New Battery power flare replacement

John T1594

John T1594

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Jun 4, 2004
834
Hunter 340 Forked River, NJ
Down here in Florida, one of our nature tour boating programs has just replaced our required hand-held flares with a new Coast Guard approved battery powered device. Ths is a handheld LED SOS signal light which is Coast Guard approved. These area great improvement as they are much safer( no open flame), require only 3 C type batteries to operate, can last up to 60 hours with a ten mile range and do not have to be replaced every 3 years. It's made of a heavy duty platic with a clear top. You just twist the top to activate the light. I think they float as well.
 
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kloudie1

kloudie1

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Nov 6, 2006
10,080
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
Last year, I bought a Sirius, the red one .. There was a good article in Practical Sailor last year. Seems like a good option. I still have the regular ones on board and 12 ga Meteor flares too.
 
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Hello Below

Hello Below

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May 7, 2012
1,530
Hunter e33 Maple Bay, BC
For Canadian boaters.
These fellas have been approved in the US for a number of years. I purchased a Sirius C-1003 in 2019 with the hope and understanding that Transport Canada would soon be approving it as well. Although it got me through a USCG inspection, I still had to carry the traditional flares to satisfy Canadian law. Well, 3 years later they have finally approved an eVDSD or better know as an electronic flare in Canadian. Unfortunately for me the approved flare is not the C-1003 but the newer updated flare Sirius C-1002 which will set you back about $300 (USD). It would take a lot of years of savings of traditional flares to pay for this puppy. However there are other tangible benefits including the safety aspect and also not having to dispose of chemical flares ever again.

Acceptance of Electronic Visual Distress Signals in lieu of Pyrotechnic Distress Signals (smoke signal or flare) on pleasure craft
 
jviss

jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
7,089
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
Is there something like this that can be mounted on top of the mast, and on the top of the radome?

p.s. I have a strobe at the masthead now, but it just blinks, doesn't flash S-O-S.
 
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Tally Ho

Tally Ho

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Jan 7, 2011
5,507
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
John T1594 said:
Here is what we are usingView attachment 203103
Click to expand
That is the same on I have.

Just replace the batteries each year and give it a test. Don’t forget that you also need the daytime flag/panel to be 100 % compliant.

I still have expired flares on board…so marked…in case I need them. I tested a few aeria flares and hand-held ones on the 4th of a July and they all worked fine despite being a few years past their expiration.

Greg
 
jviss

jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
7,089
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
Is it OK to shoot your aerial flares off on July 4th?
 
Tally Ho

Tally Ho

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Jan 7, 2011
5,507
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
I live a bit in the country…and it was hard to tell the difference between bottle rockets and aerial flares!

So, yeah, I guess it is Ok under those circumstances.


Greg
 
quadrille38

quadrille38

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Apr 11, 2010
969
Hunter 38 Whitehall MI
John T1594 said:
Down here in Florida, one of our nature tour boating programs has just replaced our required hand-held flares with a new Coast Guard approved battery powered device. Ths is a handheld LED SOS signal light which is Coast Guard approved. These area great improvement as they are much safer( no open flame), require only 3 C type batteries to operate, can last up to 60 hours with a ten mile range and do not have to be replaced every 3 years. It's made of a heavy duty platic with a clear top. You just twist the top to activate the light. I think they float as well.
Click to expand
they were actually Coast Guard approved in 2015.
I purchased 3 of them. One for me and one each for my best sailing friends. This came after I was dealing with a pile of expired (way expired) hand held flares. I brought them home and thought I’d set them off out in the back yard as a way of practicing using them. I’d never actually set one off before that. When I saw the amount of slag that spewed from them I knew there was no way in hell I ever wanted to set them off on my boat. Especially not in the chaos of an emergency. The hot slag spewed everywhere. Darn near burned my hand and I could imagine them catching the boat on fire. Had my wife come out and try them so she could practice too. If you’ve never set one off I recommend you try it.

Didnt want my friends using the flares anymore either so I gave gifts.
 
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PaulK

PaulK

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Dec 1, 2009
1,382
Sabre 402 Southport, CT
jviss said:
Is there something like this that can be mounted on top of the mast, and on the top of the radome?

p.s. I have a strobe at the masthead now, but it just blinks, doesn't flash S-O-S.
Click to expand
You want to climb up there to twist the top to turn it on? Perhaps it would be easier to turn it on and then hoist it up a flag halyard. Was also under the impression that a strobe indicated a submarine traveling on the surface. I would not want to be a target for Putin unnecessarily.
 
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thinwater

thinwater

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Mar 26, 2011
3,696
Corsair F-24 MK I Deale, MD
jviss said:
Is there something like this that can be mounted on top of the mast, and on the top of the radome?

p.s. I have a strobe at the masthead now, but it just blinks, doesn't flash S-O-S.
Click to expand
Not at this time.

One of the requirements is that it cannot run off your 12V system; it must have an independent power supply.

A distress strobe must be 50-70 hz. 120 hz. is only for signalling attention, for example maneuvering when you are uncertain if the other boat has seen you.
 
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jviss

jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
7,089
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
thinwater said:
A distress strobe must be 50-70 hz. 120 hz. is only for signalling attention,
Click to expand
Are you sure of these frequencies? 50-70Hz (cycles per second) and 120Hz would barely be perceptible as flashing or blinking.
 
thinwater

thinwater

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Mar 26, 2011
3,696
Corsair F-24 MK I Deale, MD
Note that these flares transmit a horizontal beam of light, like and anchor light, and thus must be rigged dead level. The light hangs at about a 30 degree tilt with the supplied rigging. Also, bungees are all wrong, since it will snap back and forth if there is any sway. They also light for more than 8 hours; that's a long time to hand-hold! 5 minutes is a long tome to hold something steady overhead. I have not seen a single image on-line showing it rigged correctly.

All wrong. Only visible in two narrow sectors. Bad marketing materials. And there is nothing about this in the instructions.


The Orion version comes with a hanging bridle. You can rig a hanging bridle on C-1003 if you slide the float down to access two eyes. The C1002 has no means of rigging a bridle. Go figure.

Think about it. If some one handed this to you in an emergency you would ask two questions:
  1. How do I turn it on (they all have obvious switches or are twisted)?
  2. Where do I hang it? But they are not rigged for hanging.





 
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JamesG161

JamesG161

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Feb 14, 2014
7,756
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
I have one.

I wonder why they FLOAT, the STROBE sends SOS in Morse, and are USCG approved?

Jim...

PS: Held held too.
 
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jviss

jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
7,089
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
You would think it would have a way of hanging it.
 
JamesG161

JamesG161

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Feb 14, 2014
7,756
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
jviss said:
You would think it would have a way of hanging it.
Click to expand
why?
Do you want to STROBE the stars and sea surface?

Think MOB or Abandon Ship
 
thinwater

thinwater

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Mar 26, 2011
3,696
Corsair F-24 MK I Deale, MD
JamesG161 said:
I have one.

I wonder why they FLOAT, the STROBE sends SOS in Morse, and are USCG approved?

Jim...
Click to expand
I don't understand. As a well-educated boater you could already know the answers to these questions... but many of the state end federal boating safety sites have not yet been updated to include any or full information about eVDSD . And it has been several years, so the education process is clearly lagging.
  • Perhaps you are implying you could float it in the water, but the range would obviously then be greatly limited. The value of floating would be in life raft situations. You could, in principle, also attach one to a danbouy or other throwable for MOB location.
  • They are not strobes. That is a different flash type, with short on bursts. These lights are on more than they are off. But you would figure this out when you turned it on.
  • I kinna doubt you would ask, in an emergency, if they are USCG approved. But you might. Of course, that is inscribed on them and the answer would be yes. Transport Canada approves The Serius C-1002.
 
thinwater

thinwater

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Mar 26, 2011
3,696
Corsair F-24 MK I Deale, MD
JamesG161 said:
why?
Do you want to STROBE the stars and sea surface?

Think MOB or Abandon Ship
Click to expand
a. Not a strobe.
b. Yes, exactly. The beam is horizontal, like an anchor light. You rig it dead vertical.
 
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