Just a little observation that I made while sorting thru gear last night after yesterday's paddle.... As I went thru one of the three first aid kits that rotate around between my day-pack, truck, and boats I noticed that several of the drug packets that I carry (Benedryl, etc) had expired. The problem with first aid kits (or maybe it's really a blessing) is that most of us don't have cause to use them on a regular basis, so like most pieces of "safety" equipment they tend to be carried along faithfully, but not tested or used. So just a friendly, and hopefully unnecessary, reminder to everyone, especially now as the paddle season draws to an "end" for many, to check up on their first aid kit supplies.... Dave Seng Juneau, Alaska *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
David Seng posted: ... > As I went thru one of the three first aid kits...I noticed that several of the drug packets...had expired. ...check up on their first aid kit supplies.... > >Dave Seng One more "easy to forget" -- check the date code on your flares. They expire 42 months after the manufacturing date. They do not satisfy the coast guard when expired. jerry. >*************************************************************************** >PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not >to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission >Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net >Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net >Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ >*************************************************************************** > *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
What do we do with the expired flares? I tried to fire one last 4th of July. To avoid trouble with police and fire dept I chose to fire them in what I thought it was a controlled environment--the bathtub. The thing must have bounce several times between walls and eventually found its way out of the shower and fell on the floor. Everything was black around me, and the only thing I could see was that bright pink sparking thing on the floor. I spend the rest of the weekend venting the smoke, cleaning up the black good from the bathroom walls, and changing the floor vinyl. Lesson learned: do not try this at home. ;-) But in the experience I also learned that it would be extremely hard to fire one of those aerial flares with cold hands in rough seas. Anyway, does anyone know where to fire aerial flares without getting in trouble? - Julio > One more "easy to forget" -- check the date code on your flares. They expire 42 months after the manufacturing date. They do not satisfy the coast guard when expired. > > jerry. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I haven't been present but expired flares are sometimes used here in skills courses as demos and are used thus by arrangement with local police/coast rescue etc. If you can do this it sounds like a good way to get some value out of old flares and actually experience what its like to fire them. On the two occassions that I know of when they were used in this way in well used areas none of the other boats in the vicinity responded, noone came to check. nick *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
juliom_at_cisco.com wrote: > > What do we do with the expired flares? > Here in Canada, we can bring them to a fire department, police station or Coast Guard station and they will take them off our hands. Check with the same in your area. Mike PS - if you want to fire them off to test or get rid of them, you can do so by getting permission from the Coast Guard and firing them at the time and place for which permission was granted. Since they have granted the permission, they will know to ignore them. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
juliom_at_cisco.com wrote: > > What do we do with the expired flares? > > I tried to fire one last 4th of July. > To avoid trouble with police and fire dept I chose to fire them > in what I thought it was a controlled environment--the bathtub. > > The thing must have bounce several times between walls and eventually > found its way out of the shower and fell on the floor. Everything > was black around me, and the only thing I could see was that bright > pink sparking thing on the floor. > > I spend the rest of the weekend venting the smoke, cleaning up the > black good from the bathroom walls, and changing the floor vinyl. > > Lesson learned: do not try this at home. ;-) > But in the experience I also learned that it would be extremely hard > to fire one of those aerial flares with cold hands in rough seas. > > Anyway, does anyone know where to fire aerial flares without getting > in trouble? > > - Julio > You might try the toilet. You know, fire and then slam the lid. Please tell me that you were kidding about firing that in the tub.. If so, I can't wait to read your profile! :-) James *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Michael Daly wrote: > > juliom_at_cisco.com wrote: > > > > What do we do with the expired flares? > > > > Here in Canada, we can bring them to a fire department, > police station or Coast Guard station and they will > take them off our hands. Check with the same in your > area. > When my son was stationed in Georgia he bought tons of fireworks, which he left at our home when he got reassigned elsewhere. I am not big on fireworks and finally just took them into the local police precinct. I imagine the cops just took them to their homes in the suburbs and shot them off on the 4th of July. > PS - if you want to fire them off to test or get rid of > them, you can do so by getting permission from the > Coast Guard and firing them at the time and place for > which permission was granted. Since they have granted > the permission, they will know to ignore them. I can't remember if I told this story before but I will repeat it anyway. Back about a half dozen years ago, I participated in a pyrotechnics demo using old flares. It was several boxes of out-of-date ones that someone in one of our local paddling clubs had gotten from commercial ships and other sources as he was in the business (selling electronic equipment to the industry). We had several thousand dollars of expired flares to shoot off to our hearts content. The event was mentioned in club newsletters as a chance to shoot off flares and learn more things about such gear and other safety devices. Our guy filled out an events permits application form with the Coast Guard indicating where and when etc. and got an actual paper permit back. The day of the event we discussed various aspects of what we would do and paddled out into Jamaica Bay off of Brooklyn. Got about a mile from shore, a nice safe distance to prevent any flares going astray and doing any property or personal damage to anyone except possibly us. We started shooting off different types of flares, including fairly sizable parachute ones that generally are hard to have in a kayak. And smoke flares and dye and skyblazers, the works. One guy had a marine radio and suddenly got all excited saying that the air waves were going crazy with reports of a major emergency situation in Jamaica Bay, with all kinds of flares going off. We were in the flight path of planes going into JFK International Airport and apparently their pilots were also reporting sighting of emergency signals, possibly of a plane down. Speculation was running wild. A few minutes later, a Coast Guard Zodiac came roaring out to to the "rescue" to where we were. When they saw what we were doing, they were ready to haul us off. Our guy piped up that we had an events permit for pyrotechnics. Trouble is that the local Coast Guard station knew nothing about this. Our guy repeated that we had a permit. They asked to see it and it dawned on our guy that he didn't have it with him but rather it was back at the clubhouse. They took him aboard the Zodiac while he left his kayak with us and they motored back to the place. We hung around about a half hour just floating around. Meanwhile he got the paper permit, showed it to them. They hussled him back, he got into his kayak and they said "Fire away!" while they remained on station with us and alerted anyone reporting seeing flares and other emergency signaling devices that it was okay. It seems that a bureaucratic snafu accounted for the failure of those issuing the permit to alert local units and the general public of what was going to be going on at such and such a place at such and such a time. I think the lesson is that if you do arrange something like this, to make certain to also call the Coast Guard the day before and also the morning of the event to make certain no signals get crossed. It was a blast though seeing just how ineffectual the skyblazers really were, how well the parachute flares worked and how good smoke flares are even in wind, which we had...about 10-15 knots. ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> From: juliom_at_cisco.com > To avoid trouble with police and fire dept I chose to fire them > in what I thought it was a controlled environment--the bathtub. For a minute, I thought Clyde was back from the unknowns... :-) This was too funny. I bet there are a few other humorous stories about testing flares. We fired one under water and were quite surprised at just how powerful it was. Cheers, Jackie *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 10/22/99 7:06:55 PM, juliom_at_cisco.com writes: << I tried to fire one last 4th of July. To avoid trouble with police and fire dept I chose to fire them in what I thought it was a controlled environment--the bathtub. The thing must have bounce several times between walls and eventually found its way out of the shower and fell on the floor. Everything was black around me, and the only thing I could see was that bright pink sparking thing on the floor. >> ROFLMAO!!! I needed a good laugh toady. Thanks so much. Great vision of you ducking and dodging as it flew around. Joan Joan *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Jerry Hawkins wrote: > > Check the date code on your flares. They expire 42 months after the manufacturing date. FWIW - that's the US reg. Canadian CG reg allows 48 months. I'm not sure if the "valid in Canada if valid in your home country" applies to these the way it does to PFDs, so visitors may want to check. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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