Yeah, I can see where if you were lost and no one was actively looking for you it might be mistaken for goofing off. I was thinking more if you were definitely overdue and knew they'd be looking by now, it would be more effective then.

As for making them more durable, we found that judicious use of elmer's glue, spar varnish, and now gorilla glue will go a long ways to improving on longevity of these items. We were able to improve the shelf life on some of our fireworks by a factor of 10 or so.

Just looking for inexpensive alternatives. The best bang for my buck, you know.