# Expired flares



## STEINFISHSKI (Jan 30, 2001)

I have 3 expired arial flares for my boat. I bought some new ones to be compliant but am wondering how to properly dispose of the expired ones. I don't want to shoot them over land as it may cause a fire. I don't want to throw them away because they may start a fire or worse injure someone. I don't want to shoot them over the water as I am not in distress and don't want to draw the attention. Any suggestions? I really want to shoot them if nothing else to see them work.


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## DangerDan (Mar 10, 2005)

New Years is just around the corner...:evilsmile or maybe next 4th of July


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## Captain of the 4-C's (Sep 11, 2003)

I save them for ice fishing on large bodies of water (usually saginaw bay). Never know when they could come in real handy. Otherwise, cut the top with a knife, soak in water overnight and dispose of in the trash.


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## Jason Adam (Jun 27, 2001)

I belive your local fire dept or coast gaurd station will take them as well. I would torch them off myself just so I was familiar with using them before I was in a panic situation(Probably dont need to be reading directions while your floating in the water). I agree with the being safe, and not starting a fire, and not giving off a false distress signal. Wait till theres a foot of snow and torch them into a snowbank in the back yard...


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## Guest (Nov 3, 2005)

cornfield+January=kaplowie


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## Ferg (Dec 17, 2002)

They 'should' be good for a couple of more years actually - I keep expired flares in the trunk of my car - 'just in case' the come in handy for starting fires - 

ferg....


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## Burksee (Jan 15, 2003)

Ferg said:


> They 'should' be good for a couple of more years actually - I keep expired flares in the trunk of my car - 'just in case' the come in handy for starting fires -
> 
> ferg....


Ferg, Why would you wanna start a fire in the trunk of your car? :lol: :yikes:


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## Ferg (Dec 17, 2002)

Burksee said:


> Ferg, Why would you wanna start a fire in the trunk of your car? :lol: :yikes:


Why to collect the insurance money of course !!! :yikes: :yikes: 

Kidding just kidding - 

ferg....
yea right  -


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## WALLEYE MIKE (Jan 7, 2001)

Keep them onboard along with the "good" ones. Use them first if nessesary.

Keep them with you for ice fishing as Capt-4 C's said suggested.


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## FishTales (Feb 13, 2002)

WALLEYE MIKE said:


> Keep them onboard along with the "good" ones. Use them first if nessesary.


  I was told the same thing by a Coastie from Harbor Beach.
Just because they are past the date does not mean they won't work.
If you just want to get rid of them, take them to fire station.
Rich


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## jpollman (Jan 14, 2001)

WALLEYE MIKE said:


> Keep them onboard along with the "good" ones. Use them first if nessesary.
> 
> Keep them with you for ice fishing as Capt-4 C's said suggested.


 Me too.

I keep the expired ones on board in addition to my current stock. If I ever need to use them I'll start with the expired ones.

John


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## snaggs (Jul 20, 2005)

I had flares in my boat for at least 10 years, maybe 15 and hav had occasion to shoot them off at 4th of july over the water at Hamlin lake. They all worked fine...every one of em!! Of course these were the gun type flares,not hand held. FIND A PLACE THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY.....AND GO THERE.....OFTEN.


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## murph1 (Sep 20, 2005)

have 2 that i got from my dad,they have to be 20 yrs old can i tell if they're good or not ,,safe to keep around?:help:


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## double trouble (Nov 20, 2003)

i have been boating 20+ years and never needed a flare so i end up with expired ones quite often. how many of you have EVER used one for distress signals and what would you do now especially with v.h.s,cell phones , air horns and flags.


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## WALLEYE MIKE (Jan 7, 2001)

double trouble said:


> i have been boating 20+ years and never needed a flare so i end up with expired ones quite often. how many of you have EVER used one for distress signals and what would you do now especially with v.h.s,cell phones , air horns and flags.


True, but they are required so we got to have them onboard.

Another use for expired flares... keep some in your trunk for emergencies at nite. Lay them on the road so others don't rear end you.


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## double trouble (Nov 20, 2003)

never had one of those night emergencies either. what i am getting at is the flare law outdated and is it time for repeal?


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## WALLEYE MIKE (Jan 7, 2001)

double trouble said:


> never had one of those night emergencies either. what i am getting at is the flare law outdated and is it time for repeal?


Haven't happened to me neither, but has to plenty of others. Doubt it will be repealed anytime soon.


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## answerguy8 (Oct 15, 2001)

DangerDan said:


> New Years is just around the corner...:evilsmile or maybe next 4th of July


Which makes me wonder how you would ever get someone to respond to an acutual emergency on the 4th of July. No one would ever pay attention to your aerial flare.


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## DangerDan (Mar 10, 2005)

answerguy8 said:


> Which makes me wonder how you would ever get someone to respond to an acutual emergency on the 4th of July. No one would ever pay attention to your aerial flare.


Don't get me wrong I would'nt fire a flare on the water in a non-emergency situation. Seeing as I live with cornfields all around I'd hope nobody would respond. Especially on the 4th of July. could you imagine the chaos? All the available emergency personel responding to an arial flare? Geez they might call out both fire trucks.....Nahhh, they'd probably just think it was fireworks like normal folk.


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## STEINFISHSKI (Jan 30, 2001)

Some great ideas here. Upon inpection of the new package it is illegal to fire them in a non emergency situation. I think I'll use them on the ice for emergency or on the 4th.

We did get our butts saved on my dads boat back in the early 90's in Indiana waters of Lake MI. We launched my dad's boat, an older 19' model which was new to us and his first boat. We fished and some bad weather blew in fast so we headed in. The boat stalled and when he tried to restart the coil stuck and drained the battery before he could get back and unhook it. The last line of boats came around the breakwall so we fired the flares. The first two went unnoticed, and the last one turned the last boat over to tow us in. The waves were 3-5' by then and no time to be without power. We were all very nervous, but made it in ok because of the flares.


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## Randy Kidd (Apr 21, 2001)

Back in 81 when I got out of the Army, I brought home to my Dad, who ran a Charter Business, Some "extra" flares. Now these were not your typical flares, these things were honest to god parachute flares, the tube was a big as a paper towel tube..Well he kept them on the boat for a few years, but wanted to get rid of them as they were too big to store safely, So one evening we were about 15 miles out of Manistee when the CG came alongside for an inspection..Dad asked the Coasties if they would take them and dispose of them..The guy said.."I'll dispose of them now" he radioed the station and told them he was going to shoot off three flares, Pow..about a 1000 feet up big honkin magnesium flare on a chute..Lit the entire area up for a good 2 minutes..Coastie said "I wish everyone had these" and "I am keeping these other two on the boat" Never asked where they came from..


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## Jason Adam (Jun 27, 2001)

double trouble said:


> never had one of those night emergencies either. what i am getting at is the flare law outdated and is it time for repeal?


Absolutly not. I see 100 boats every night in August off ludington that dont have proper navigation lights, saftey equipment, half of them dont even look sea-worthey. Overloaded with kids, buddies, and beer. Motor smoking and chokin on gas thats been in the tank for 2 years. Bilge pump kicking on every 10 minutes. When the boat sinks, No-one is going to see you unless they hit you running back to the peir heads at 30MPH. Atleast if at some time in your boating experiance, you were forced to spend $10 on a pack of flares to keep on board, maybe you can be rescued before 5 tons of fiberglass and spinning props hits you, or you drown..... Is it really killing anybody to have to keep 3 flares on board?????


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## Ferg (Dec 17, 2002)

Jason Adam said:


> Absolutly not. I see 100 boats every night in August off ludington that dont have proper navigation lights, saftey equipment, half of them dont even look sea-worthey. Overloaded with kids, buddies, and beer. Motor smoking and chokin on gas thats been in the tank for 2 years. Bilge pump kicking on every 10 minutes. When the boat sinks, No-one is going to see you unless they hit you running back to the peir heads at 30MPH. Atleast if at some time in your boating experiance, you were forced to spend $10 on a pack of flares to keep on board, maybe you can be rescued before 5 tons of fiberglass and spinning props hits you, or you drown..... Is it really killing anybody to have to keep 3 flares on board?????


Amen - People that take their water safety for granted or think 'it wont happen to me' are going to get what they deserve - the problem, the LARGEST problem that the USCG deals with is - STUPID - and there are no laws against being stupid - 

ferg....<<<<20+ years USCG>>>>


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## Jason Adam (Jun 27, 2001)

Ferg said:


> Amen - People that take their water safety for granted or think 'it wont happen to me' are going to get what they deserve - the problem, the LARGEST problem that the USCG deals with is - STUPID - and there are no laws against being stupid -
> 
> ferg....<<<<20+ years USCG>>>>


The big lake is a scary place to be in optimal conditions when you just can start the boat in the middle of the day. Things only get exponetially more chaotic in the dark, when the weathers bad, etc....

I take my saftey equipment and boat condition very seriously, and I still found myself stranded miles offshore twice this year, do to mechanical problems beyond my control, that hardly could have been avoided, on a 5 year old boat in mint shape. Once in the flat calm day, noon, but with 1/2 mile fog(11 miles ofshore). The other was 11:00pm 3 miles ofshore, pitch black, 1-2 footers. Niether of these situations are very good for the stress level, and these were not what I'd call "bad conditions". 

I go far above the required saftey equipment on my boat. Even if they werent required, you wouldnt catch me out there without ALL the approriote saftey gear, and then some...


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## alex-v (Mar 24, 2005)

Like Walleye Mike says, they are required by law. Plus, even the best of cell phones will not help someone find you fast on the water at night. Set off the flare and there is a good chance they will find you.

Having a cell phone is no guarantee that someone will see you out there in a storm, or even on a nice night with a full moon.


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## alex-v (Mar 24, 2005)

double trouble said:


> never had one of those night emergencies either. what i am getting at is the flare law outdated and is it time for repeal?


I have never, ever had one of those emergencies which required that life jacket. So, does that mean that we should try to get the PFD law repealed?


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## tgafish (Jan 19, 2001)

Tim,
I just fire them straight into the water. Then throw away the shells. Pretty easy


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## BVG (Nov 18, 2004)

http://www.orionsignals.com/Marine/QandP/replacement.html

*Please note the Three NEVER Statements at the bottom.

Replacement & Disposal*








 Pyrotechnic signaling devices (including aerial flares and hand held signals) expire 42 months after the date of manufacture in accordance with the Coast Guard requirements. Typically, this means that you must replace your flares every three boating seasons. The Coast Guard regulations requires that each pyrotechnic signaling device must be stamped with the expiration date. Accordingly, check the expiration dates on your flares and signals as shown below. If they have expired or will expire during the boating season, you must replace them...it's the law! 








**Orion also prints the expiration date on all packaging.*








*Disposal
*To dispose of expired marine pyrotechnic distress signals, Orion recommends the following method:







Donate expired flares to local Coast Guard Auxiliary or Power Squadron for use in their training classes. 







Ignite hand-held signals flares on land in a safe area, much the same as highway flares would be ignited.







Contact a local law enforcement or the fire protection agency for their advice on proper visual distress signal disposal.







Retain flares for back-up use to expand signaling time in the event of an emergency. *

NEVER * jettison visual distress signals overboard.

*NEVER *activate marine flares in a non-emergncy situation on or near regulated water.
*
NEVER *dispose of flares in household trash.


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## answerguy8 (Oct 15, 2001)

alex-v said:


> Like Walleye Mike says, they are required by law. Plus, even the best of cell phones will not help someone find you fast on the water at night. Set off the flare and there is a good chance they will find you.
> 
> Having a cell phone is no guarantee that someone will see you out there in a storm, or even on a nice night with a full moon.


Living on the Saginaw Bay I see people shooting off fireworks all the time.
I'm not sure if I would recognize a flare as an actual emergency or not.


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