No longer need Flares on board !

quote:
Originally posted by November Charlie

I've never actually seen one of these electric VDS' in the wild, but I've seen the smaller Sirius strobes. VERY bright. If you already have an EPIRB of one flavor or another and want to add another piece of safety gear that will really make an enormous difference in your chances of being found floating in the water, I'd personally recommend putting good strobes on your PFD's.

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For offshore I've got SOLAS parachute flares for the boat. On the off-shore grade PFDs I've got strobes, PLBs, and even VHFs attached (if we're going down on a positive-flotation vessel, we're in some deep doo-doo!). However, I've already got two of these new devices on order.

Mike, I keep the VHF handhelds charged up and on the PFDs figuring that if the poop hits the fan and you or your buddies find me it might help with communications.
 
quote:
Originally posted by mixman

quote:
Originally posted by November Charlie

I've never actually seen one of these electric VDS' in the wild, but I've seen the smaller Sirius strobes. VERY bright. If you already have an EPIRB of one flavor or another and want to add another piece of safety gear that will really make an enormous difference in your chances of being found floating in the water, I'd personally recommend putting good strobes on your PFD's.

Click to expand...


For offshore I've got SOLAS parachute flares for the boat. On the off-shore grade PFDs I've got strobes, PLBs, and even VHFs attached (if we're going down on a positive-flotation vessel, we're in some deep doo-doo!). However, I've already got two of these new devices on order.

Mike, I keep the VHF handhelds charged up and on the PFDs figuring that if the poop hits the fan and you or your buddies find me it might help with communications.

Click to expand...


Easy jobs are cool, but don't take ALL the fun out of it!
 
quote:
Originally posted by Radioactive

--> NC

When talking top of the line pyro, I realize that RED is the proper color for expressing distress. but from the searcher POV, would it be useful for potential "searchees" to also carry a SOLAS aerial WHITE rocket flare, which ( in the case of Pains-Wessex ) is more than twice as bright, and has more than twice the burn time?

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If you know they're already looking for you? Couldn't hurt. White parachutes are general used for illumination, and if one boat is searching, they'll know they didn't fire it. If multiple boats are searching, someone will get pissed that nobody warned they were firing illumination. If an aircraft is involved, they'll get REAL upset because someone fired illumination without warning (or at all) and cry so hard their makeup runs. Either way, SOMEONE is going to figure out where it came from.
 
I have a military strobe that has an IR removable cover. Any reason I might ever need that IR cover On during SAR ops? Do SAR pilots use NVGs at night?

I'd favor the clear white strobe, but just wondering.

Thanks.

V/R
 
quote:
Originally posted by williamabernathy

I have a military strobe that has an IR removable cover. Any reason I might ever need that IR cover On during SAR ops? Do SAR pilots use NVGs at night?

I'd favor the clear white strobe, but just wondering.

Thanks.

V/R

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Sounds like an SDU-5/E! Haven't seen one of those in at least a decade! (Newer commercial ones are SO much easier to re-battery) But yes, pilots and even surface assets frequently use night vision devices.
 
"Distress flag suffices for daytime use. Either orange background w/ black square and ball, or two code flags. I forget which letters..."

Nice one Mike - went right over their heads. Not too many code flage readers these days and I wonder how many would recognize Morse Code "SOS" that the light flashes.

Based on experience, I agree that a long lasting strobe would be more effective than a 6-15-second arial flare and quite frankly, as others do, I keep SOLAS as well as 25-mm parachute flares along with a bunch of hand-helds. My concern is that the SOS might be confused with a sea-buoy's Morse "Alpha", mid-channel or a distant light-house. Serious navigators would identify the sequences but the majority of recreational boaters would not have a clue.

Guest and ACR both made an SOS light many years ago but the intesity was somewhat limited. Only time will tell about the strobe SOS.

Gene
 
Funny you mention people recognizing SOS or confusing it for A - contrary to a lot of rumor and dock talk, "SOS" was actually designated as a distress signal because it was the easiest letter group to transmit and recognize - but that, of course, was back in a time where most radio communication was via morse code.
 
Strobe light is rated to 10NM and comes with a flag ! For 99% of the boaters this is way sufficient ...

Rob
 
Just keep in mind - to meet carriage requirements for a night VDS, not just any strobe will do. It needs to flash 'SOS' - not just the standard strobes that are half the cost of those electric distress lights.
 
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