not the brightest idea to put a flare in a skip!

http://www.thisishampshire.net/news/..._in_bin_lorry/

Bern Hanreck · 01 September 2010, 13:49

I suspect that this was not an " accident " at all . I have seen a few reports recently from north of the border and Norfolk where a current craze amongst the yobs is to deliberately set fire to " bin lorries " etc , preferably whilst they are on the move . I believe they get " extra cred " if the vehicle has to tip it's load on the highway whilst still ablaze !

David G · 01 September 2010, 17:59

Whilst not condoning this behaviour in any way, I am not surprised.

I have some aged, out of date flares in the garage which I have repeatedly struggled to dispose of.

So if anyone knows how to get rid of Time Expired Pyrotechniques in the Bristol Area I would love to know as I was looking at them again at the weekend.......

Orve.

Rich L · 01 September 2010, 20:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orville

Whilst not condoning this behaviour in any way, I am not surprised.

I have some aged, out of date flares in the garage which I have repeatedly struggled to dispose of.

So if anyone knows how to get rid of Time Expired Pyrotechniques in the Bristol Area I would love to know as I was looking at them again at the weekend.......

Orve.

Have you tried your local council recycling centre (aka the council dump)?They have a special metal container for fireworks at ours and thats where mine went.

willk · 01 September 2010, 20:25

...or set up shop outside a major footie match?

lakelandterrier · 01 September 2010, 20:42

Yes it's a funny attitude, and the RYA is doing its usuasl toadying to authorities act "....the MCA is not a waste disposal service.......people should buy lfare from reputable suppliers who will dispose of them, and buy them cheaply......"

Flares remain a fundamental emergency safety item and not being able to dispose of the responsibly will just lead to unwelcome strategies being used..... how easy it would be to dump them in 300' of English Channel.

Even though drug use is illegal there is lots of money spent on safe needle exchanges and disposal at no cost to the user (not being judgmental), and council facilites for other hazardous waste - batteries, oil, etc etc...

martini · 01 September 2010, 20:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by lakelandterrier

Flares remain a fundamental emergency safety item

The subject of some debate in these days of DSC, EPIRBs etc. The number of chinese lanterns causing false alarms also can't be helping in respect of flares being ignored.

When mine expire I'll be reducing the number I replace at the very least.

Bigmuz7 · 01 September 2010, 21:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by martini

The number of chinese lanterns causing false alarms

That's a subject all to its self IMO

I found one slumped over my diesel tank in the yard a few weeks ago

.. so concerned I was that I took the 'fuel' pack in for investigation .. turns out it was redundant .. good news .. but was it totally ? ... like, when it landed ?

These things should be banned IMO or certainly not let off near tinder dry crops, or marinas full of rubber boats & yachts.... dont mean to be elfnsafety and all that, but as usual some manufacturers will make proper ones, and others wont be made to any standard, if there ever was one

lakelandterrier · 01 September 2010, 22:43

Originally Posted by lakelandterrier

Flares remain a fundamental emergency safety item

Yes they are! Orange smoke will give any assisting craft - sea / air visual indication of where exactly you are, wind speed direction etc..... that electronic means will not, and flares / smoke can be been SEEN unlike electronic devices that mean someone watching a screen, trusting that all craft are fully electronically upto date and will spend the money so to be.

Yes DSC and EPIRBS have their place and are important, but are not universal. Flares gve the opportunity for those without highly expensive monitoring equipment to actually see a problem. As an inshore / coastal ribber I would never consider giving up carrying flares.

Poly · 01 September 2010, 22:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by lakelandterrier

Yes it's a funny attitude, and the RYA is doing its usuasl toadying to authorities act "....the MCA is not a waste disposal service.......people should buy lfare from reputable suppliers who will dispose of them, and buy them cheaply.....

its always struck me as strange that we "expect" the MCA to take them. I don't take the radioactive element in a used smoke detector or an old halon fire extinguisher round to the fire station for disposal? With out of date / unwanted medicines we are encouraged not to take them back to the doctor who recommended them but to the pharmacist who supplied them. With flares the same applies, McMurdo et al do very nicely out of supplying them, so do the chandlers - its only right that the "reverse" route applies for disposal. Last time I bought flares they had a sign up saying they'd take old ones when buying new - I didn't have any to dispose of at the time.

Quote:

Flares remain a fundamental emergency safety item and not being able to dispose of the responsibly will just lead to unwelcome strategies being used..... how easy it would be to dump them in 300' of English Channel.

it would be far easier to dump them in your domestic waste (or perhaps inside an anonymous box at the local tip.

Quote:

Even though drug use is illegal there is lots of money spent on safe needle exchanges and disposal at no cost to the user (not being judgmental), and council facilites for other hazardous waste - batteries, oil, etc etc...

presumably if there were lots of flares getting dumped that way the council would perceive a risk and encourage segregation as Rich L suggests is the case with fireworks.

Poly · 01 September 2010, 22:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by lakelandterrier

Originally Posted by lakelandterrier

Flares remain a fundamental emergency safety item

Yes they are! Orange smoke will give any assisting craft - sea / air visual indication of where exactly you are, wind speed direction etc..... that electronic means will not, and flares / smoke can be been SEEN unlike electronic devices that mean someone watching a screen, trusting that all craft are fully electronically upto date and will spend the money so to be.

Yes DSC and EPIRBS have their place and are important, but are not universal. Flares gve the opportunity for those without highly expensive monitoring equipment to actually see a problem. As an inshore / coastal ribber I would never consider giving up carrying flares.

Even the CG have suggested that this subject warrants debate. Personally given the cost of flares I am leaning towards the "technical solutions" and suspect that there are a lot of boats out there without any. Unfortunately I'd feel guilty if I didn't have any flares with me.

Doug Stormforce · 01 September 2010, 23:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by lakelandterrier

...Orange smoke will give any assisting craft - sea / air visual indication of where exactly you are, wind speed direction etc..... that electronic means will not,

There are plenty of electronic devices that will give you this information, they will even do it in the dark and in restricted vis, something the old orange flare you mention is no so effective with. These devices do not put the users at risk, they are not a burden to the tax payer when they expire after 3 yrs and they last a lot longer than the 60 secs to 3 mins you get out of the orange flare.

I think when the CEO of the MCA is publically asking the question "Do we still need to carry flares?" We should all be asking the same question.

I belive it will be some time before we see the flare properly replaced but let's be honest the technology is there to provide something much better, safer and more effective, it just needs to be embraced.

hobbit555 · 02 September 2010, 19:27

what about a service exchange system similar to things like alternators from car engines. in other words pay slightly more first time then on renewal date if you return them you get them cheaper.. and the manufacturer could then recycle the raw materials where possible and thus reducing overall waste

lakelandterrier · 04 September 2010, 18:55

I've yet to see anything electronic that gives visual coverage and an easily visible trail back to point of origin as smoke, having used lots of in in the military and working for a pyro company.

I have a feeling the MCA is driven as much by its convenenince, cost and wanting to track everything remotely. When the chief of an agency starts a debate they usually have the ending they want already defined!