JimH wrote:


I think you may be jumping the gun as we do not know where he plans to boat.
For all we know it could be an inland lake and purchasing flares meeting the
SOLAS standard is overkill.

It's a good idea gear up for the worst possible conditions one might
encounter, rather than the typical conditions "normally" encountered.
Good flares stow just as easily as the
little kiddie sparklers, don't cost much more, and on a very dark night
(where fog and or heavy rain could be a factor, even not that far
offshore) they just might make all the difference. An acquaintance of
mine spent a long night on an overturned hull near Vancouver Island. He
had both SOLAS and "USCG approved" flares. He failed to attract the
attention of a nearby fishing boat with either- but his experience
comparing the effects of the SOLAS with the USCG approved units has
made him an enthusiastic crusader for SOLAS. He says he will never have
another merely "USCG approved" flare on any boat he owns.