Road Flares

[Coyote33]

I lit one off before Thanksgiving when my utility trailer had a flat near the S curves on 290 at Holy Cross. If I had 3 of them in the car, I would have lit all of them off!

I think I got them at Ocean State Job Lot, and I need to get a half dozen more. Thanks for the reminder. Oh, you should have seen my son when I put it in the glovebox. "Hey, could you hand me that dynomite"?

...Bad thing is that all the ones we used had a spike or metal stand and that debris on the roadway is another road hazard (punctures tires easily)! There is no good solution, if the officer pushes it off the road while burning we have a forest fire in the making.

When I lit mine, I was wishing it had a little spike thing, but then thought the same as you. I just tossed it on the side of the road. When done, I kicked it away from the road a little more, and just left it burning.

^^^^This!

If someone attacks you, by the time you get the damn flare lit they will have had their time with you and have left. They aren't instantaneous or easy to light off. Try one and see what I mean before you consider using one for self-defense.

Picture the crook sticking the flare up your butt.

One thing you have to look out for is long term storage.As they get old they start to break down,and leak corrosive shit everywhere.

Just burn them up during the year. I know Lake Manchaug does a "boat parade" on July 4, and every camp around the pond puts road flares along the water. Kind of cool.

That, or just toss in a bonfire or something.

I went looking for them last year and had a heck of time finding them. I could find triangles and electric strobes. Essentially people don't advocate you use them anymore in case there is a fuel leak that you don't realize. I heard this from 4 different truck/trailer supply places.

If I had 10 the evening (or even if it was day!) I changed that flat, I would have used them.

 

[PATRON]

They are outlawed in Mexico for obvious reasons.

 

[drgrant]

I lit one off before Thanksgiving when my utility tractor had a flat near the S curves on 290 at Holy Cross. If I had 3 of them in the car, I would have lit all of them off!

What the hell were you doing driving a utility tractor on I290?

 

[chris_1001]

Use them for your next clock project!

 

[enbloc]

.

 

[mikem317]

I have four flares in each car.

 

[Neverknowsbest]

Walmart and Benny's sells them. I keep 4 in my car and the electronic ones too. Each has their uses

 

[mikem317]

Walmart and Benny's sells them. I keep 4 in my car and the electronic ones too. Each has their uses

The ACE Hardware stores near me have them.

- - - Updated - - -

Nothing illegal about them in MA. Keep them in the trunk.

Just be aware that when you light them off, depending on which way the wind is blowing, burning phosphorus is no joke when it blows on your skin or clothes . . . when responding to auto accidents and setting up barricades for road closures, I had these unpleasant experiences!

In my days as a PO I had to use lots and lots of them. I used to carry them around in my cars, now they sit in my shed. I have a neat device that uses batteries and is a lot more attention getting, one in each car.

Turbo Flare 360

http://www.turboflare.ca/turbo360.htm

Costco or Sam's Club had them for a brief time many years ago and I scooped a pair. They were aimed at police but I read reports that theft of them was rampant, so most PDs still use road flares instead.

Nice review here - http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?70560-TurboFlare-360

Available on Fleabay - http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=turbo+flare+360

I got burned by one. I didn't' see it ignite and still had the end pointed at my left hand. And that had to be THE most painful burn I've ever got.

Never again.

 

[mcb]

Parachute rocket flares are the most fun option...

 

[tc556guy]

Dispose of them? I see state police (in many states I travel) just leave them burning as they drive away. I guess if the police dispose of them in that manner that makes it acceptable for the public to do the same thing. LoL

By the time I am done at a scene the flares are either already burnt out or nearly so.
OP could just ask a local LEO for a couple. I hand them out on request since a couple aren't going to matter much when you're burning 6-10 of them at a scene multiple times a day

 

[Brian5582]

By the time I am done at a scene the flares are either already burnt out of nearly so.

OP could just ask a local LEO for a couple. I hand them out on request since a couple aren't going to matter much when you're burning 6-10 of them at a scene multiple times a day

Thats funny

 

[KBCraig]

I got burned by one. I didn't' see it ignite and still had the end pointed at my left hand. And that had to be THE most painful burn I've ever got.

Never again.

I was about 10 or so when I used one as a sparkler for July 4. I lit it off, then walked through the yard waving it back and forth.

In my bare feet.

I was a barefoot summertime kid, so by the time the phosphorous droppings burned through my callouses, I was seriously burned.

This was the day of magnesium sparklers on metal wires, so I stuck my feet in the ice bucket with the watermelon, then carried on.

 

[tc556guy]

Thats funny

How so

 

[Brian5582]

While I know some good cops I can only imagine walking up to one you don't know and asking for some. As I am sure you know some... quite a few are silver spoon, self entitled, I am better than you civilian scum douche bags.

 

[tc556guy]

While I know some good cops I can only imagine walking up to one you don't know and asking for some. As I am sure you know some... quite a few are silver spoon, self entitled, I am better than you civilian scum douche bags.

Guess that's the benefit of being a LEO in an area long enough where people know you aren't one of those.
I understand your concern

 

[Brian5582]

I am polite to people unless given reason not to. I have tried asking questions or making small talk or just saying hi to some of the cops in my town only to be ignored or snapped at (most of the time it's the younger ones). Some of them are great guys... Usually the ones who have been on for awhile.

 

[Coyote33]

Just came across this in my email. I need to put these back on my shopping list. Maybe go to Ocean State Job Lot.

 

[AntiHippie]

I always carry a few in my truck - mainly because I like to drive out and around the middle of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness/Siskiyou NF, and if I need to spend the night because truck broke/got stuck/it got dark/it's nice out and I feel like falling asleep by a campfire in the middle of nowhere, it beats the hell out of dicking around looking for dry tinder and small kindling to get a fire going. People still use them on the roads out here, though. Can find them in any hardware or department store or supermarket.

 

[spcantwell]

Just carry your boating safety kit in your car with the flare gun, just in case you go boating.

I alway keep a 12ga flare gun in the car for traveling through multiple states. Perfectly legal and will stop any car jacker... but watch out, they will bounce off some one so don't fire if they are right up on your car window

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[drgrant]

Just don't tell any crackheads in proximity that there's a flare gun around... or trouble will occur....

(NSFW)