OLD FLARES

(do they work or are they dangerous?)

I was reading an old article the other day about old flares, and I thought – I think I’ve still got a couple of pairs of them hanging up in my wardrobe, they must be coming back into fashion. Wrong! It was about pyrotechnic type flares, so I read on.

This test was conducted in 1990 by PBO on parachute flares for three reasons,

1.      They are the most effective distress pyrotechnics available, with a maximum range of 28miles.

2.      Their performance can be easily determined.

3.      They are the most costly to replace.

A collection of out of date flares was put together going back over16 years.  Most were produced by Pains-Wessex Ltd. They had different labels in different languages from agents in Greece to Poole. This fact, coupled with the many and varied storage histories of the flares, seemed to represent the assorted out-of-date rockets that still lurk in our lockers!

The actual measurements were taken using a pair of LIAI Directors. These simply measure the maximum vertical angle of each fired flare. When this is compared with the horizontal distance, an altitude can be calculated.

A few of the very early flares had design faults, these included having to remove sticky tape from the caps, firing with a pull string, and worst of all a two second delay between pulling the string and actual ignition. So if you are used to modern, instantaneous trigger firing, it’s tempting to think it has failed – and even to look down the end!

Conclusion- The sensible course for most boat owners is to gradually replace flares so there are always some new ones on board. The old ones seemed to work alright with one important proviso: the ‘burn time’  on many of the older flares tested was longer than on the new ones, which meant that they were still burning fiercely when they hit the ground, which is fine over water, but very dangerous on Bonfire Night! Ironically, the oldest flares fired went higher than the newest one!

So how do you get rid of old flares?

Handing them in at the nearest police station is an obvious choice, but some stations are reluctant to take them.  The RNLI, Coast Guard, or perhaps your local Fire Station will take them off you and dispose of them.

RESULTS OF FLARE TESTING BY PBO

Although some of the very old flares burned slightly pink and blew a few bits of packaging around, they still performed remarkably well.