Another way of thinking. A smoke flair is fuel and a chemical colourant. You are already carrying fuel and fire lighting gear. Buy half a cup of the orange stuff and when everything else fails put a few teaspoons on your camp stove. Job done at less weight and no transport issues.
I would be interested if a source of the orange stuff could be found. I think that idea has merit, and is could be lighter than carrying full flares.
You mean other than putting green leaves on a fire ?
Other than using a signal mirror/CD ?.
Pull the toggle & the flare goes. Carrying DIY fireworks making product seems a little exhorbitant ?.
But, I'm interested ?.
Im uncertain as to whether carrying it would really be economical or practical, but if it isnt too expensive then it could be a useful idea. But agreed, green leaves + fire = smoke, But the orange/whatever colour would likely be a bit more noticeable?
After reading up on coloured smoke I would like to withdraw my previous suggestion. It isnt nice stuff
I would still be curious as to where it could be obtained, but I agree that chemically it probably isnt a lovely compound to inhale, or otherwise ingest. Im thinking in an emergency, if you had it in a sealed packet and only opened it when it was needed for use, it could still be a viable option.
I mean, if Im up the creek without a paddle then Im not going to be so worried about chemical inhalation etc
@size12 No such thing !?
Simplest I saw was (grocery item available anywhere) + a chemical. You don't want to go there !.
If you feel the need for a flare, take a purpose-made one.
This post has been edited by the author on 25 May 2015 at 21:32.
Oh. Good ol homebrew smoke powder. Agreed, that stuff is horrible. Definitely dont want any of the variants of that anywhere near the inside of my pack, or the smoke from it anywhere near my lungs. I thought there ccouldbe a commercially available equivalent.
Not really interested in DIY pyros of any sort. I've had enough to do with pyros to know that I'm not messing with making them. Besides, why would you? A real orange smoke is in a durable hard plastic casing and is very easily deployed. Oh, and yes, it really is crap to inhale! Learnt that the hard way! So always deploy downwind of you if you're in enough of a sound state of mind to think of it.
Oh, DIY pyro is one of those things that normally seemed like a good idea at the time... Until you get chemical fumes in your lungs, or set something on fire. Definitely sane not to make them unless the materials are properly benign.
And yeah. Standard flares are far easier to use. Just thought that there were some merits to the earlier suggestion
Back to original thread purpose
Imo I wouldnt bother with flares, just one more bit of weight in the pack. Id much rather have a PLB with me instead. I do see the utility in flares, but they seem a bit situational and slightly less reliable than a plb to me. Seems like a plb would do the job on its own. That said, the extra safety and piece of mind may well be worth it to many people, and because I at present cant afford a Plb, I might grab a flare and chuck it in the pack.
