The RNLI do free flare demo's for groups if asked. I have arranged one in about a months time for the local scouts i help at, and hope that'll teach me a thing or two at the same time.
Good point about bonfire night, might try it this year with an old one just to have a go.
You can get real good deals on Flare packs from this place, they are Genuine Pains Wessex manufacyurers of Safety flares and Land mines ( hows that for diversification) which are very good and they have about 2,5 years left but thay are about 60% off the RRP.
I was using the term "spam" in the loosest possible context - I've had four mails from these guys over three months, I guess they bought an email list from a competition sponsor at Earls Court Boat Show perhaps?
Otherwise I share your thoughts on gratuitous spamming.
your out of date flares is:
Fire them on your kids birthday party (outdoors),
Your own birthday party (outdoors again) or,
Your boss name day (indoors).
If you ever go to a football game it a nice place too.
as doing any of those might land you in trouble. (particularly the football game, although as far as I am concerned the more hooligans you can take out the better!). I read in MBY recently about some chap on the Medway who was letting off out of date flares after having advised the Coastguard what he was doing and got nabbed and fined!
Miniature flares-not worth the room they take up(no matter how little that might be). What is the point of a large merchantman who can be easily seen if he breaks down carrying big flares and then us in a difficult to spot rib carrying little flares that no one will see. We passed a boat a few years ago whilst on patrol in coastguard boat. He was well up a gully in the mudbanks on a faling tide. Having volunteered (shoved out of boat!) to go and chat to him the owner told me he had fired 7 flares and thought no-one was going to come for him. Now we had only gone in 'cos we had seen him on a routine patrol. Nobody ever reported those flares despite it having all happened about a mile off a busy holiday sea front with yacht club safety boats, us, plus a manned coastguard station just down the coast. On a bad day with a more critical situation you really dont want to be relying on tiny flares. The local c/g station will take out of date flares in-then bomb disposal can play with 'em.
)
) Loughlin
