Give Me a Hand – Handheld Flares

Handheld flares were probably the most intimidating devices to use of all the products tested. While the handheld flares were activated via a variety of different methods, for most, the firing mechanism was on top of the flare. This meant that 1-2 seconds after our testers ignited the flare the pyrotechnic would come out of the same location that their hand was just over.

Standard practice for using the flare was for our testers to hold them over the side of the boat at arms length. With more than a minute of burn time, we can see that in any type of rough weather this would be a difficult task. The importance of wearing gloves was a lesson we quickly learned. With the hot part of the flare in such close proximity to our tester’s hands they could have easily been burned by the glowing white metal tube or the slag discharging from many of them.

During the day our shore team was unimpressed by their performance compared to the visibility of the smoke flares. At night though, hand flare were "brilliant". Handhelds at night lit up the whole boat and left its occupants seeing spots for several minutes. The manufacturers use the same design for both red and white handhelds. Minor differences in appearance such as color and labeling were the only recognizable distinction between them. Unfortunately, with so little difference in appearance, users will have to be diligent not to activate the incorrect flare.

During the day, the smoke is the most visible part of most handheld flares.

But at night, even the dimmest handheld flare illuminated the entire boat.