Signaling Trifecta

Pritch

Pritch

Joined
May 3, 2006
Messages
1,819
Many of you will remember my recent thread considering homemade smoke "bombs" as a signalling component ina survival kit. My reasoning was that I had been unsuccessful in finding suitable commercially made ones.

Many of us have also pondered a last-ditch firestarting method for situations when everything else has failed or we have lost sufficient motor control to inhibit regular firestarting. (Corld & wet)

Finally, there have been several threads discussing the potential merits of aerial flares.

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Well, yesterday I ran across a kit at REI that addressed all three. The kit is Orion's Search and Rescue "Alert/Locate Signal Kit (Item #758) and contains one each of:
  • Red Signal Flare/Firestarter - (Think mini road flare) Said to last five minutes and burn at over 3400 degrees. Dimensions are 5.25" X 1.25" and my postal scale put it at 3.4 oz.
  • Red Aerial Signal - Said to shoot a bright red signal over 400 ft and burn for 7 seconds. 4.75" X 1" and weighs 1.4 oz.
  • Orange Smoke Signal - Smoke volume not stated but said to burn for one minute. 5.25" X 1.25" and weighs 3.1 oz.
All have self-contained ignition, so no match is needed, and all are marked as waterproof. The kit was not cheap at $30 but it fills two items I wanted and (smoke & mini flare) and included the "bonus" of the self-contained aerial flare. At this price I'm disinclined to test them unless I can persuade the manufacturer to provide a set for review purposes.

Orion's website lists the individual components as available seperately. I'm guessing that if you want these you would be best off buying locally at a place like REI or a marine supply outlet such as West Marine. The Hazmat fee for shipping even small quanties of flamables like these is very steep.
 
Doug Ritter has done quite a lot of flare testing, and has often found them lacking. I'm working on saving for a lazer flare, eventually, and I'd like to get one for my Dad for his ultralight. Personally I think that is a much better option than a chemical flare which cannot be tested. YMMV
 
I have an old 40mm HK launcher but I don't carry it anymore, too big and with a SPOT and my ability to make a signal fire I don't think it's really necessary.
 
Of the three, the aerial flare is the one I have the least confidence in. Smoke and mini road flare have already found a home in my kit.

I can build a signal fire just like the next guy. That takes time, mobility, and materials, any one of which may not be available when your rescue opportunity is close enough to signal.
 
I splurged on myself a couple years ago and picked up a green laser from Beamshot. It uses the same batteries as my Surefire (CR123) and is about the same size. It is visible for miles and packs easily.
 
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