A recent thread mentioned the use of road flares. This Thanksgiving during the drive to my mom's place, there was a long curve in the road on interstate 40 in Tennessee. Early in the curve were some incendiary road flares that really got my attention. I realized something was up and, sure enough, on the other side of the blind curve was a highway patrolman helping a stuck motorist.

This was in broad daylight and the flares worked really well to warn oncoming traffic. It got me thinking about putting some flares in my trunk.

I've done some net research and there are offerings of electronic/LED flares. What is the opinion of this board's professional rescue people on flares? Stay with the incendiary types, or are there some electronic models that are worth a darn? For incendiaries, are the commercial grade models that much better than "consumer" models? Thanks.

For general purposes, I would stick to the incendiary types for three reasons:

1) Unless you plan on using them on a regular bases and rotate the batteries or store them with lithium batteries, chances are when you need them the device the most, the batteries will be dead or may have leaked out, damaging the light.


2) Since most of the electronic versions are dependent upon the ability to send out a “flash” to get your attention, I think that unless it is using a strong strobe, during daylight hours it will be essentially “washed” out. This would especially true of LED versions, which would be better seen during evening hours.


3) Cost and disposability; I would suspect that any of the electronic versions that are worth anything, are high-end devices. If they become damaged or lost, you could be out of some serious cash. The incendiary flares are relatively cheap and are intended to be disposable. They also have the potential of being used to start a fire in adverse weather conditions.

I am sure there are other opinions out there, just my 2 cents. Pete

One more comment...having laid a jillion flare patters in my career, I am here to tell you that drivers WILL run over at least some of your flares. If they are expensive re-usable electronic types, you just lost them for good...with the normal burning flares, remember to look for puddles of gas before you light one, and watch for wind, dry grass, etc...and remember, most drivers are driving HUA, so you've gotta start a flare pattern way way way down the road to give them time to see, think, and react...

Great info, gentlemen. I appreciate it. Any recommendations on a brand of flare, or does it matter?

My only recommendation on flares is to find one with the metal wire stand. Avoid the cardboard stand, as they are useless when wet. Also, try to avoid flares with the spike on the bottom.... Not particularly useful.

Most emergency types prefer a 30 minute flare over a 20 minute one.

I am not responding as a professional, but having put out many flare patterns in the past, I have to agree with the OBG.
Drivers will run over flares for a number of reasons, none of them good. Electronic flares will be wasted.
My experience has been that the wire stand are the best, particularly if you are in an area that gets snow, the wire keeps them above the level of the snow, for the most part.
The plastic cap anti-roll flares are popular here in Southern California, at least they are in most of the stores.
Also agree that the spikes are not good. I have not purchased some in a while, but when I did, I looked for the wax coated flares, as this seems to keep the sulfur/compound from picking up moisture in your trunk, etc.

The CHP will most often replace any flares you use, and then some. It is even written in the CADMV code that they are allowed to replace flares if the person setting them out was not involved in the incident/accident.

Some of the CHP guys will be hard nosed and say they can not replace them, but most understand that you stopped to help and in doing so, probably prevented a bad situation from getting worse. This is one of the reasons most LEOs will be glad to give you 10 for the 6 you put out.

Sorry if my answer is more than you expected, but this is a strong topic for me.

One additional bit of advice I received from a NYS Trooper was that you light the first flare, set it down and light the next one from it and carry it with you and repeat the process. You do not want to be walking in or along side a road at night without a lit flare in your hands to warn people as to where you are.

FWIW

Go with the incendiary ones every time - they last practically forever, even when not stored in ideal conditions, i.e., rolling around in your trunk, and they WILL function reliably when it is really cold or snowing or nasty, whereas the electronic ones may not, especially in sub-zero weather.
I would second the motion of getting the first flare lit and then using it to light the rest of the flares, much easier than whacking away at the igniter cap over and over. But, I have also learned to keep a lighter in the glove box as a backup ignition source.

Also if you are low on flares you can cut them in half (reduces time) and light them up from one another.

In really cold conditions the lighter in your pocket will work and the one in the glove-box won't. If it is too cold the butane will not vaporize and come out to burn. Zippo's are more reliable in this regard but the zippo in the glove box will be out of fuel due to evaporation.

What about using incendiary flares in areas where fires are prohibited (most of the NW this year). The extreme fire hazard has caused some rather unusual interpertations of fire rules.

I carry incendiary flares, but also the triangular reflector "flares" required by truckers. Have used them many times and they seem to be worthwhile. Not as attention grabbing as a fire, but much safer in some areas. I have been told that an incendiary flare is considered an "un-attended fire".

I should have mentioned that, but just forgot.

More hints...ALWAYS start the flare pattern far from whatever is blocking the road, putting the first flare near the outside edge of the lane. Light the first flare, place it, light the second one off of it (hold it out away from your body, or it WILL burn holes in your expensive pants), and WALK BACKWARDS toward the blockage. That way you can keep an eye on approaching traffic. Be ready to run for cover, walking in traffic is DANGEROUS. If you have enough flares, lay them in a very gradual line working from the outside edge of the lane toward the inside edge. You have to give approaching drivers enough time to see, think, react. Most drivers require a minumum of 1.5 seconds to perceive and react to anything new in front of them. At 70 mph a vehicle is covering about 105 feet every second, you do the math. A short flare pattern just doesn't work. Never flare off just part of a lane, do the entire lane. When you remove the little plastic cap, put it on the other end of the flare, that way the flare will not (probably) roll away. When lighting the first flare, hold it and the striker cap out at arms length and strike the cap DOWNWARD against the end of the flare, not the flare against the cap. That will sometimes reduce the amount of sparks that will fly off and burn more holes in your expensive clothes. Don't know why that procedure works better, it just does.

Again, the most important thing to remember is that being on foot on any highway is a very very dangerous environment. You must ALWAYS keep you eye on approaching traffic, and ALWAYS have a place of safety to run to. If you happen to be on a bridge, don't just jump over the guard rail, it might be a long way down...

Re the CHP, yes they can and do replace flares that the public put out. I used to give them at least twice as many as they used, that way next time they can put out more...

As with most things in life, common sense must prevail. The environmental conditions should always be taken in to account. If the area has been dry and the risk of starting a fire in the surrounding vegetation is high, of course you should be extremely cautious in using any flame-generating device. However, the use of reflective triangles would likely be beneficial only at night, when headlights are turned on, so you might still have to resort to another type of warning device. I can tell you that even the use of multiple strobes on an emergency vehicle is not always enough with many of the drivers out there on the roads now a days.
One experience I had with warning “devices” down in Ecuador: We travailing a paved road, so our speed was moderate (we were in 65’ VW Bug- so the speed was not too fast), suddenly we came upon a huge bonfire off to the side of the road. The driver looked at me and kind of shrugged his shoulders as to indicate he had no clue as to the meaning or purpose of the fire. We learned very quickly that the fire was a warning that the road was missing up ahead, as we plowed into a 3 foot sand hill propelling the VW Bug several feet into the air. As we landed, we looked at each other; half laughing hoping there would be little damage to the VW Bug, as we were miles from anywhere. Fortunately, no major damage occurred and we were on our merry way, just with more caution. Pete

Interesting that you mention mexico. Seems that another practice used there is to put a larg-ish stone in the road before the danger. A friend of mine was traveling down there and swerved to avoid hitting the large stone only to come plowing into the overturned truck right around the next bend. Serious injuries followed and a long period of recuperation. All lived tho.

Just saw this on CPF, not too bad on the price. I have no idea if they are any good just thought it might be of interest. Pete

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthre...amp;amp;fpart=1

All we use in the fire department is incendiary, all the PA State police use are incendiary...
BUT
these things are starting to show up here and there.
http://www.powerwerx.com/product.asp?ProdID=1942&CtgID=1004&PageNo=1

and you can run over them no problem.

BUT
They are battery powered, with all the attendant issues, they are small, and close to the ground, they are directional - NOT what you want on a helicopter LZ for medevac, and, in terms of daylight visibility, they just don't compare.

I have 30-40 flares in my jeep at all times, when we have a traffic control call (wires, tree in the road) I go through dozens of them. Yes, it's expensive, but having seen them side by side, I feel safer with the incindiary types.

I have always found the PSP to be very accomodating when it comes to replacing flares.
And the usually have the ones with wire legs!!!!!!!!