How do I sell a live flare?

Status
Not open for further replies.
A

answerguy

Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2002
Messages
881
Location
Bay City Michigan
I have a can of flares that say on the individual flare:

#52
red star parachute signal
blah blah blah
The Kilgore Mfg co
June 47​

I'm sure I can't sell them on Ebay because they are live and if I did sell them
I doubt if I could send them through the mail. What's a guy to do?
 
Kruzr said:
New Year's eve is just around the corner............
Click to expand...

Well that is an interesting idea, but alas I have no flare gun to fit this bad boy. It's gotta be 8 inches tall and have a better than one inch bore.
 
You probably won't sell them. Just set them off yourself. But it is really interesting the can would have "blah blah blah" written on the side. This is probably one of a kind. ;)
 
How do I sell a live flare?
Click to expand...

Out of the trunk of your car. :evil:

Assuming they don't count as "destructive devices" you might see if any of the gun auction sites have similar stuff available. If they do, there ya go.

Or................

Figure out what shoots them (25mm launcher?) and see if you can buy one.
 
Taurus 66 said:
You probably won't sell them. Just set them off yourself. But it is really interesting the can would have "blah blah blah" written on the side. This is probably one of a kind. ;)
Click to expand...

Upon re-reading, I now see it's stamped on each flare. That lowers the value because now it's not a rare find. :D
 
I'd be rather leery of selling or giving these to anyone - even using them myself - unless I checked their legal status. Some (small!) flares are OK for civilian use as emergency devices to indicate location, etc. However, the larger ones are often classified as explosives or destructive devices. If you have a friendly cop who can contact the local explosives unit without mentioning your name, how about giving one to him (that he can "find" and hand in for analysis) and see what they have to say about it?
 
Taurus 66 said:
Upon re-reading, I now see it's stamped on each flare. That lowers the value because now it's not a rare find. :D
Click to expand...
Part of the blah blah blah is:
approved by
U.S.Coast Guard
Merchant Marine Division​
 
The proper thing is to turn it over to the Coast Guard. Ships flares should be disgarded every few years as they have a certain shelf life .The Coast Guard takes them.
 
ohhhhh, SHIP flares.

Save them,

in case you are in a motorboat

and it is attacked by a giant shark

and you douse the shark in gasoline

and then you can light the shark on fire.

Safety equipment you see. ;)
 
No_Brakes23 said:
+1, old Naval Ordnance might be good, but I wouldn't chance it. Take it to a safe, fire hazard free place and shoot it from a safe distance, or turn it in.
Click to expand...

This gets my vote. Go to the beach, set up some hazard tape, and fire them by remote (string and trigger) at midnight. Out over the water, just in case.
 
mete said:
The proper thing is to turn it over to the Coast Guard. Ships flares should be disgarded every few years as they have a certain shelf life .The Coast Guard takes them.
Click to expand...

Since we're a fishing port, we wind up with boxes of outdated hand and areial flares and orange smoke devices that come of the fishing boats. Nothing wrong with them, the boats just won't pass CG inspections with outdated signaling devices. We take them out and play with them.
Anyone ever see an orange ground squirrel after they been smoked from a hole?:evil:
 
The Coast Guard should NOT take them!!

I am a Chief Boatswains Mate in the Coast Guard. If you come to my station and attempt to give them to me you will be politely be told, "thanks, but no thanks". Just like any other kind of hazardous material you are responsible for the proper procurement, storage, use and disposal of the item. Please do not consider launching them off anywhere near where they would be considered a sign of distress. It costs a lot of money to launch boats and helicopters and if another person is actually in distress and response units are already tied up investigating a false distress signal lives may be lost. There are alternative means of disposing of them safely and sanely. I would ask a local Coast Guard station if they have any idea of where you can dispose of them but please understand that they probably will not be willing to take pyrotechnics from you, especially old stuff, because of the hazards involved and the cost of properly storing and disposing of them.

Don
 
Well it's clear by all the talk here that you will not get money for them, or that you shouldn't try to sell. You're stuck with having to dispose of these yourself. There are several ways to ignite the flares safely.

DO NOT PLACE IN A WOOD STOVE OR FIREPLACE! ... Sheesh!

You already know the way these ignite by locating the primer. Makeshift a simple firing device and place the charges (1 at a time) in an iron or aluminum pipe with at minimum a 1/8" wall. Point it to the sky at a 60 degree angle, and let'er rip! It's best to let them fall in a large body of water, like the ocean or a lake. It's also a good idea to probably do this around the 4th of July.

How did you end up with these flares in the first place?!
 
Please don't do it near the ocean or lake

Red flares are a sign of distress and a report of this to the Coast Guard or any type of agency that performs maritime SAR will result in resources such as boats or plane being launched. Even on the 4th of July. Please see my post above.
 
Ok, dm has a point.

But *damn* the 4th must be bad. Where I was two years ago at New Smyrna beach, there were so many rockets, mortars, and roman candles going off you could hide a daisy cutter detonation among the fireworks, and the people would ask for another.
 
Please don't do it near the ocean or lake
Click to expand...

You believe too much you read! There are plenty of roman candles and other class III fireworks with similarities.

Would you rather he did it over a dry grassy area or a suburb??

I'm not telling him to take these out to sea or on the lake 10 or 20 miles out, but to launch them from the shore out into the water. This way it looks like what it is - a simple pyrotechnics display. The Coast Guard will not respond around the 4th for such lighted displays. If there was a true emergency requiring their immediate assistance, the message would most likely be routed through 9-1-1 for starters.
 
Taurus 66 said:
DO NOT PLACE IN A WOOD STOVE OR FIREPLACE! ... Sheesh!
Click to expand...

I think the fellow that posted that advice knew that the clock was running out for the annual award on this website for "Worst Advice of the Year".



Taurus 66 said:
How did you end up with these flares in the first place?!
Click to expand...

A long time tenant moved out, leaving it behind. By long term I mean a 60 year long tenancy.
 
Answerguy, please listen to dm1333 and DO NOT launch these things over or near a body of water. I agree with him that the Coast Guard and/or rescue services are very likely to get an alert as a result - heck, here in inland Louisiana, I've seen this happen to our Sheriff's Department rescue unit with fireworks on a local lake! It's serious business, and you should never be guilty of crying "Wolf!" with distress calls.

If there's no other place to launch them, call your local PD or Sheriff's Office and ask them for the contact number for the nearest bomb squad or explosives unit. Explain to them that you have these flares and want to dispose of them in a lawful manner. I'm sure they'll help you.
 
Taurus66

Read my first post carefully. I am a Chief in the Coast Guard, I'm not making this up or quoting something that I have read. (other than the National SAR Manual, Addendum to SAR Manual, District SAR policy,etc.);) Right now my station is forwarding the paperwork on one of our "neighbors" in the harbor who launched off a flare a few nights ago, then denied it when we began investigating. Since he was acting squirrelly we also called the sheriff who was happy to respond since the guy had skipped bail and had several warrants out for his arrest. If the District decides to press charges against the guy he'll get a hefty fine at a minimum.

Sorry to be a wet blanket on this issue but you guys have been posting some bum information on this thread.:(
 
... looking for Preacherman's punchline ... Hmmm ...

Found it!

Ok dm, let the chap launch them over a suburb, since the Coast Guard won't relieve him of these dangerous things. I only have to watch it on tv or read about it online. I'm sure that due to his location, he won't have to worry about grass fires like what happened in Texas. Still he's stuck with something he doesn't want any part of.
 
Could answerguy call the Coast Guard/Sheriff ahead of time and inform them where/when he would be lighting off his flares (I'm guessing near Lake Superior) so that they don't respond? They might even suggest a good spot. I agree that lighting off a bunch of flares without warning would probably get the response mentioned; there's nothing to be gained in mobilizing local SAR groups unnecessarily, really bad waste of assets.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

N
  • Locked
How should I sell these guns?
Replies
22
Views
1K
jfh
jfh
W
  • Locked
Violent Neighbor - No Police Protection - What do I do?
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Replies
175
Views
11K
marsofold
M
G
  • Locked
How to dispose/get rid of unwanted ammo?
Replies
22
Views
2K
MachIVshooter
MachIVshooter
O
  • Locked
How Do You Handle The Transaction?
Replies
13
Views
988
Steamship Trooper
S
M
  • Locked
How do I sell a gun in a "private sale" (in CT)?
Replies
2
Views
901
MyRoad
M
Back
Top