I'm thinking of just getting the Orion e-flare. Yes, visibility is less, but realistically, with cell phones and VHF, the odds of a primarily day sailor like me using a flare are between zero and none. I've lit old ones for practice, but I've never even seen one on the water. On the other hand, the odds of me being stopped by the Maryland DNR for a safety check are about once every 3-4 years, most often when they are checking fishing permits and catch.
Not to put to fine a point on it, I really don't care if it works as well as a flare. I don't wear PDFs most days either. And I'll probably carry some old flares anyway. I've lit them in the past, for practice, and never had a failure, up to 12 years.
Keeping the flares up to date is always annoying. How/where do you test light the out of date flares? I've always hesitated to do this.
ReplyDeleteJust light them in the driveway (handheld). It is good practice to understand just how much slag they throw. If in doubt, stand them in a flower pot.
ReplyDeleteThey won't explode or anything. If they have gotten damp they just won't burn as well. But I've never had one fail, as much as 12 years old. The dating is very conservative.