Old flares

RobnBern

RobnBern

Member
Jan 24, 2010
212
Upper Potomac River
Boat Info
2015 470DA
Engines
Cummins 480 with Zeus
Hey all we've got a quick question. We're cleaning the boat out and came across a bunch of hand flares and the 12g type but they're all expired. The interesting one is the one that expired 6 years BEFORE the boat was built. So, what do you guys think the best way is to dispose of them? Expiration dates range from 1989-2003...

Thanks

Robin
 
Here's a couple of suggestions from the American Boating Association:
1.(Preferred method): Contact your local fire department, sanitation department or environmental protection department and determine your local hazardous waste material disposal rules. Then follow the rules.
2. Contact your local Coast Guard Auxiliary and/or United States Power Squadron unit and see if they would like to have some old flares for training purposes. The Auxiliary and the Power Squadron teach boating courses year-round, and many of them sponsor (after receiving permission from the Coast Guard) pyrotechnic training days for the public.
 
We use old shells to start our burn pile in the spring. We keep the rest on board and would us them to supplement current flares. Any extras we give to the USCG to do with whatever.
 
Geeez....save 'em for New Years eve at the marina. About half of them will work. :thumbsup:

Don
 
Buy new, I do every year if there good or not, got boat? you got money that's the way I look at it. I got money so I spend it like a kid in a candy store **** it.
 
I have been going through all the stuff we pulled off our 50' trawler when we switched to the 400ec, we had eight old hand held flares that were out of date... I just took them out behind my shop and lit them off ( in the middle of a sunny day so the neighbors don't go nuts ). Some were out of date as far back as 2000... they all lit. Let them sit overnight then toss the remains in the bin.
I am trying to figure out what I want to shoot at with the old out of date 12g. aerial flares....

EXPRESSBOY
 
Keep them on the boat! If something bad happens, you NEVER have enough flares. That being said, I have shot off some 12 year old flares. Every one worked. Your mileage may vary.
 
I seem to recall being told to not keep out of date flares on the boat. The rationale being that the performance might be iffy and in an emergency situation you might grab an out of date flare, have it mis-fire, and then have lost valuable time.

Can't say I have ever had any of the hand held flares be duds, but the aerial flares definitely do not age well.

The hand held flares end up in our cars, or used to start the spring clean up brush pile. The 12g aerial flares are used during our annual flare gun training exercise on the evenings of July 2, 3, or 4.

Henry
 
we convert ours to roadside use....in the event of a breakdown.....strike them up.....
 
About 3 weeks ago we held a "Boat Flare Demo" day at our yacht club. I had organized it, gotten the permission from USCG to hold it, and notified all the area emergency services (police, fire, dispatch, etc.) of the date and time of the event. I also sent out flyers to the local boat stores and boat repair shops to advertise it.

We had 52 people show up and bring their old flares and in a hour or so we fired off about 250 aerial, smoke and held-held flares and smoke.
AP3050041.jpg


AP3050038.jpg


AP3050036.jpg


AP3050034.jpg


For most of us it was the only time we've ever used, or seen how to use the flares and smoke. We fired off flares that dated back to 1986. Those old ones were the type shown in the second picture and those were the only ones that failed.

We definitely will do this again, probably in about 3 years.
 
The city hazerdous materials drop off, where I take my used oil, takes them as well.
 
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