One thing I thought of to use an expired handheld SOLAS flare for was lighting the charcoal grill near the pier. It worked, those coals got going right quick 
I didn’t really think through the next step, you can’t exactly put burgers on a fare and have them taste good. Hmmm…I know, I’ll throw it in the water! Turns out SOLAS flares burn just fine underwater, so there I am grilling some burgers acting like I have no idea why red glowing smoke and foam is bubbling up right off the bulkhead, must be a new volcano or something…
The cow thing would make a great video, especially if a few fell in the volcano and got spit back out perfectly cooked 
1 Like
Serious now - I expect laser flares to own the market soon, dealing with somewhat dangerous pyrotechnic devices is a huge PITA compared to buying new batteries. Also you need a LOT of flares, I have got roped into SAR for flare sightings before and unless you hit another boat with one, just one flare will not get you found.
1 Like
Got these electronic flares for our training boats, just to get rid of pyrotechnic flares.
If you set off a lot of flares you find there is a pretty shocking rate of duds, especially 12-gauge rockets. With electronic flares you could just test them regularly.
2 Likes
[No vendor affiliation on my side, just another example]
- 5 yrs warranty, including battery,
- user replaceable battery pack,
- up to 6 hs operation,
- up to 7 NM visibility,
- tiny form factor
Only drawback might be that this small model is not USCG approved. And even in Europe, it currently does not satisfy carrying requirements for distress flares.
Thus I keep some pyro flares in my SOLAS liferaft package. But if I ever need to signal distress, the handheld LED flare will be my first choice for safety of operation.
2 Likes
This has become a fascinating discussion (as well as funny ) Thank you all for sharing. I had not realized that the USCG has approved some of these electronic ones (I don’t think that SOLAS, nor the U.K. have yet, or am I wrong?) Seems like a great step forward, and of course, even if you have a requirement to carry pyro, that doesn’t prevent you from carrying other stuff. The observations that pyros are not 100% reliable, and that you need much more “alight” time are well received. Thanks again everyone.
Isn’t the whole point of parachute flares to get beyond the visual horizon?
RE:??? (not getting the exact question)
Re substituting electronic lights for pyrotechnic ones. I should have included meteor flares as well as parachute.
For example, the ACR ResQFlare is USCG approved*, although, afaik not for commercial vessels:
“The ACR ResQFlare is a high-intensity LED Electronic Distress Boat Flare Kit. Combined with the included distress flag, the ResQFlare and flag are certified to meet the applicable U.S. Coast Guard requirements allowing them to be carried in lieu of traditional boating pyrotechnic flares on most recreational boats”
*: (46 CFR 161.013)
That one I showed takes the place of a handheld flare. There’s another one I saw that is essentially a powerful laser that strobes on and off. By night you would be able to see the beam from a distance. By day likely not.
1 Like
You are correct, of course, that the LED distress flares merely replace traditional handflares, but not the parachute flares.
However, in our era of DSC-VHF, EPIRBS and AIS-Beacons, optical distress signals may be most important for “the last mile” of SAR, where the LEDs will be operational for hours, whereas a pyro handflare peters out after about 60 seconds.
1 Like
Shooting off the piles of outdated flares when I was a kid about 33% or more did nothing. Then a big 25mm parachute flare that was a couple years out of date exploded in the gun and just about broke my wrist 
1 Like
I wonder what happened there? Just the plastic pistol launcher?
Sure, but if I am just out sailing and not racing or in a powerboat there is no legal requirement for me to have a parachute flare, just some kind of flare or now distress light.
If you actually want to be saved by a flare, ONLY get SOLAS flares, get parachute flares, and get a LOT. New Year’s in the Bahamas various meteor flares were crossing the harbor and you could see them OK and then someone launched a SOLAS flare and the entire harbour was lit up like a red sun at noon had come out 
- the basic rule of flares is the first one might get noticed, the second one catches your eye, and the third one has you and everyone else on watch taking a bearing.
- Something I miss is white magnesium flares we used to get. Those were great to announce your position in the pre-AIS days and the parachute versions could light up an area.
1 Like
My flare gun is metal, I think a plastic one would have got me a face full of plastic bits. Instead of going wooosh like a rocket all the propellant in the flare seemed to explode at once with an almighty bang that slammed my arm into the rail and just about ripped the gun from my hand and then the flare itself didn’t light.
1 Like
The problem with parachute flares is when deployed the parachute is connected by a wire to the flare. If the flare is out of date and the wire that is wound like a spring fails to extend and the parachute burns up immediately
Thanks for mentioning SART. In a vital emergency, multimodal signalling will be key, all the more so, as even the best suited single modality might fail for technical reasons.
My post, obviously, concerned the best use case for LED flares, without implying in any way that they would supplant rather than supplement radar-SART (SOLAS regulations IV/7.2.1 or 7.3.1) or AIS-SART.
Although I pray never to need it, I would rather light a LED handflare than a pyro one from a rubber life raft being tossed around in inclement seas (the latter to be pointed strictly downwind from a rollercoaster) which was the perspective of my discussion.
