wrote in message
oups.com...

JimH wrote:

What is good for you may not be good for another in a totally different
boating environment. ;-)

There's no reason to carry substandard safety gear, regardless of
boating environment.
If a guy thinks he needs to save a few bucks @ on flares, what the heck
is he doing owning a boat?

Now, admittedly they have a commercial axe to grind, but as I was just
checking to see if the price of a decent flare had shot upward recently
(Ogawd that *was* awful) to the point where safety was no longer
affordable, I did observe the following paragraph on top of page 781 in
the current West Marine Catalog. (I have a hardbound "editor's" copy
furnished by West Marine, but I am pretty sure the page numbers are the
same in the copy you are likely to have on hand).

"SOLAS-grade flares meet very tough specifications that arose out of
the Safety of Life at Sea convention of 1983. These specifications are
much more stringent tha US Coast Guard regulations and these flares far
exceed US Coast Guard requirements as well. They are waterproof, easy
to fire, and extraordinarily bright. You cannot fully appreciate SOLAS
flares until you have seen a demonstration. We recommend SOLAS flares
for all applications."

Why, (aside from the fact that SOLAS flares are more money), would this
company recommend them for "all applications"? Perhaps the important
differences are in the
specs. Let's see.

Orion handheld fla USCG approved. Light output: 700 candlepower.
Retail price $19.99

vs.

SOLAS handheld fla Light output: 15,000 candlepower (14,300 more
candlepower than the Orion). Retail price $18.99 One dollar *cheaper*
than its little wannabe brother.

There is one advantage with the dim little Orion flare. It burns three
times longer (3 minutes vs. 1 minute) than the SOLAS. Whether or not
that's actually an advantage may depend upon whether anybody actually
has a better chance to see the light anytime during that 3 minutes
rather than a light that is rated at 20-times the candlepower shining
for a minute.


Then there are rocket flares.

Skyblazer Red aerial fla Will reach 450-foot altitude, produces
16,000 candlepower, and will burn for a total of 6.9 seconds. Retail
price $29.99

SOLAS signal rocket fla Will reach an altitude of over 1000 feet.
Produces 30,000 candlepower, burns for 40 seconds. (More than twice the
height, almost twice the candlepower, about 6 times the burn length)
Retail price $48.99. You get a lot more for the extra $19 to step up to
SOLAS than you get for the first $30 you spend to just barely get by.


Good information Chuck. Looks like a no brainer.

Thanks for the information and discussion.