I think West Marine carries them.

--

Larry
Email to rapp at lmr dot com

On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 19:47:43 -0500, Courtney Thomas
wrote (with possible editing):

Where'd you buy said items ?

Thank you.

Doug Dotson wrote:
I carry the Olin 25mm kit. Seems to be adequate, but I also carry \handheld
parachute flare, smoke canisters, as well. The 25mm gun will also accept the
16ga
shotgun shell adapter..

Doug
s/v Callista

"Courtney Thomas" wrote in message
...

Is the Olin gun/case/flares kit adequate ?

Thank you.
--
Courtney Thomas
s/v Mutiny
lying Oriental, NC

Doug Dotson wrote:
I carry the Olin 25mm kit. .. The 25mm gun will also accept the 16ga
shotgun shell adapter..

OUCH! Back when American peasants were allowed weapons a friend had a
single shot 12 Ga sawed-off at the pistol grip and fore end. Despite
retaining about half its original weight it was quite punishing to
shoot. I'm not sure which end of a light plastic Olin I'd rather be on
when firing a 16Ga, and this from a nut who's carry gun is a LW 44
Magnum.

Anybody know offhand what "gauge" 25mm equates to?

On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 07:58:47 -0400, Vito wrote
(with possible editing):

Doug Dotson wrote:
I carry the Olin 25mm kit. .. The 25mm gun will also accept the 16ga
shotgun shell adapter..

OUCH! Back when American peasants were allowed weapons a friend had a
single shot 12 Ga sawed-off at the pistol grip and fore end. Despite
retaining about half its original weight it was quite punishing to
shoot. I'm not sure which end of a light plastic Olin I'd rather be on
when firing a 16Ga, and this from a nut who's carry gun is a LW 44
Magnum.

Anybody know offhand what "gauge" 25mm equates to?

No, but 25mm is about an inch. 12 gauge is about 3/4". Of course,
the kick will be largely dependant upon the powder charge. I have
25mm flares, but I've yet to fire one, so I don't know how bad they
are. The small(ish) gun fires both regular and parachute flares, the
latter having what amounts to its own barrel. I can't imagine they
would be wicked bad - they are supposed to be a safety device!

--

Larry
Email to rapp at lmr dot com

"Doug Dotson" wrote in message ...
I carry the Olin 25mm kit. Seems to be adequate, but I also carry \handheld
parachute flare, smoke canisters, as well. The 25mm gun will also accept the
16ga
shotgun shell adapter..

Doug
s/v Callista

"Courtney Thomas" wrote in message
...
Is the Olin gun/case/flares kit adequate ?

Thank you.
--
Courtney Thomas
s/v Mutiny
lying Oriental, NC




Last new years, I decided to fire off many of my old flares miles from
the water. It was a rainy night so it was a reasonable test.

ALL of the Olin 12 guage flares worked, even those 10 years out of
date.

ALL OF THE OLIN HAND HELD FLARES FAILED TO LIGHT, even those that were
current

All of the pen type skyblazer flares worked (2 yrs out of date)

All of the Pains-Wessex hand helds worked and were WAAAAAAAAAAY
brighter than the Olins when I finally ignited the Olins with a torch.

My only Pains Wessex parachute flare fired but it was difficult to
figger out with rain in my eyes (5 years out of date). Maybe buy 3
pen type Skyblazers and put em in your abandon ship stuff.

SO: I would go with maybe 6 25 mm flares, and a bunch of cheaper 12
guage flares. DONT BUY THE OLIN HAND HELDS, get the Pains Wessex
ones.

I carry the Olin 25mm kit. Seems to be adequate, but I also carry \handheld
parachute flare, smoke canisters, as well. The 25mm gun will also accept the
16ga
shotgun shell adapter..

Where do I find a 16 gauge adapter? Who makes it?
Thanks.

ALL OF THE OLIN HAND HELD FLARES FAILED TO LIGHT, even those that were
current

All of the pen type skyblazer flares worked (2 yrs out of date)

All of the Pains-Wessex hand helds worked and were WAAAAAAAAAAY
brighter than the Olins when I finally ignited the Olins with a torch.

My only Pains Wessex parachute flare fired but it was difficult to
figger out with rain in my eyes (5 years out of date). Maybe buy 3
pen type Skyblazers and put em in your abandon ship stuff.

SO: I would go with maybe 6 25 mm flares, and a bunch of cheaper 12
guage flares. DONT BUY THE OLIN HAND HELDS, get the Pains Wessex
ones.

Thanks for the report. I appreciate the info. I carry a 25mm gun
and have PinPoint handheld flares. I also have a 12 gauge flare gun
with lots of out dated flares. Before going offshore, I will have
plenty of parachute flares and some smoke signals.

I poked around on the web last night and I can't find them anymore.
The place that I found them last year was getting rid of their stock
so perhaps they are now gone. I saw alot of ads for a .410ga adapter.

Doug

"John Hancock" wrote in message
...

I carry the Olin 25mm kit. Seems to be adequate, but I also carry
\handheld
parachute flare, smoke canisters, as well. The 25mm gun will also
accept the
16ga
shotgun shell adapter..

Where do I find a 16 gauge adapter? Who makes it?
Thanks.

ALL OF THE OLIN HAND HELD FLARES FAILED TO LIGHT, even those that were
current

All of the pen type skyblazer flares worked (2 yrs out of date)

All of the Pains-Wessex hand helds worked and were WAAAAAAAAAAY
brighter than the Olins when I finally ignited the Olins with a torch.

My only Pains Wessex parachute flare fired but it was difficult to
figger out with rain in my eyes (5 years out of date). Maybe buy 3
pen type Skyblazers and put em in your abandon ship stuff.

SO: I would go with maybe 6 25 mm flares, and a bunch of cheaper 12
guage flares. DONT BUY THE OLIN HAND HELDS, get the Pains Wessex
ones.

Thanks for the report. I appreciate the info. I carry a 25mm gun
and have PinPoint handheld flares. I also have a 12 gauge flare gun
with lots of out dated flares. Before going offshore, I will have
plenty of parachute flares and some smoke signals.

We did the Cruising World Safety at Sea Seminar at the Naval Academy
in 1995 before leaving on our circumnav. They fired off a whole bunch
of different flares to show us how well you could see them.

The Pains Wessex SOLAS parachutes were night and day the winners. Far
higher and brighter than anything else. Easily more visible in
daylight than a smoke signal.

So, if you're buying flares just to satisfy the USCG, buy the cheapest
you can find. But, if you're buying flares because you're going out
there where you might actually need them, buy SOLAS flares -- either
Pains Wessex or one of the others. And, BTW, the three required aren't
enough. So save your old ones.

Jim Woodward
www.mvFintry.com

Courtney Thomas wrote in message ...
Is the Olin gun/case/flares kit adequate ?

Thank you.

Courtney Thomas wrote in message news:

Is the Olin gun/case/flares kit adequate ?


I would highly recommend Olin/Orions 25mm flare pistol.

Early this summer our local CG Aux offered a flare demonstartion and
those willing could bring their flares and fire them under
supervision/permission of the USCG Aux.

At that time my plastic gun failed to open.

since then this press release has been issued at the 7th CG Aux
website:

---------------------------------------------

WARNING: Some Flare Guns Can't Be Opened!

Orion states that Olin flare guns (now Orion) can't be opened wide
enough to accept a flare cartridge and would be useless in an
emergency. A marine surveyor who regularly checks flare guns while
doing surveys found that 13% of the Olin guns (9 out of 69) he has
inspected can't be fully opened.

A spokesman at Orion Safety Products confirmed the problem; nylon
material used to keep the breech closed can deform and jam the opening
mechanism. Any Olin plastic flare gun is suspect, as are Orion guns
made before 2000, the year the mechanism was reengineered (guns with
the modification have the USCG approval code 160 028/12/1 stamped on
the body). A recall has not been issued, although Orion has agreed to
replace any of the defective guns, regardless of age. Orion recommends
checking the operation of the guns now and at the beginning of every
season; if the breech won't open, the gun should be sent back for
replacement.

Send defective guns to: Orion Safety Products, Marine Division, 3157
N. 500 West, Peru, IN 46970.

George J Kacmarik, DSO-VE

Date posted: 7/5/03

-------------------------------------
source: (scroll down a bit)

http://cgaux7.org/articles_dso-ve.asp


-------------------------------------

During the flare test/demonstration I shot off many different types of
flares including solas aerial/parachute.

I decidedly did NOT like the SOLAS aerial flares TRIGGERING mechanism.

The mechanism in question is the firing mechanism best described where
if the flare is held in the left hand the right hand triggers the
mechanism by the righthand upward motion bumping the trigger.

I much prefer holding the flare tube in my left hand an pulling a
trigger ring
with a downward motion. I disliked the upward bump trigger so much I
declined in letting my wife shoot one of them....

Now the solas aerials/parachute are nice but carry a hefty price tag,
the flare demonstration SOLD m3e on onlins 25mm flare gun, the 25mm
flare gun will fire paracvhute flares and in the demonstration they
were quite impressive.


example (note this is NOT a plastic gun):

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...=50&storeNum=8

No. Get some parachute flares, SOLAS type. Expensive, but hey... when you
want to be seen... they're the best!

"Courtney Thomas" wrote in message
...
Is the Olin gun/case/flares kit adequate ?

Thank you.
--
Courtney Thomas
s/v Mutiny
lying Oriental, NC

GOTO WWW.FIREQUEST.COM AND goto their catalog and flair gun....you can
buy pepper spray shells that fit the flair guns and they say it will
knock down a bear......I have specialty made shells to fit my heavy
duty flair guns that will do the job but, pray I will never need
them...













"Keith" wrote in message ...
No. Get some parachute flares, SOLAS type. Expensive, but hey... when you
want to be seen... they're the best!

"Courtney Thomas" wrote in message
...
Is the Olin gun/case/flares kit adequate ?

Thank you.
--
Courtney Thomas
s/v Mutiny
lying Oriental, NC