in chas county how do you get rid of expired marine flares?
Wait for the 4th of July and fire them up!
I’ve given them to the local fire dept.
Soak them in a bucket of water for a couple of days and throw them in the trash.
Pioneer 222 Sportfish
Yamaha 250
I keep them for after I’ve shot all the good ones and nobody has helped yet. Just because it’s expired doesn’t mean it won’t work 
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
quote:
Originally posted by Cracker LarryI keep them for after I’ve shot all the good ones and nobody has helped yet. Just because it’s expired doesn’t mean it won’t work
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
The best advise so far!! You can have expired flares in the boat as long as you also have some that are not…
A bad day fishing is much better than a good day at work.
Cracker is right keep them as back ups. If you really want to get rid of them call the USCG Aux and they will use them for training.
Kevin
Sportsman 229
Yamaha 250
quote:
Originally posted by Cracker LarryI keep them for after I’ve shot all the good ones and nobody has helped yet. Just because it’s expired doesn’t mean it won’t work
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
Actually you should use the expired ones first. The old ones will most likely still work and then you don’t have to go into your good stock. If an expired one does not work throw it overboard and move on to the next one. No lose either way.
Chad
Cobia 256 Express
Pulled by a Dodge Ram 3500
Good point Chad:sunglasses:
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
Local fire department will accept them. I do however agree with others about keeping them as “back up” but be cautious. Depending on which Johnny Law stops you; you could get a ticket for having expired flares if they see them. Their argument is if an emergency occurs, and you have someone on the boat that does not know your flare stock situation they could grab the old ones by mistake. To circumvent any sitatuions like this, this this is what I do; I have a group of nothing but up to date flares stored on the boat at all times in a box ready to hand to inspecting officer. Same box has my registration and whistle in it so everything is right there together. I also carry a ditch bag on my boat. Inspecting officer never needs to go through the ditch bag. The ditch bag has new flares as well as old flares. I figure if I am grabbing that bag then conditons are real bad and I am going to want as many fireworks as possible and if a couple don’t work no big deal. The ditch bag also has a PLB, Hand Held GPS, Hand Held VHF, Protein Bars and First Aid Kit. Just my 2-cents.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=645676245498538&set=vb.100001685040326&type=2&theater
My Nephew and Expired Flares
Woodfloats?
Last Coast Guard inspection I had the guy wanted to know which flares I would use first, had expired flares. I told him the new ones first, might not get the chance to use the ‘good’ ones if thing went to sh*t!
X2 what Joseph said. IF its a dire emergency you are probably in a hurry and it would suck to go through three duds first
I had a couple that were expired by about a year or so. They never would light with the striker. I had to light them with a torch.
DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT!!!
The harder you work, the luckier you’ll get.
quote:
I had a couple that were expired by about a year or so. They never would light with the striker. I had to light them with a torch.
Some people may be surprised, but most of the USCG approved flare kits will have about a 30% failure rate even when brand new. They are about as reliable as chinese fireworks. I’ve been to several SOLAS seminars where we tested 100 new flares and compared reliability, burn time and altitude. If the flare is not SOLAS approved, you have about 2/3 chance of it working even when brand new. The little 12 ga. pistol kits have a burn time of about 7 seconds and altitude of 500’ on a good day. You can get the pistol and 4 flares for $50. And if you are lucky, 3 of them will work, for a total burn time of 21 seconds. The hand helds are even worse.
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- Four 12 gauge aerial flares burn for up to 7 seconds at an altitude of up to 500' with a brightness of up to 16,000 candelas - USCG approved for day or nighttime signal
A real flare cost about $60-$75 a shot, burns at twice the brightness for almost a full minute and reaches an altitude of 1,000’. And works as advertised about 99.9% of the time. Even expired.
http://www.westmarine.com/solas-flares/orion--red-parachute-solas-signal-rocket--2356020
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High-intensity signal burns 40 seconds at 30,000 c
Larry so basically what you’re saying is anything other than SOLAS is crap? Please correct me if that’s not what you’re implying. I mean may or may not work sounds like crap to me. Definitely not trying to put words in your mouth tho this is just my opinion. How many of those $60 flares do you keep on hand? What gives you piece of mind signal wise?
07 Scout Winyah Bay 221 Yamaha F150
Adam, yes, pretty much. You are better off with a gross of SC bottle rocket fireworks than with a USCG approved flare kit from Walmart. Do you want a flare that might maybe shoot 500 feet high and burn for 7 seconds, or one that shoots to 1,000 feet and burns for almost a minute under parachute at twice the intensity? If I need to pull out flares, I want real dang good ones. Like life jackets and bilge pumps, they’ve got to work.
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How many of those $60 flares do you keep on hand? What gives you piece of mind signal wise?
3 reds, 3 whites, 3 orange smoke, in date. Plus about 3 each of expired ones. The SOLAS flares are good for 4 years.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
what Cracker said is true. I used to keep all the expired flares out of the trade in boats. I’d got a bunch of them together and thought I was going to have fun on July 4th. Only about 50% of the shot gun flares worked, only about 10% of the handheld rocket flares worked. The ones where you pull the chain were the worst. Most of the road flare types did strike, and they burn for a reasonable amount of time. Don’t ever set off the smoke flare in your neighbor hood, it turned four houses orange till the next rain. What surprised me most of all, it didn’t make much difference as to how old they were, i had some that had just run out of date and had some that were 10 years old, it didn’t make much difference, most were crap. The road flare types were pretty good to keep around after they’ve run out of date, but the shotgun shells and the chain flares are junk brand new. the only things they are going to do is keep you from getting a ticket if they are in date, other wise shoot them in a bucket of water and throw whats left away. i was curious if new flares were any better, so I shot a couple fairly new shotgun shells and I’ve seen bottle rockets perform much better. If you want to be seen during daylight, the smoke flare is the way to go, it will surprise you how much smoke it makes. keep in mind that the wind may dissipate it quickly. If you wnat serious emergency flares, get the solas stuff!
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If you want serious emergency flares, get the solas stuff!
Yep, anytime you need a flare, it’s probably an emergency. A roman candle firework is probably better and more reliable than a Walmart flare kit that is USCG approved.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
Would you not be liable for a citation/ticket if you were inspected and found carrying expired flares, even if you did have the fresh flares on board?
… The Cross of Christ is the anvil upon which the hammer of evil wore itself out.