Date: Sat, 02 Jan 1999 21:37:37 GMT
From: hc ((Pete Cresswell))
Subject: [Paddlewise] Annual Meteor Flare Test

Every New Years I try to fire off the half-dozen flares I carry in my PFD
pocket.

Last year, it was "SkyBlazers" and I think four out of six were duds.

This year it's "Star Tracers" and five out of the six were duds.

On one, the wire rusted out. Another fired, but fizzled in the tube.  On the
rest, the wires pulled cleanly, but they didn't fire at all.

Funny thing is that the Star Tracer design *looks* really good - about 100% more
functional than Sky Blazer's...

Same bottom line though.....

Maybe there's an inherant problem in self-contained flares because of the firing
wire compromising the water-tightness of the chamber?

I've avoided the shotgun-style because of the bulk of the pistol mechanism and
the complexity (i.e. It could be tough to load with frozen fingers....and if it
gets swept away, it's all over...)  but they *do* seem to have an inherantly
better design for sealing out water....maybe that's the only way....

Has anybody subjected shotgun-style flares to intermittant immersion for a
season and had more than half of them  work?

How about some experiences with other hand-held brands?

Pete Cresswell



Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1999 07:42:45 EST
From: Johnlebl
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Annual Meteor Flare Test

In a message dated 1/2/1999 6:59:39 PM EST, hc writes:

< Has anybody subjected shotgun-style flares to intermittant immersion for a
 season and had more than half of them  work?
  >

Haven't done that, but all amunition has two inherent leak spots.  Shotgun
shells have three.

They are the joint around teh primer.  It is a friction joint adn not
waterproof.  The nest is teh same around the bullet or in teh case of a
shotgun shell, where teh shell case sloses over teh load.  The third is where
the "brass" that is not brass anymore meets teh plastic hull.

You can seal these places by mixing some fingernail polish with a bit of
acetone to thin it and then putting it in a hypodermic syringe with about a 20
gauge needle asn squirting it sparingly on these joints.  It effectively seals
them.  

You can buy this same type sealant at well stocked gun shops where reloading
supplies are sold or mail order from reloading suppliers.

This method is the same that the military uses very effectively.

All military ammunition is sealed this way.  I seal all my ammunition that I
carry into teh boonies and pistol flares adn have had good luck.

By teh way, seal only NEW ammo or flares, not old ones.  You don't want to
seal moisture IN the cartridge!

John LeBlanc