what kinda flares to get

[ziggy]

Merry Chrsitmas folks,
got me some expired flares for Christmas. handheld ones, uscg approved they say. they came from wally world, .... anyways. i was wondering, since i gots to take them back anyway, what kinda flare do you have onboard for your vessel for inland boating? a flare gun, hand held, handheld airial i think is the other option. i don't boat much at night, but did once last year, later realizing that i wasn't hip. no night siglaling devise onboard..... i got what i wanted for christmas........ least the exp. date.

 

[DJ]

Re: what kinda flares to get

I have the hand held aerial type.

 

[rndn]

Re: what kinda flares to get

I carry the handheld day/night ones. I only boat on the finger lakes area of New York so anything else would be a waste of money.

 

[ziggy]

Re: what kinda flares to get

anything else would be a waste of money

i don't know yer area being from a cornfield. why is that? i got lakes that are 20 miles long, only a mile to three wide though round here, usually boat on 2000 sq acre local lake + the missouri river. which is down in a vally. handheld might not get seen from around the bend on the river.....
are they handheld, non airel?

 

[DJ]

Re: what kinda flares to get

Handheld rockets.

 

[ziggy]

Re: what kinda flares to get

I carry the handheld day/night ones.

these are the ones i was wondering about. aireal or not.....and why he felt that was the only type that'd be useful to him.....

i understood what ya have dj. i was confuzed though what a halnd was though at first, thanks......

 

[DJ]

Re: what kinda flares to get

i understood what ya have dj. i was confuzed though what a halnd was though at first, thanks......

Sorry about that. Corrected.

 

[JCF350]

Re: what kinda flares to get

You need aerial for long distance, hand held for close in and smoke for daylight.

 

[SgtMaj]

Re: what kinda flares to get

I was planning to get the flair gun kit from bass pro, and add whatever flairs are missing from the kit (I think it only comes with 3 arial and 1 smoke).

 

[EMM]

Re: what kinda flares to get

I carry handheld day/night flares even though I am only required to carry night flares if I boat at night.

 

[maxturbo]

Re: what kinda flares to get

I always thought that as long as its Coast Guard approved they were ok.
During the day you have your radio. At night I think it would matter most.

 

[Boatist]

Re: what kinda flares to get

Outside the line of dmarcation (where distance between land is first more than 1 miles) you must meat several requirements. aleart function. This requires you to carry as least 3 Aerial flares and they must not be expired. also must meet the locate function. Even in daytime must have 3 Handheld flares on board. A light that automaticly flashes SOS is also legal for night time but must have fresh batteries. In day time can use the Orange and Black square distress flag. Also recomend dye markers.

On my boat have many aerial flares, Many 12 guage ones fired in flare gun also have many aerials that are fired from there own handheld launcher. also have dye markers, Orange and black distress flag, SOS electronic light.

When buying Flares they now are made to not expire for 42 months. Most of the time to get very fresh one must buy in spring when many are buying or buy from a store that sells lots of flares. Many places will try and sell flares that only have a short life left.

 

[seafox 257]

Re: what kinda flares to get

I have a flare gun with day or night flares. they must be coast guard approved and make sure they are not expired.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: what kinda flares to get

I carry Orion Aerial Flares (with gun), handheld flares, signalling mirrors and cyalume sticks. My vest type PFDs have a submersible light and a signal mirror in the pocket.

A word of caution on these flare guns ... Orion Safety Products bought Olin, who made the same gun. Units manufactured prior to 2000 were known to have a defect which prevented users from opening the breach, so that a round could be inserted. The problem is in the hinge point. If you have one, you can send it to Orion and they will provide a replacement for free. You can call 800-851-5260 for further information. I had this problem (the gun was in the boat when I bought it and failed to work when I tested it) and sent mine in - I received the replacement in about 3 weeks. BTW, you may wish to keep expired rounds because, while they won't pass an inspection, they usually work and can supplement your supply of current flares.

Signal mirrors can. of course, be bought at just about any marine store but here is a handy tip - keep a few blank CDs on your boat. They are cheap and work very well as a signalling device. The center hole is also handy for sighting towards the area that you are signalling.

In addition to having some value as a backup signalling device, cyalume sticks can be handy if you have a problem with your running lights. They can be purchased in a number of colors, including red, green and yellow. The red and green can be tied to a cleat on the appropriate sides of the bow and the yellow is close enough to white to serve as a stern light.

 

[rbc]

Re: what kinda flares to get

If you are serious about having launchable type flares,don't buy Orion products. Just because it is coast guard approved does not mean it will work when needed. Spend a little more and buy flares that are SOLAS approved. I got this info. from Coast Guard instructer and witnessed the failure of Orion products in a class where we fired off many flares. When an Orion product worked it came no where near the burn intensity of a SOLAS flare.
rbc

 

[jarata]

Re: what kinda flares to get

Ize tell you what boy i kinda like them there hand held thing a mabobs

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: what kinda flares to get

Just make sure they are Coast Guard approved mabobs!

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: what kinda flares to get

I am very interested in the issue of flare failures and would love to hear specific information such as whether the Coast Guard unit was regular USCG or auxiliary. The reason why I am asking this is because, while many members of the auxiliary are really great and knowledgable, some aren't. Also, how old were the flares that failed and how many failed in comparison to the total number shot. Obviously flares are not any good if they don't work but I did quite a bit of surfing on the net tonight, looking for info on Orion products, and there doesn't seem to be a word about anything other than the gun problems that were related to the original Olin design. Considering that they sell more product than anyone else, I would think that widespread problems would be known.

No doubt that the SOLAS products are better and Orion carries them. Also no doubt that the more "hang time," the better. I will tell you, however, that as one who flew search and rescue in the U.S.C.G. for about three years, any flare is better than no flare. It is very hard to find a human being in the water from either a boat or an airplane, so anything - a flare, a mirror, a dye pak - is tremendously helpful. Then again, if money were no object and I could really have what I want, it would be an EPIRB!

 

[SgtMaj]

Re: what kinda flares to get

This may be slightly off-topic, but it's at least in the same neighborhood...

Can the Orion flair guns (those orange plastic looking ones) be used to shoot regular shot gun shells without modification (or if modified, it still needs to be able to shoot the flares as well)?

If so, it would seem like that would make it the flare of choice for inshore boaters as it would kill 2 birds with one stone so to speak. It would give you a legal firearm that you won't ever get hassled about even in state park waters. Also you'll have a good inshore flare. Sure it only has a couple seconds of burn-time, but for most inshore lakes, that's plenty of time since they tend to be more crowded, additionally those flares are less likely to start wildfires on the banks as they are more likely to burn out before hitting the ground, and don't have as much time to drift off course.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: what kinda flares to get

I would definately not try to shoot a shotgun shell in a plastic flare launcher!

As far as flare duration is concerned in an area where lots of people might see it, yes, I agree that a few seconds will often do it. What is more important to me in that scenario, is that the distressed person have extra flares to pop off when the search aircraft and/or boats arrive. I have been out on a number of SARs when many people called in the initial flare, only to get out in the search area at night with no further contact. Really, at that point all you can do is to have the helos use "night sun" or have fixed wing aircraft dumping strings of Mk45 parachute flares for night illumination, which is something that I am not even sure that the Coast Guard does any more.