Rev. 7-25-2024
I've been testing this and other brands for four years. See other articles, but the short version is that they are probably more recognizable as a distress signal than flares because of the SOS pattern. A flare that only burns for 3 minutes is easily dismissed as a trick of light, a nav light, or just missed.
I went to WM marine to get flares. They were 18 months old, out of 36 months,
and the store manager didn't understand the words "discount." To me,
they were 1/3 value, since I will get only one season from them. Most often I get only two season out of flares
because they are seldom "fresh" when bought.
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 How/where do you test light the out of date flares?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.