Expired Skyblazer Flares: 4 of 4 fired

While coastal kayaking, I carried a set of Orion, Skyblazer II flares with me until they expired. I replaced them, but the expired set were still hanging around, until yesterday. We were a few miles from open water, and in the general mayhem of people shooting off rockets to celebrate the Fourth, I felt confident the flares would be lost among the visual clutter and would not trigger an emergency response.

I’ve wanted to fire one of these for a long time. Instructions are written in very small print on the side of each tube, While firing is simple, there are a few steps and they are not intuitive. I often wondered if I’d be able to fire them while bouncing around in the water trying to read the directions in the dark. However, I’d heard it was illegal to fire them in a non-emergency situation and I certainly didn’t want to start a Coast Guard search or anything like that. After a few internet searches, I now believe firing the flares is only illegal if you are near the water.

I’ve often heard folks in the kayak club say these flares are unreliable. They say even fresh flares often fail to fire. So, I was surprised that all four of my expired flares fired. The expiration date was Sep 2014. So, 3 years post expiration, they seemed reliable. And, the grandkids got a hoot out of them.

~~Chip

I’ve only know of two failures to fire. Both were stored in bad conditions and got wet. One pengun flare went up 3 ft rotated and shot out sideways 2 or 3 feet above a group of students at the demonstration. That part about aiming away from you is a good idea.

There is a lot of bending of rules, and laws on the 4th of July.

Not unusual here for large caliber weapons to be emptied on NYE. NO reported injuries so far.

@string said:
Not unusual here for large caliber weapons to be emptied on NYE. NO reported injuries so far.

And thus Baltimore City Policeman would often take their beat at 11:59 PM on an New Year’s Eve beneath a door archway or bridge.

I shot an arrow
up into the air,
Twenty folks 'round me
took off in a tear.
One shouted back madly
(now 'neath ceilinged lair),
“Heavy fools stand alone,
gravity some come pair!”

'Course, nowadays irrational jubilation and practiced acts of semi-random blindness come at ya from all angles, on any non-particular eve. But, a steel plate for the fates isn’t always practical. Duckhead and cover, my friends.

@BoozTalkin said:
I’ve often heard folks in the kayak club say these flares are unreliable. They say even fresh flares often fail to fire.

I haven’t seen new ones fail to fire, but I’ve tried old ones (several years out of date) that were stored under reasonable conditions and they went 0 for 6 - none of them worked. So, having expired flares around may be better than nothing, but there’s a point where they’re just not going to work at all.