How can I legally set off flares for test purposes?

[Pieta]

I would strongly advise against setting off old flares. I’ve seen quite some accidents happening with old flares. The worst killed an elderly couple when a flare went horizontal after 5 meters, entered their apartment and set the place ablaze. My friends who where neighbors spent New Year’s Eve on their balcony as the smoke was blocking the safety escape staircase.

[Tanqueray]

-I took a bunch of old aerial and hand-held flares off my boat this summer after upgrading to a battery-operated strobe that is CG approved. I took the oldest expired flares I had (6-years out of date).


During the 4th of July fireworks going off in my neighborhood, I stood in my back yard and shot off 12-guage flares. It is a good idea to practice with those things. They kick more than I thought they would, and they don't stay in the air very long...so it helps to shoot a few off so you understand what their limitations are.


I also fired off one of the hand-held flares to see how easy to light and how much crap they would drop all over the boat if used. Good news was that it lit very easily with the cap striker and a single strike. Again, these were OLD flares...6 years out of date.


Another option may be a local marina "open-house". I am in the Chicago-land area, and a local yacht yard (Crowley's) has a open house every spring to get boaters in. One of their exhibits is a flare demonstration put on by the CG. So they may take used flares for their exhibition.


Good luck !

[CFS Klopas]

I asked the clerk at the Crowleys shop once, they wouldn't take them.

[Tanqueray]

OK. Good to know. Blowing them off in my back yard was way more fun anyway !

Greg

[barnakiel]

You can do it in any place where some fire and smoke are not resulting in immediate calls of the fire engine.


I did it in old car / scrap facility. With kind permission of its owner.


barnakiel

[sailorladd]

4th of July Or New year's eve...

[Ike]

Also, one of the cheapest, lightest, smallest, and safest distress signals you can use in daylight is a signal mirror. If someone is actually looking for you, there are documented cases of aircraft seeing a signal mirror from 50 miles away. And they're not even mentioned by the Coast Guard.

Signal mirrors are not required but are readily available online from West Marine, Defender, Fisheries Supply, and many others. We used to give them away at the Coast Guard booth in boat shows. I still have a few, one I keep on my boat, one in my hiking back pack, and some just as souvenirs. They are really handy. By the way if you have a son (or a daughter now) in Scouting they have a merit badge for learning to use signal mirrors with Morse code.

As far as pyrotechnic flares go we have literally put ourselves into a box. Yes they need to be replaced, but they are also listed as hazardous material. That's why many organizations won't take them because they have to be disposed of properly and not everybody is set up to do that.

Yes the Coast Guard Auxiliary and Power Squadron will sometimes take them and use them for demos. But it is up to the local flotilla. Some don't.

Shooting them into a metal bucket filled with water is acceptable, if you just want to get rid of them. Once burned they are no longer considered hazardous waste.

Me, I keep them and store them in my hiking back pack. Never know when you might get lost in the woods or mountains. But remember shooting them off in the forest, especially during wildfire season is not a good idea.

[14murs14]

Originally Posted by Tanqueray

-I took a bunch of old aerial and hand-held flares off my boat this summer after upgrading to a battery-operated strobe that is CG approved. I took the oldest expired flares I had (6-years out of date).


During the 4th of July fireworks going off in my neighborhood, I stood in my back yard and shot off 12-guage flares. It is a good idea to practice with those things. They kick more than I thought they would, and they don't stay in the air very long...so it helps to shoot a few off so you understand what their limitations are.


I also fired off one of the hand-held flares to see how easy to light and how much crap they would drop all over the boat if used. Good news was that it lit very easily with the cap striker and a single strike. Again, these were OLD flares...6 years out of date.


Another option may be a local marina "open-house". I am in the Chicago-land area, and a local yacht yard (Crowley's) has a open house every spring to get boaters in. One of their exhibits is a flare demonstration put on by the CG. So they may take used flares for their exhibition.


Good luck !

Just curious, did you read my earlier post on this thread where I practically begged everyone not to shoot off flares on the 4th of July and just think "screw those Coast Guard a-holes" or did you think what I posted was incorrect, or couldn't be bothered to read the thread before posting your 2 cents, or ??? Just mystified as to why after I carefully explained what a horrible idea it was to fire off flares on the 4th of July that you just a few posts later would recommend doing exactly that?

[14murs14]

Originally Posted by CFS Klopas

Since we have a few Coast Guardsmen here, do you prefer smoke, meteor or handheld flares? Im thinking mostly daytime use with non SOLAS quality.

Smoke for day, as long lasting a flare as you can get at night. Pretty hard to see a flare during the daytime unless you're looking for it. At night they're pretty apparent, but if you can get some hang time it's easier to locate where it may have come from. Coast Guard air crew all carry both pencil flares and dual sided handheld smoke/flares in our vests on every flight, if that's helpful to know what we considered for our own use.

I'll also address the concept of mirrors. It's true that you can see a flash from a mirror at a surprising distance. It's also true that you see these kind of flashes all the time from the windows on boats, often far enough away and small enough that you just see the flash, not the boat. So an aircrew will not investigate a flash if they're not already conducting a search or have reason to be looking for someone in distress in that area, otherwise we'd be locating small boats all time and get nothing else accomplished. On the other hand, they'll divert from what they're doing 100% of the time when they see a flare at night or orange/red smoke during the day. So no harm in carrying a mirror and they're practically free, just don't count on it.

[Opie91]

55 gallon drum of water. Shoot them in works great. They burn underwater quite a while.

[rbrake]

They sell white flares for just that purpose.

[nichollsjr]

No one will notice if you set them off on Independence Day.

[rbrake]

"No one will notice if you set them off on Independence Day."

This year our crowded anchorage only saw one boat with teak decks and an 800 dollar repair bill and one dinghy dock set minimally ablaze. All in all we did well this year.

[Cadence]

I'm not sure for test purposes really proves anything. One out of a number of outdated flares may work and the others not. Usually they remain good well past expiration date. It's save them but don't bet your life on them.

[Shaneesprit]

We used them as fireworks when I was a child