I had an old 25 MM flare explode in the gun instead of launch. Also note SOLAS flares are on a whole different planet in terms of brightness, reliability, and longevity. The only reason IMHO to ever buy non-SOLAS flares is because you need to fulfill the letter of USCG regs and never ever intend to use them.
Speaking of using them, IMHO they are a terrible way to get help. They are useful for leading a rescuer to you that is in the area looking for you and we also discovered someone wanting to play junior pirate found something better to do after I put a 25 MM magnesium flare a foot over his head. If you are ever reduced to using flares for an initial distress signal, one is USELESS. 3 is about the minimum and 5 or 6 would be better. One night I was headed home from Saint Michaels and saw a meteor flare. I reported it to the USCG. They asked about range and bearing. They thought about it for about 20 minutes and put out a PAN call asking if anyone else had seen it. 30 minutes after that was another PAN call. So now we are about an hour later and no actual SAR is going on. Joe Della Barba Coquina From: CnC-List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bill Bina - gmail via CnC-List Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2015 12:51 PM To: [email protected] Cc: Bill Bina - gmail Subject: Re: Stus-List SOS light flare replacement Controlled testing has proven that flares gradually lose ignition/launch reliability, and burn time as they age. Old flares may not fly as high, burn as bright, or have other deficits. It is not an arbitrary punishment intended to make flare manufacturers wealthy. I'm pretty sure milk has a much shorter shelf life than flares... Bill Bina On 8/27/2015 12:35 PM, Russ & Melody via CnC-List wrote: Hi Marek, I too like the idea of having the approved light and day marker as qualifiers to the regulation and keeping a stock of flares aboard. My recent kit of flares were manufactured in July, four years ago. That means an extra $120 spent to go sailing that I could have used to buy beer. :) I would like to know how the pointy heads came up with a "best before date" of 4 years for these things. It's not milk for crying out loud! Cheers, Russ Sweet 35 mk-1
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