Flares

[harry barker]

Whats the new rules on out-of-date flares.
been told coast guards won't take them off you now,anybody know how to get rid legally.
New rules say because flares are out-of-date then it's not safe for coastguards to fire off in practice.(health&safety and all that)
Dumping at sea not on.
Any ideas !!!!!!

[mark]

return them to the retailer/manufacturer maybe??

didn't know the coastguard won't take them any more.

have to admit that in the past we've just used em on bonfire night! we're way out in the hills for them to go unseen by anyone though

[northeast1]

i just soaked them in a bucket of water for 2 days then damaged them so could not be used, still small traces of powder but not much else you can do with no one wanting them now due to the cost of disposal.

[TOMMY NEPTUNE]

There was an article regarding this in the latest issue of Practical Boat owner, apparently most chandlers will take the out of date flares from you to dispose of safely, providing you purchase a new set from them. its something to do with new health and safety and disposal of explosive materials laws. I,m sure its also illegal to set them of inland or without good reason. I'll try and hunt out the article.

[harry barker]

Flares

i just soaked them in a bucket of water for 2 days then damaged them so could not be used, still small traces of powder but not much else you can do with no one wanting them now due to the cost of disposal.

No fancy doing that mate,how do you damage them? they a ticking bomb and I don't think the dustbin man would be happy with emptying my bin.
When I moored at Isle-of-whithorn the local inshore lad took them off me and fired them off in practice.
I personally don't like them on board even the in date ones,necessary evil if you like.
Life savers when you need them,dangerous explosives on board when you don't.
I'v seen a boat very badly damaged when a flare ignited,the offshore flares were in there container,in date,and kept in the cockpit locker.
This was a long drawn out insurance claim

[mark]

what about the local police station? The police have an obligation I believe to take unused fireworks in for safe disposal un der the explosives act, and flares are also classed as explosives...

[Red5]

We aren't allowed flares ourselves now never mind taking them in!
Local Police station or Chandlers

[harry barker]

Flares

Rang local copshop didn't know but get firearms officer to ring me back.
Nee bother he said box them up and take to local station,we dispose of all types of explosives including guns,spentbullets,fireworks,marine flares,great I said and went to local police station.
No we won't take them the Sarge in charge said,the firearms lot was going to pick them up from you place.
No I was told to bring then here.You are being irresponsible bringing out-of-date flares in here he said.You are endangering my officers lives.
There was a lot of discussions followed but the end of the day I left with the flares in the back of car.
At home I go phone call off local police to say give Humber c/g a ring they take them.
Rang them they said ring Hartlepool coastguard they take them.
Rang them yes gotta get them down to H/P first and did I know that last Friday laws changed again.
Coastguards will take out-of-date flares and the royal navy now dispose of them.
So make what you will of how to get rid of your out-of-date flares,cos I haven't got a clue ?????????????

[big_sean]

i let mine off on bonfire night

they were great

and have a couple left for new years eve


no problems easily disposed of



sean

[Charlton]

to be honest when I renewd mine, I kept the old ones in a seperate container. You could well use up your good flares without attracting anybody. After another couple of years when I renewed the last lot, just set the older ones off at Bonfire night or gave them to the local RNLI to get rid of, don't think they take them anymore. Remeber as in food the use by date is just a guide, a good guide though, always have up to date flares.

[mark]

I found a 6 minute orange smoke in the shed last year dated 1988 - worked fine, filled the village with a lovely orange fug for a while

I've always kept the out of date ones for a bit, and each year just added a few new ones rather than buying full packs, that way you get a varitey of flares from different batches, then get rid of the oldest when you buy a couple of new ones

always preferred having a few from different batches, reduces the odds of you getting a whole pack from a bad batch

[harry barker]

Flares

Yes I keep out-of-date as well like the old pack when I buy new one's.
But I've accumulated far to many over the years hence I needed to get rid of old ones.
Also I've quite a lot of the white collision flares I normally buy these separate from my normal off-shore pack.
The other big problem is this boat was sailed from Vancouver Island to Maryport in 2004 thats when I bought her.
The flares are from the USA and there's a firing pistol in the pack I believe this is illegal in this country.

[The Great Wallsendo]

Try here:

Cleveland Police Firearms Licensing Department
Middlesbrough District Headquarters
Bridge Street West
Middlesbrough
TS2 1AB

Tel: 01642 302005
Fax: 01642 302009

I worked for North Yorks Police Firearms Licensing many moons ago...these were the kind of queries people would ring in about all the time...they should be able to help

If they can't help - they should be able to point you in the right direction (I'd hope)

[Red5]

Just a couple of months back we had some handed in at Boulmer CRE (before we had ours confiscated off our superiors). One turned out to be a second world war German Incendiary bomb, and there were about another dozen or so that were dated 1963!
After a few phone calls my Station Offcier met the bomb squad from Catterick at 2am, and they had a nice controlled explosion the following morning.

[harry barker]

flares

Thanks for the replies and suggestions a great help.
Yes this firing pistol puts diry Harry 44 magnum to shame mate,it take like 12bore and larger size cartridges,red ones and white as well,I would say its a lot safer to use that the heldhand types of flares but you can point this thing just like a hand gun.....frighting man.
Must say I had a bit quickdraw(empty barrel) down in the cabin