[Paddlewise] Fwd: flares

In a message dated 12/20/1998 4:52:51 PM EST, dkruger_at_pacifier.com writes:

<< When I told my SO what I had written about the Bar pilot whose strobe was
 not visible to the CG helo, she reminded me that the strobe was operating
 intermittently, and so that may have been a contributing factor why it did
 not attract the attention of the helo.  I believe the strobe leaked water,
 and so it shorted when the water provided a lower resistance path than the
 bulb.  Don't know the brand of strobe he used.
  >>

******************************************************************************
****************
Strobe lights work best when used against a dark background such as the sky or
the ocean.  Most of us have observed strobes on overhead aircraft and on tall
buildings and towers.  These are visible for quite some distance.  The
surrounding background is usually very dark.  Another reason is they are very
powerful strobe lights.  They are NOT powered by a small battery.  

Strobe lights do have a drawback as I will attempt to illustrate.

Years ago I worked myself through college as a police officer.  We had light
bars atop the patrol cars made of red plastic with a 12V rotating spotlight in
each side of the bar and they rotated in sequence set 90 degrees to each
other.  These alerted motorist when we "ran hot" at about 300-400 yards judged
by when the cars pulled over as we approached from behind.  The reason they
worked so good was that as the light rotated it shined a sweeping "path of
light" through the back window of the car and reflected it into the drivers
eyes by the rear view mirror.

They also worked effectively while parked along the roadway to warn oncomming
motorist that one of "them" was getting a little bit of "papaerwork" done on
them.

Technology being dynamic as it is, somebody came up with a light bar that had
two strobes on it.  The man who worked on our radios and installed the lights
was a pilot.  He knew how good strobes on aircraft could be seen so he ordered
a pair and installed them on one of the patrol cars.

You could see this car with its flashing strobe lights for miles if you were
looking directly at it such as if it was on the side of the road and you were
approaching it.  

Where they did NOT work was in traffic approaching from behind.  They were
totally ineffective where we needed them the most.  Every officer griped and
complained about them until they removed them and replaced them with the other
type.

These sat around the garage until a Texas Department of Public Safety Highway
Patrol officer asked for them.  At the time Texas DPS cars did not have light
bars on them.  Very effective for issuing radar clocked tickets in the pre
radar detector days.  You simply could not tell the car was a cop.

Anyway, they gave them to the DPS officer and he put them on his patro; car.
That lasted only a couple of weeks.  He brought them back.  Totally
ineffective.  We told him that, but he had to see for himself.

Today a combination of strobes AND rotating mirrors are used in the most
effective light bars.  The mirrors directing and focusing the powerful strobe
flash like a beam of light.  These are very effective in both approaching and
parked situations.

What does this have to do with PFD mounted strobes? Not much except to say
that there is no such thing as magic.  They can ONLY be seen IF they work and
the person looks directly at them AND they are not shielded by ones head, the
PFD, a wave rolling over the person wearing it or many other things.

I have one on my PFD for use in canoes, kayaks, motorboats, etc, etc.  It
might be the one thing aiding a rescuer in seeing me.  Again it may not help
at all.  I guess this is along the lines of "don't just float there, do
something" !

John LeBlanc

attached mail follows:

Saul Kinderis wrote:
> 
> As far as signaling deivices, all of my lifejackets have a "C" cell type of
> strobe attached along with flares in a ziplock. I replace the flares at
> least once a year. I have to admit that it concerns me a bit that in Dave's
> mention of the river pilot, the Coast Guard didn't see the strobe, as my
> whole motivation for putting strobes on all of my lifejackets, including
> loaners, was due to a friend of mine not having anything on his person to
> signal with (it was all in the kayak I had lent him) during a rescue. [snip]

When I told my SO what I had written about the Bar pilot whose strobe was
not visible to the CG helo, she reminded me that the strobe was operating
intermittently, and so that may have been a contributing factor why it did
not attract the attention of the helo.  I believe the strobe leaked water,
and so it shorted when the water provided a lower resistance path than the
bulb.  Don't know the brand of strobe he used.

The next piece of Saul's post (which I snipped) might be fodder for a
discussion/listing of strobes which do not leak.

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List
Submissions:     paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions:   paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net
Website:         http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/
***************************************************************************

***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List
Submissions:     paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions:   paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net
Website:         http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/
***************************************************************************