SOS Distress Light

B

breausaw

New member
Thinking of puchasing one of these to satisfy USCG Federal Requirements for DAY and NIGHT use in lieu of traditional flares.

No more worries of expired flares.

Will still keep the old flares, perhaps label them (for training only) when they expire.
Like to keep a 3 pack in the ditch bag, good for starting beach fire in an emergency.

Is anyone else carrying these? https://siriussignal.com

$100 a pop.


flare_alternative_sos_distress_signal_cover.jpg
 
I've thought about buying one also, just for the reason they don't expire like the flares do. However, I still prefer the flares thinking that they provide more visibility looking like a distress signal! Colby
 
I bought one when it was on sale recently. Mostly so I don't have to worry about getting tagged for expired flares. Where I live marine flares are not that easy to come by when I remember I need them and they are difficult to get shipped (hazardous material).

And it's not like a flare suddenly stops working when it hits the expiration date. I'll still keep some onboard.
 
Looks like a nice supplement to flares, and assuming you remember to keep up on the batteries every few years, should be extra peace of mind for passing the inspections in case your flares are slightly out of date.

I do like having flares that can be shot up into the air though. There are lots of islands around here, and especially during off season boating, there's a good chance nobody would be around for quite some time to see one of these on the surface. Also the traditional flares are well seen during the day. I've witnessed USCG helicopter search efforts several times over the years, based on daytime reports of flares fired, including last November's trip to Sucia (kind of gives you the warm fuzzies seeing how much effort they put into such a search based only on one report of a flare!). Whereas the LED flare is daytime compliant simply by selling a flag with it?

It does seem like adding of these strobes to the kit, in addition to the shotgun flares, would be a no-brainer for increasing your odds of being seen.

-Mike
 
i have mulled this issue over a lot. My concerns are that there are lots of white lights out on the water, including the occasional strobe. That a distress signal might be overlooked--where as a flare is pretty distinctive. There is always the battery leaking and damage to the unit (I realize that this has been minimized on these units. There is the limit to horizon visibility issue--limited to 5 to 7 miles depending on heights.

It would be nice to avoid the payment every couple of years...but because of the visibility issue, I still get the various flares. Having said all of this, I have never used a distress signal--and have only seen one real night distress signal in my 65 plus years of skippering boats...Most distresses I have seen have been daytime, and folks waving arms was the signal (other than smoke and fire!). Also there are now many flashlights up to 1000 CP which have SOS and Strobes-(but not approved)--so there are ways to attract attention--and keep that attention after the flare is fired...

I would not give up on the flares, even if buying one of these. I agree that parachute flares are far more effective. When we were cruising we had the 25 mm parachute flares. Now you can buy the hand launched SOLAS flares for only $75 each!

SOLAS parachute flares ascend to more than 1,000' and burn at a dazzling 30,000 candela for 40 seconds. Compare this to non-SOLAS USCG flares typically found on recreational boats, such as Orion’s pistol-fired 12-gauge flares, which burn at 16,000 candlepower for 7 seconds and reach 500'
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The SOLAS larger flares are required for some categories of ocean racing, and of course for many commercial vessels.

Both flares and this LED light together are a good option.
 
I bought one of these units last year. They're the latest alternative to flares, but the light is never outdated. I think this mages me legal. BTW, comes with a flag for daytime. And I can test it without destroying it.

I've been boating for slightly less time than Bob, but in 40 years have never used a distress signal. Had problems, yes, but I've been able to resolve them on board, or use the VHF radio. So I tend to think of flares as a tax for which I get nothing in return but have a liability; the signal light solves that problem.

The only time I've seen a flare used was at Catalina on the 4th of July and when it came down it set another boat on fire.

Boris
 
Sticking with flares, and avoiding strobes. Flares project, though visibility in daylight can be poor. Hence, they are my go-to nighttime signal.

Not a strobe devotee, primarily because the local SAR experts maintain that a swimmer in a confused sea is obscured about as much as his upper body is visible. Somthat a signal that blinks is much less likely to get spotted.
 
When I was a teenager I had a serious mishap and found myself in the middle of the Long Island Sound, in poor conditions, with a dead engine and a radio that had stopped working.

Having just completed my Connecticut Boating License, and having been an avid Hardy Boys reader when I was just a couple years younger, I remembered about SOS and flashed my lights • • • - - - • • • at other boats, or houses as I got nearer to shore. Much to my surprise, unlike what happened in the Hardy Boy books, no one seemed to notice or care. During the daytime I rationalized that they couldn't see the lights, but at night it became apparent that they just lacked the call to action of a flare.

Even today, I think that I would be more inclined to go further out of my way to investigate a flare then a mechanical SOS because the mechanical warning is far enough removed from direct human control that I would suspect that maybe someone accidently hit the switch, or it is just kids playing, etc., whereas I know that a flare is a deliberate human act.

At sea, line of sight is also important, and a flare with a launcher will be seen for far further away then my mast light. Marine regs are often a good set of minimums, but exceeding them, rather than barely meeting them, is sometimes a good idea.

Just my $0.02

David
 
My thinking (as a retired Coastie) is in line with Bob's thoughts. Several months ago, Active Captain had a special through Defender dot com, to get one of these battery powered lights at a bargain price. I purchased one and put it in my water tight emergency box on my boat, along with new flairs and extra batteries for the battery powered light. I also always place my outdated flairs in a separate ziplock bag and clearly mark them as outdated (because 99% of the time, based on my actual experience) they will still work, if kept dry.
 
Flares would be more effective if we could fire off one of our expired ones to practice. I suspect that to avoid false alarms specific spots and times designated by the Coast Guard, at least two boats participating. A daytime 4th of July would work well. The site could even be an ashore one. I suspect some Coast Guard Auxiliary persons would even volunteer.
 
RobLL":36fzlyh7 said:
Flares would be more effective if we could fire off one of our expired ones to practice. I suspect that to avoid false alarms specific spots and times designated by the Coast Guard, at least two boats participating. A daytime 4th of July would work well. The site could even be an ashore one. I suspect some Coast Guard Auxiliary persons would even volunteer.
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I have set off flares as part of crew training. Let the Coast Guard (or other controlling agency) know when and where, and make a broadcast on channel 16 regarding your intentions. Two things that surprise people:

How short the duration of an aerial flare.

How long (and hot) a hand-held flare burns (especially if you happen to be the one holding it).

It would be good experience for all boaters to know these things.
 
Without getting into the real life pros and cons of flares vs. strobe lights for the moment, I am just talking about meeting the regulatory requirements for safety equipment as it pertains to the visual signaling requirement. Usually the regulatory requirement meets the lowest common denominator (or satisfies some special interest) and may or may not be actually useful in a real-life situation.

Yes, the argument can be made that launched flares are better than a surface located light. However, the regulations require flares, it does not say that they must be airborne or launched. Hand held flares are sufficient to meet the regulatory requirements. Therefore, a handheld device of sufficient brightness could also meet that requirement. A hand held flare burns for a couple of minutes at most. An airborne flare burns for times measured in seconds. The strobe light equivalent "burns" for hours.

The only obvious advantage to flares is that their unique burn "signature" can distinguish them from other objects. While this cannot be completely discounted, it is not a requirement of the regulation that all visual signaling devices must replicate this feature.

An electric device that is approved as a replacement to flares wins hands down when considered from a regulatory point of view. To wit, it is of the required brightness and it "burns" for at least the required duration In addition, it is not a hazardous material, it can be stored indefinitely, and there is no expiration date (which is its biggest selling point right now).

If the strobe light saves me once from a citation for having outdated flares, it has probably paid for itself. Not to mention not having to deal with obtaining flares and disposing of the expired ones (at some point your going to have to get rid of some old ones, otherwise they'll just pile up).

A prudent mariner will still carry flares and other devices and make sure that they are in good condition. But this is different from carrying a visual signalling device just to be compliant with some rule.

I have both.
 
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This is the graph often referred to--and one can visually.."see" what is most effective--and that from near water level, any distress signal has very limited range. The stated burn time of the hand held flare is approximately 3 minutes.

Orion's comments are:

Using aerial signals.

Aerial flares should be fired after sighting or hearing a potential rescue vessel. To attract attention to your distress situation, the U.S. Coast Guard recommends that you fire two aerial flares – one immediately after the other – so rescuers can confirm the sighting and the direction of the signal.

Parachute flares do not need to be fired in two’s, since a single parachute flare has an adequate burn time (25 to 30 seconds) to confirm sighting and position.

Using hand-held signal flares.

Orion hand-held signal flares are intended as homing signals to pinpoint your position. The surface-to-surface sighting range on water is approximately 3 to 5 miles, depending on boat elevation. If a rescuer is 5 miles away and running at 20 miles per hour, it will take 15 minutes to reach you. Therefore, you should have at least 12 minutes (total burn time) of signals onboard to maintain a strong homing signal until help arrives.

When should I signal?

Orion aerial flares and other "one-time" signals should be fired only after sighting or hearing a potential rescuer. Experts recommend that once an aircraft has been sighted, one flare should be fired … then a second flare fired immediately after the first one to let search teams confirm the sighting and direction of the signal.

Remember, search and rescue missions often establish grid search patterns, which means you may see the same aircraft two or three times coming from different directions. Do not waste aerial flares if the aircraft has initially passed by you. Carrying extra pyrotechnic signals onboard will improve your chances of being sighted.
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I still maintain, that any one who goes offshore, or out of easy sight of potential rescues, needs to have an EPIRP or Personal Locator Beacon...

I was participating in a diving safety work shop on developing a protocol for rescue of injured SCUBA divers in our county, earlier this week as the only representative of recreational boaters. I made the point that a call on channel 16 for Coast Guard assistance needed to be elevated to the "MayDay" level and DSC should be deployed, as part of the first step in the protocol. The Coast Guard commander's comment was "Well said sir, but we do have to remember than less than 1% of recreational boaters have a n MMSI numberrand that their DSC will not work!" So remember to get that MMSI in the radio--and that may be even more important that the right type of flare!
 
My understanding for an unregistered DSC radio is that the DSC activation will still send your position. It just won't be able to be cross referenced to your name, address, boat name, etc. through a database look up.

Putting a MMSI number into your radio does not magically load that info into your device, there has to be an external database.

Also, if you want a "real" number that works everywhere you need to pay some money for it. The free (or low cost) ones are only registered in the US.
 
I bought one of the strobes a few years ago when they were around $65. I keep it to remain legal with the flare requirement. If a distress situation occurs, I will first light some of the many out of date flares I've accumulated over the years
 
One wet, cloudy and joyful New Years eve I decided to share my joy with my neighbors by using up some of my expired fares. More than half of the flares that were 2 years or more out of date would not ignite. They had all been kept in my orange water proof "ammo box" in the unopened plastic wrap they were purchased in.

My take home lesson: If I need a flare, Start with the new stuff first.
 
How short the duration of an aerial flare.

How long (and hot) a hand-held flare burns (especially if you happen to be the one holding it).

It would be good experience for all boaters to know these things.
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Yep...and yep.
 
Very interesting discussion here with lots of good information. I think I would lean to having both the electronic and traditional flares on board as an added layer of safety. My question is, Does anybody know if the electronic beacon is recognized by the Canadian Coast Guard as a replacement for traditional flares as it is by the USCG?
 
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