Vic Smith wrote:
> On Wed, 14 May 2008 06:59:03 -0400, jeff <jeff@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>> Bob wrote:
>>> On May 13, 6:08 pm, "mosquitof...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
" <mosquitof...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Funny..I was just looking at one of the three kits that I have on
>>>> board this evening...it said right in the package..save the expired
>>>> flares as back up...that is what I do
>>>> Tom
>>>
>>> HI Tom,
>>> How true..... and Ill still hold to my belife if Im going to have 9
>>> flares on board I want them ALL to be in-date and the "best' a
>>> civilian can have. WHy have 6 in-date flres and 3 out of date. Why not
>>> simply have 9 in-date flares????
>> ...
>>> Why would anyone have out of date/old stuff for "emergency back-up?"
>>> But some people hate to wear helmets on motorcycles..... their choice
>>> not mine
>> Silly argument. Why would you only have 9 in-date flares? Why not 18?
>> Why not 36? Does a flare that is perfectly good after 36 months
>> suddenly become dangerous a week later? Do you want your epitaph to be
>> "If only he had one more flare"?
>
> Say you want 36 flares - for safety's sake.
> You pick what's reasonable
> Start with 18 new and 18 just expired.
> A year before the "new" expire the old are 2 years past expired.
> How many good flares do you have?
> Now understand I don't know squat about flares or why they expire, or
> how reliable they are past expiration.
> Or what they cost.
> But if I'm relying on something, there should be some expectations.
> An alternative epitaph could be:
> Half the damn flares were duds.
> Here I lie under the suds.
The problem is that no one knows how many flares will be enough. The
law says one thing, prudence and cir***stances say another, and the
pocketbook may say something different. Whatever number you pick as the
"appropriate" could end up being one short! Why throw away one that
could be the one that saves you? Remember, nothing says the "new" flare
will work, if the old one could be a dud, so could the new one. In
fact, its quite possible you could throw out a good one in favor of a bad.
As a coastal cruiser who occasionally goes 20 miles offshore, and might
do an overnight once every few years, and is almost always within VHF
range of help, I shouldn't need a huge number of flares. However, the
legal requirement is paltry for going outside the harbor, so I get a
small assortment of high quality SOLAS flares every year. Thus, after 3
years I'll have a fair collection of current flares, but I'm not about
to throw $100 worth of older flares because of a small, but increasing
possibility that they don't work.
This does bring up a few questions: at what age to you definitely trash
a flare? My answer so far has been at about the time I sell my boat!
However, I should look for a "flare training event" where I can try out
my old ones. Also, if you did need to use a flare, would you use the
oldest first (save the new for when you're really desperate) or do you
use the newest first? I think it depends on the cir***stances - if the
re's a small window (plane overhead?) you want to take your best shot,
but if its a large window (slow moving ****p) try an older flare first.
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