2007-02-15 01:24:04 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Boats & Boating
How out of date are they?
I keep out of date flares on board, but tend to hold them only for two years past their expiry date.
After that I get rid of them in one of three ways:-
1. November 5th in the UK, WELL inland. I expend them at fireworks parties on my parents farm.
2. I donate them to whatever sailing school I happen to be near, so that they may use them for demonstration purposes to young people who are learning.
3. I surrender them to marinas who accept out of date flares for disposal.
If you are going to keep OOD flares, you MUST also have in date flares on board. Stow the two batches seperately.
Sue
x
2007-02-15 03:30:24 · answer #1 · answered by sailingsue 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are not a safety hazard. Keep at least a duplicate set for yourself.
Then there are a couple of possibilities. The United States Power Squadron in your area may have a safety flare presentation for boat safety week(May 19-25) They get permission from the Coast Guard to shoot them, because few people have ever really used them and practice is good. Call and ask them to do one. Also the Coast Guard Auxiliary can do the same.
Then the Coast Guard School asks for them and uses them for training. The Naval Academy may also. The local Coast Guard may have the answers to that if you get a higher ranking officer than usually answers the phone.
On Cayuga Lake, Ithaca ,NY, they have a flares around the lake on the 4th of July.
2007-02-15 03:30:33 · answer #2 · answered by science teacher 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Contact your local Coast Gaurd Auxillary. They'll usually take expired flares and use them as demonstration items in some of their classes after making the proper arrangements with the Coast Guard.
2007-02-16 10:52:34 · answer #3 · answered by emcentee 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
excellent question.I used to work at a life raft re-packing facility and we had HUNDREDS to get rid of each year.we usually donated them to the local Power Squadron or CG Auxiliary for use in safety demonstrations, or shipped them off to "down island" where the fishermen needed safety gear but couldn't afford it.
Now it depends how "expired" the stuff is.......a few years out of date, the flares will probably maybe still work, and if you're really in it, there is no such thing as too many flares.
Commercial boats get in trouble carrying out of date flares; recreational boats get at least a frown from the CG/Police......so, in addition to ALWAYS CARRYING MORE THAN THE MINIMUM OF IN DATE FLARES, carry your recently expired ones in separate box...the metal / plastic ammo cans sold are very good for this.....
As an additional note, WEST Marine used to run a graph in their safety section in the catalog, showing how bright, how long and how high flares work.....you'll see the 12 gague pistol meteor flares are virtually useless.........spend the money for SOLAS approved flares; the parachute flares are particularly impressive
I know this doesn't really answer your question.that's because I don't have an answer as to how to legally and safely dispose of these explosive, flammable buggers...
2007-02-15 01:40:30 · answer #4 · answered by yankee_sailor 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Keep them as spares. They may work for a much longer period of time. Just make sure you have enough that are up to date, but if you get into an unfortunate situations, use them first if they work. You can never have enough if something unfortunate happens.
If you have too much to practically carry, donate to the power squardron for demonstration purposes.
2007-02-15 02:28:25 · answer #5 · answered by Sanmigsean 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you're in the UK, ring the Coastguard. Sometimes they will be able to use them for demonstrations, otherwise they will have a means of disposal (which they use for their own, and for those found on beaches etc).
Whatever you do, don't be tempted to let 'em off for fun, even well inland.
2007-02-15 03:48:34 · answer #6 · answered by champer 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They way we have always done them is to first use them for training within about 3 months of exp. If by then we have not used them all we remove as much plastic off of them as we can an then toss them over the side on the next trip
2007-02-15 03:40:01 · answer #7 · answered by T C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
donate them to the local refugees
community fireworks organisation
2007-02-15 05:56:20 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
soak in water and break them up a little and throw them away
2007-02-15 01:59:35 · answer #9 · answered by mobile auto repair (mr fix it) 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
put them in a post box?
2007-02-15 01:41:53 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋