Signaling Equipment

Signaling equipment includes; aerial flares, smoke, dye, hand flares, flashlight, whistle, air horn, strobe light, mirror, and VHF radio. All of these have advantages and disadvantages; what you carry will depend on the trip you are doing. The type of signaling equipment varies for day and night trips.

For day trips you should have a minium of a whistle, aerial flares, and smoke. These three items have different applications. A whistle is used to communicate between paddlers. Aerial flares are used to signal for help. Smoke, dye, and hand flares are used to pin point you, when rescuers are within sight. Remember, like all safety equipment, it is only good if you can reach it and know how to use it.

Whistles

We use Fox 40 Classic whistles. The Fox 40 is a pea-less design, which allows the whistle to drain immediately. It cannot be over blown. The harder you blow, the louder the whistle sounds. While the whistle may sound loud, boats under power will not hear it. Whistles are used to communicate with other kayakers. Whistles should not be attached to your PFD zipper. Attach it to the shoulder of the PFD using thin bungie and keeping the line short. The Storm whistle (at right) is larger then the Fox 40 but also louder.

Aerial Flares

Aerial flares should always be carried in your PFD and treated like a fire arm. They should be kept away from children and never pointed at anyone. The most popular aerial flares are Sky Blazers® . All flares have an expiration date. We have tested dozens of flares with a failure rate of about 50%. This is a scary thought ,when you realize that the ExtraSport Seaker PFD has pockets to carry two flares. The reason we think flares go bad is the o-ring. Some SkyBlazer® flares have flat o-rings, which keep their shape better than the more common round o-rings. Tighten the cap snugly on new flares. SkyBlazer® flares work by unscrewing the bottom cap. A chain is released from the bottom. Hold the flare away from your body and point the barrel straight up. Pull the chain straight down, and the flare will shoot off. Your fingers should not go above the indented area of the SkyBlazer®. The top of the SkyBlazer® will get very hot.

Other kinds of aerial flares are parachute flares and flare guns. Larger boats usually carry flare guns, but they are inconvenient for sea kayakers.

When paddling on more exposed trips you should think of carrying larger, better quality flares to backup the Sky Blazers® aerial flares.

Pains-Wessex sell hand flares, aerial flares and smoke. These are large expensive units, that are both US Coast Guard and SOLAS approved. The Pains-Wessex SOLAS Mk 3 aerial flare is a parachute flare. This Parachute flare is much more powerful then SkyBlazer® (see signaling equipment comparison chart on page 5) but also much more expensive and they don't fit in most PFDs. They will fit in the rear pocket of some British PFDs. The advantage of parachute flares is that they have a much greater hang time.

Hand Held Flares

Hand held flares are very similar to highway flares. These flares, like aerial flares are dangerous and you should know how to use them before you need them. Hand flares are sold in both red and white. Red is for emergencies and white is usually for collision avoidance. Remember how invisible a kayak is to other boats, especially large vessels. The white flare is only good for collision avoidance if you can get at it quickly.

Smoke

Smoke comes in 30, 45, 60, and 180 second containers. The 30 second container is the size of a film canister. Smoke should only be used when a rescuer is within sight. The windier it is, the shorter the usefulness of smoke. The Pains-Wessex smoke is in a much larger container. Because of the difficulty in storing this container most people will prefer the SkyBlazer® Smoke.

Strobe Lights

A strobe light is a great night or foggy condition signaling device. A strobe light is visible from a long distance and works for many hours. Strobe lights are usually attached to the shoulder of a PFD, so it is visible while floating in the water. The light should be checked and batteries replaced regularly. The Firefly is a good, small strobe. Legally a strobe can only be used as an emergency signaling light and can not be used in place of a flashlight.

The Doublefly is a very water tight. Kayakers should get the manual not the water-activated model. This palm-sized strobe delivers 250,000 peak lumens. Flashes at one-second intervals for at least 8 hours with two AA alkaline batteries. Visibility exceeds one nautical mile on a clear night. Meets Coast Guard 161.012 and SOLAS 74/83

Flashlights

A flashlight is required by the Coast Guard for night paddling. We carry two lights each. A small flashlight is attached to the shoulder of our PFD and is usually hung over our back. The other is a high powered flashlight and it is kept tethered on our deck. The deck flash light is only turned on in busy areas or to signal other boats. A regular flashlight is not as visible as a lantern type light. The reason the deck light is kept off is to increase night vision. Light sticks are also used as a lantern type light. The ACR C-light (at right) is good, but the bulb is not replaceable. The LED headlamps are great for night paddling as they have a very long burn time (some up to 30 hours on a set of AA batteries). LED lights are not very bright, but the bulbs last almost forever.