disposing of OOD flares

[RodtheRebel]

We replace expired pyro with current pyro when we service life rafts. We would like to see the owners keep the expired flares and smoke for training purposes or extra pyro in a ditch bag, but most people don't want to bother with it. We keep some of them and use them when people visit us and want to see how stuff works. OOD pyro will work for many more years after the expiration date.

[NevisDog]

Originally Posted by RodtheRebel

We replace expired pyro with current pyro when we service life rafts. ... We keep some of them and use them when people visit us and want to see how stuff works. ...

Well then, you may be the best person to ask: which make(s) of flare would be the easiest to use in the dark, wearing gloves, and without a torch?

[RodtheRebel]

Originally Posted by NevisDog

Well then, you may be the best person to ask: which make(s) of flare would be the easiest to use in the dark, wearing gloves, and without a torch?

We use Pains Wessex in all our rafts here in the US. They are easy to use and designed for extreme conditions (wet, cold, dark, gloves etc.). Sometimes we get a batch of Hansson flares and rockets. They're just as good.

[Cavalier]

Originally Posted by NevisDog

I tried searching for an answer but failed: what's to be done with a stack of very outdated flares (some from as far back as 1980s)? I guess this is almost an annual requirement for some but our recently acquired boat has so many old flares/smokes it could be considered a safety hazard.



(With Guy Fawkes in a few days, I hoped the cruising club might use some in their fireworks display but they don't seem keen.)

I've taken OOD flares to our nearby Fire Station a number of times. They accept them willingly, especially as it removes another "fire starter" from the world, and gives them pyros to teach/practice with.

[Dr. D]

Originally Posted by Cormorant

I'd be curious to know if that actually kills them. I bet some flares can be soaked for hours and still ignite. I may have to play around with some of my "Ridiculously OOD"s.

The "working" material had expanded and changed color, so I'm thinking they became chemically inert.

[desodave]

The Power Squadron in Canada is encouraging local squadrons to hold annual flare disposal days. I believe they have an arrangement with one of the major manufacturers ( CIL ?) for safe disposal. I volunteered at the last event here and we took in a huge number of them - old railway flares, WW II era military stuff, as well as boating flares, amazing numbers of them for a small community.

I had tried a few years ago to find safe disposal without much luck at the time. Called the local RCMP and they said "no, we don't do it any more, call the fire department". The fire department said "good question, we don't - try the RCMP." After a bit more research, found out that Pacific Blasting in the Burnaby(Vancouver suburb) would handle them for a fee. But BC Ferries class them as dangerous goods so I could only legally do it by taking a 3 day boat trip to Vancouver and 3 more back !! Subsequently found that Ellice Recycling in Victoria also took them - for a similar fee. And those fees cost almost as much as the original flares !! Non-starter !

However, in buying my last set of flares, I discovered that my retailer [ Ocean Pacific in Campbell River] would also accept old ones as long as they were the same brand as they sold - Orion. That to me is the most sensible solution. If they sell them, they should have arrangements in place for safe disposal of the old ones.

[zeehag]

in 2000 we were told to keep em and use in times of abject need and that the minimum number is a joke. so i keep mine and hide em when inspections occur and bring em out for cruising.
ps one of the most irritating and longest in duration preventions from going home to my boat in 1991 was old dynamite in the river under the old phillips petroleum refinery off anaheim blvd. took em over 4 hours of our time to decide they could allow us home and the three sticks was not going to kill us, about a mile away from the site. yeah i trust the govt to let me know i am not gonna die form this kind of misadventure. yeah i had just finished an 18 hour run in pacu with a couple of intensive patients i needed to recover personally as well as my managerial duties.

[sailorboy1]

Turns out if you take plastic caps off them, they sink!

[CFS Klopas]

I recently got upon the idea of asking for advice and possibly disposal services at a fireworks shop. They have similar disposal problems for excess merchandise. I found a group of 3 of them when I drove over, they said they put the garbage fireworks in the trash.

The search continues, I already tried the local fire department and household hazardous waste disposal. I'll probably try to launch them in the woods 10 miles from navigable water with the snow cover to reduce fire danger.

[RaymondR]

I disposed of hand held flares by tying a cord onto them, setting them off and throwing them in the water until they burned out. They were then just safely disposed of in a general rubbish bin.

Not that environmentally sensitive but the river I was in at the time is so polluted with agricultural runoff that I may even have improved the water quality.

Probably not a good technique with rocket flares unless you tied an anchor to the front end.