Electronic flares

[rpwillia]

At the Annapolis Boat Show I saw a lot of vendors hawking these cheesy flashing white LED's and a separate bundled flag stating they were USCG certified and a substitute for pyrotechnic flares.

This all seemed a bit sketchy and impractical to me. I did see one vendor who had an electronic flare that had a number of red LED's that was very bright, but he stated it was not USCG certified as yet.

So, is there a possibility I have bought my last pyrotechnic flare? I did like the one with red LED's and would have bought one if it was USCG certified.

 

[woodster]

At the Annapolis Boat Show I saw a lot of vendors hawking these cheesy flashing white LED's and a separate bundled flag stating they were USCG certified and a substitute for pyrotechnic flares.

This all seemed a bit sketchy and impractical to me. I did see one vendor who had an electronic flare that had a number of red LED's that was very bright, but he stated it was not USCG certified as yet.

So, is there a possibility I have bought my last pyrotechnic flare? I did like the one with red LED's and would have bought one if it was USCG certified.

someone else mentioned these this past week and bought one i can't remember the brand but it was like 1 boat buck i will try to find the post

 

[woodster]

Sirus Signal that is what they got just google it.....https://siriussignal.com/

 

[Calif. Ted]

We used to use road flares to denote a landing spot for helicopters at night, then we got little LED hockey pucks with a circular red flash pattern like a restaurant pager, big improvement for visibility without wrecking vision. 12 gauge aerials are so puny it's pathetic and SOLAS expensive I'd welcome something effective I didn't have to re-buy every couple years.
When Redford was shooting off his flares in that horrible movie I thought "You better aim them things at the wheelhouse if you expect anyone to notice them"

 

[Capt jgw]

If they're CG approved they're legal, but I think I'd carry some old school ones too just to be safe. Like we always said with the old ones, if you need them three is not nearly enough.

 

[Boomer54]

Are they officially CG approved? What I saw was marketing saying the meet CG requirements.

 

[Zarathu]

I'd sure hate to have an electronic one that the CPO doesn't know are approved if I get boarded by the USCG(and yes I was boarded this summer for a safety check).

 

[Capt jgw]

Anything CG approved has an approval number permanently marked on it, and the boarding party should be carrying the current relevent CFR's on board, so they're shouldn't be any questions about approval. The label is one of the things they check on PFD's. If the number is faded so it can't be read, it's no longer approved.

 

[LakeOntario270]

I purchased one at Annapolis, a Sirius Signal. This is the 21st century. We should be able to do better than setting off a fire on a boat.

 

[Boomer54]

I purchased one at Annapolis, a Sirius Signal. This is the 21st century. We should be able to do better than setting off a fire on a boat.

Good to know. Is it in fact USCG approved, or does it simply meet standards? Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[woodster]

Good to know. Is it in fact USCG approved, or does it simply meet standards? Inquiring minds want to know!

you can bet if it was cg approved it would say exactly that..... and not say meets the standards

 

[hsi88]

How much did the light cost at the boat show?

 

[LakeOntario270]

I paid about $100. They also gave a orange signal flag for daytime and a whistle. The box says "Coast Guard Compliant 46CFR 161.013". The guy at the booth said they got the OK from the Coast Guard in May.

 

[Gunni]

Meeting CG standards and not getting cited is one thing, getting seen and assisted during an emergency is another. SOLAS flares are far superior to the USCG cert'd flare, and expensive parachute flares will put your signal up were it can be seen, carry one. For daytime signal carry a smoke cannister, boaters attention is drawn to a smoke cloud.

 

[rpwillia]

Are they officially CG approved? What I saw was marketing saying the meet CG requirements.

That was the problem. The one I liked and thought was most acceptable was NOT USCG approved. You may be right on the ones with the white LEDs (I likened them more to strobes); they guys kept pointing to the USCG approval on the side, but it did not seem to me that they were acceptable replacements for good old flares.

Like this one http://www.brightideas.co.nz/shop/product/11-odeo-led-flare/#.ViWKt_mrTIU
But in this article they recommend this one.
http://www.cruisingworld.com/how/electronic-vs-traditional-flares
http://www.amazon.com/EMERGENCY-ELECTRONIC-FLARE-Nautical-EF-10A-1/dp/B00IQZSF5I

 

[rpwillia]

I purchased one at Annapolis, a Sirius Signal. This is the 21st century. We should be able to do better than setting off a fire on a boat.

Those were the ones I saw. Honestly just did not cut it for me. Off of their website they state:

• Complies with all U.S. Coast Guard requirements for “Night Visual Distress Signals” 46 CFR 161.013
• When combined with the included daytime distress signal flag, meets all USCG Federal Requirements for carriage of DAY and NIGHT VDS.

 

[hsi88]

I understand the wanting to be seen. I have over a dozen flares to cover that. But they are all expired. I want to get out of the buying loop driven by companies like Orion. I have set off flares that were over 30 years old and they all worked just fine. The automatic expiration date scheme is exactly that. A scam to sell more flares. The endless buying of flares ends now! Thanks for the info. I plan to buy the Sirius device soon.

 

[Boomer54]

I think you have Provided some clarification. However, there is a huge difference between meets or complies with versus Is Approved By. I have dealt with federal regs in the past. The Feds get very particular in enforcement. It looks like to me that the USCG is studying them at the moment, but not approved their use yet?

 

[sesmith]

I saw the same lights at the show. While I hate finding my flares expired, and the girl dressed up as a signal light at the show did catch my attention...I asked the sales person how people knew the white led light was a distress signal. I was told it put out an SOS flash. Great, but I really wonder if the majority of boaters out there would recognize that as a distress signal at night with a lot of shore lights in the background (or even recognize SOS in morse code). A signal flare, on the other hand...no question. Keeping my flares for now.

We did, however, buy a nice soft sided cooler, a new automatic life vest for my wife, a hat, some Pussers painkillers...

 

[JTulls]

I worked on some of the testing or something like this for the cg -- in a side by side comparison the LEDs we were testing we leaps and bounds better than the conventional flare...but I'm not sure if those are the ones on the market right now