How can I legally set off flares for test purposes?

[stormalong]

Originally Posted by CFS Klopas

This winter, I launched 12g meteor flares into the forest. Should be legal if you're far enough from navigable water that it couldn't be confused with a distress signal. I waited for snow cover to minimize the wildfire risk.

The 7 flares were 10 years old. 1 misfired, one ignited correctly, 5 launched but did not ignite.

Is this a joke???

Snow cover is no guarantee that you won't start a forest fire. Those flares burn hot.

The only place to safely test flares in over water.

[Delfin]

Originally Posted by taxwizz

First....Throw a crew member overboard.
Then you can legally fire the flares.


Or...Wait until July 4.

I tried that, but the wife really didn't appreciate it. Burn barrel works fine.

[Rchido]

A few years ago I asked a policeman neighbor how to dispose of used flares. As a good neighbor, he said he would look into it. He told me to
leave the flairs on my porch and they would be picked. I was rather surprised when the New Jersey State Police Bomb Squad Vehicle showed up,and a member in full regalia picked up my paper bag of flares.

[meirriba]

Originally Posted by jsc7

How can I legally set off flares for test purposes?

I have expired flares that have to be disposed of anyway, so I would like to test them to familiarize myself with how they operate.

How can I do that legally and without setting off a false alarm?

Here in Israel we do it routinely as a training exercise, after coordination with the marine police.

[guyrj33]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Keep some but keep them separate from your official ones...have heard stories of authorities not liking old ones even if you have enough new ones...but they still work long after the expiration and why not have extras.

Legally...no you can't shoot them off but 4th of july, many harbors have so many things going off, no one will be able to tell the difference.

I don't think it's a good idea to shoot off flares during the celebrations on the Fourth. I know a lot of people do, but lets also think about what would happen if there was an incident on the Fourth. Our annual trip to watch the fireworks by boat is my most concerning trip of the year. It's at night full load of passengers on our sailboat, we're OK but what about everyone else? Many irresponsible operators on the other boats.

[George DuBose]

Y'all are funny...

I live in Germany now and every New Year's Eve, everyone does their own firework thing. The local supermarkets sell rockets, firecrackers and all kinds of explosive contraptions.

I take advantage of that chaos and get rid of my outdated flares and signal rockets.

The SOLAS rockets have quite a kick and it is really good to practice with them. Also, wearing welder's gloves protects one from the burning drips from the flares.

Orion used to sell white flares for their plastic flare guns and they were for practice...

What's wrong with the Fourth of July?

[mholtzberg]

I was at a Sea Scout event at Boca Ciega Yacht Club and every 2 years they have a flare shoot off and even with 40-50 kids it becomes quite a fireworks show. The organizer contacted the CG I think through a letter and obtained clearance probably in the same manner as the letter below. But, we did not call them and the Florida Water Cops showed up after we probably shot off about 30 launching flares.. 12g and whatever. They figured out what was going on and decided we could keep firing off flares as long as we just didn't fire off aerials.

Although I was only assisting in the event I personally would have raised the CG on 16 and reminded them to broadcast that this event was going on.

[taxwizz]

I might suggest that fourth of July the flares be set off ashore, not at sea where they might be confused with a real emergency.

There is often an organized "shoot" at a park on Firecracker Day.

[CFS Klopas]

Originally Posted by George DuBose

Orion used to sell white flares for their plastic flare guns and they were for practice...

Orion still makes white SOLAS brightness hand held flares you can burn to your heart's content, available at West Marine and other large chandlerys. They also seem useful whenever you need a lot of light in a hurry, like collision avoidance or search and rescue.

The white 12g flares are scattered around the internet, but probably all expired.

[MV Wanderlust]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

Some while ago we sent an inquiry to the St. Pete coast guard concerning this matter. Our plan was to use our out of date aerial flares for a training exercise, to be fired from the back of the boat while anchored in a relatively isolated area of Tampa Bay. The following is the response we received:

I believe the foregoing would apply to any locale where flares can be discharged with relative safety to property and wildlife.

FWIW...

That's what we plan to do on our next annual training refresher day.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Keep some but keep them separate from your official ones...have heard stories of authorities not liking old ones even if you have enough new ones...but they still work long after the expiration and why not have extras.

Legally...no you can't shoot them off but 4th of july, many harbors have so many things going off, no one will be able to tell the difference.

[Comix Bay]

Away over here on Vancouver Island, BC we have "Flare Recovery Days" put on by the local Canadian Power Squadrons, sponsored by our local marine chandler. The recovered flares are then returned back to the manufacturer for disposal. You would be surprised at what is returned and how old some are!! Not only do we recover the old, the chandler gets to sell new updated ones.

[DEAN2140]

So here is how we handled this delicate problem. We were in Bora Bora on the 4th of July and all the American boats decided to party around a large cat. We were told to bring all of our outdated flares. My girlfriend had the foresight to bring a Souza tape so with the "Stars and Stripes" playing on the speakers, we fired off several dozen flares. (To my knowledge, all of them worked.) Admittedly, that is a long way to go to test your flares but the venue was worth it.

[taxwizz]

Originally Posted by DEAN2140

So here is how we handled this delicate problem. We were in Bora Bora on the 4th of July and all the American boats decided to party around a large cat. We were told to bring all of our outdated flares. My girlfriend had the foresight to bring a Souza tape so with the "Stars and Stripes" playing on the speakers, we fired off several dozen flares. (To my knowledge, all of them worked.) Admittedly, that is a long way to go to test your flares but the venue was worth it.

Do you have a spare berth for a freeloader? (ME)

[rickdamico]

Thanks for posting this! Where I sail, San Diego, no one wants them, the USCG, local fire departments, etc.

One bit of advice i received was to put them in the trunk of your car and use them in case of an emergency. Another one was to fire them off in the desert, which, by the way, is not a good idea. So now, I'm keeping two sets of expired flares, one in my car trunk, and onE in my boat's ditch/emergency bag labeled: "EXPIRED" But soon I'll need to dispose of them, where? How?