Disposal of Expired Flares

[Capt Phil]

Love your comment, fousley... my sentiments exactly!
When we had our raft repacked in Ensenada quite a few years ago, the Bomberos (firefighters who ran the place) insisted we not only see the raft inflate when they checked it out, but invited us to bring all the old flares down to the beach to set them off so we knew how they operated as well.
They also invited their families, we brought the food and cervases, and made a party out of it. God knows what the fishermen anchored nearby thought was going on with not only multi-colored flares but parachutes and orange smoke bombs going off up and down the beach. The Ensenada police showed up and joined the party knocking back a few modelos even though they were apparently on duty. These were the more relaxed days of northern Mexico and the further south you went the more relaxed and friendly folks were. No one knew what politically correct was and no one cared as long as you hable'd a bit of espanol. God, I miss the 70's!!! Capt Phil

[CGbeachbum]

Sometimes some USCG Auxiliary / US Power Squadron flotillas will take them for training purposes. Or like others say keep them on board or dispose of them with proper local fire / hazmat authorities.

I usually don't keep ones that are very very old. But having done some training with sort of just expired flares I can tell you that they still work quite well and in an emergency situation you will be glad you had them.

[fjwiley1]

I"m a old Railroader for 43 years...we call them "Fusees", same thing as a "Flare", some old caboose might have had them around for years unused...never did fail to "light up".....same on my ole boat today....as has been said, if they are "out of date" they don't meet Coast Guard requirements but doesn't mean they won"t work as a back -up. I won't speak of the Pistol Flares, just the hand held....

njoy Life for it is Good

[perchance]

Our local CG Auxiliary recently had a demo on the proper use of flares etc. We actually got to fire off a few ourselves so we would know what to expect if we had to do it in earnest. There was the odd dud but the majority still worked in spite of their age.
It was certainly a worthwhile exercise.

[rolandcavanagh]

I got inspected by the USCG last Spring in Peconic Bay Long Island and showed them the expired flares and aerials (along with the current ones...) and they said just pack them separately, labeled as 'expired' and keep them for backup. Passed inspection successfully, thank you.

[bobconnie]

Im the happy owner of a full box of both 10 and 12 gauge gun flares,I had more but over the years ive shot off a few !LOL and so far Ive never had one not shoot off and boy do those 10 gauges get up there !!! it's a real blast(woops) to fire them off !! Ive kept the flare guns and flares for for a LONG time and a lot of hand helds the same lenght of time and so far they all have worked ! I suggest ya try them first if ya need to send a signal it will suprise ya how well old stuff works !! (even me LOL) Just sayin just cus things are old don't mean they still can't get it done !!

[David M]

Flares and smokes are great for getting rid of gophers and it is safe to set them off this way. Safe, except from the gophers point of view.

[gjordan]

Growing up my father was a gunsmith/dealer and my brothers and I shot off thousands of rounds of old shotgun shells which are very little differant than pistol flares. There was the odd dud, but you keep the barrel pointed in a safe directions for a slow count to 60 and then unload it. Never once had the dreaded hangfire(delayed firing). I always kept my outdated marine flares to add to the total number of flares on board. I also almost always kept my flare gun loaded in the cockpit with a white flare in case I was not sure if a ship saw me or not. White (attention) flare is the only flare you can fire without having to explain it to the Coast Guard, and maybe being billed for a search and rescue that wasnt needed. Just my thaughts. ____Grant.

[Sailor g]

There is a day each year in Redondo Beach, CA that has a Sea Fair day where you can shoot off expired (or any other) flares. It gives people practice, a legal way to get rid of them and have fun at the same time.