Ding dong: if I had to worry about whether I might sink or not or need a flare, I'd probably never paddle. As with any situation, one has to evaluate the "odds" and decide to go or not. Me? I know that I'd go. When I attempted my cross-Canada trip this year the weather and water conditions were horrible - still, I went. I would have had to wait two weeks to get fair weather that month. It was by far the worst month of June on the Canadian Prairies east of Alberta.

I won't be bring my flares along next time. The bearbangers, however, had a 100% success rate. Now that I am thinking, if I need to get rescue attention while on the water, I can always use the bangers to get attention, then the strobe to steer the rescuers in, that is, as long as anyone nearby isn't deaf and blind.

If the firing rate for bullets is almost 100%, why the hell can't flares be 100%?

Robert N Pruden