DIVEIN’s Guide to the
Top 10 Best Flare Guns and Marine Signals In 2022
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We gave our Gear lovers one job:
Test 23 different Marine Flares and write reviews of the best.
The result is 12 of the best Marine Flares on the market today.
Joao Paulo Carvalho
Journalist
A journalist with a passion for gear, photography, traveling and writing.
Bradley Axmith
Editor at DIVEIN.com
Vikingship building gear enthusiast and waterworld fanatic.
Flare guns are not just for fun or the stuff of movies. You can’t predict when your engine is going to fail, when your propeller is going to break, or when your sail is going to tear in stormy weather out at sea. That’s why it’s important to always have distress signals – such as a flag, a flare gun, or smoke signals – every time you set sail.
Required by law for some recreational boats, distress signals or distress calls are an internationally recognized means to indicate that you require immediate assistance.
They can be radio signals, flags, sounds, arm movements as well as pyrotechnic and non-pyrotechnic signals, of which the flare gun is probably the most recognizable.
In this post, we’re going to focus on pyrotechnic signals such as flares.
Top 10 Best Marine Flares In 2022
See our quick top 10, or go further down and read our in-depth reviews.
- Orion Safety 584, Alerter Basic 4, 12-Gauge Flare Gun and Aerial Signal Pack
- Orion Safety 956, Orange Smoke Hand-Held Signal
- Orion Safety 801, Orange Floating Smoke Signal
- Orion Safety 865, Locator Marine Hand-Held Red Flare
- Orion Safety 539, 12-Gauge High-Performance Aerial Flare Refill
- Orion Safety 800, Red Parachute Signal Rocket
- Orion Safety Pocket Rocket 4 Aerial Signal KIT
- Orion Safety 544, Alert/Locate Plus Signaling Kit
- Coastal Alert Launcher Kit
- Orion Safety 534, Locator Plus 4 Signal Kit
To find out if your boat or yacht needs flares onboard, check out our FAQs section at the bottom of this post for this and other questions.
That being said, here’s our selection of the best and safest marine flares for your boat.
The Orion Safety 584 Flare Gun pack is an easy to use and reliable piece of signalling equipment. Load up a 12-gauge cartridge into the pistol and fire it in the air and a search party or a passing ship will notice your distress signal and come to the rescue. The Orion Safety 956 is another easy to use and safe distress signal. Simply peel off the black top, unscrew the orange cap, and then strike it to produce a large dense orange cloud. Use it only during the day when an aircraft or another vessel is sighted. Help rescuers pinpoint your position during daytime emergencies with the Orion Safety 801. Pull the pin to produce a dense orange smoke and then throw the floating canister downwind of the boat so the smoke drifts away with the wind and current. The Orion Safety 865 is a simple to use distress signal. But because this marine hand-held flare produces flames, you must follow the instructions carefully and wear protection, including leather gloves and safety glasses. Also, before igniting your Orion Safety 865, remember to hold the flare downwind. Next, remove the black lid from the red cap to reveal the abrasive scratch surface. Then twist and remove the red cap exposing the igniter button. Finally, strike the igniter button with the abrasive scratch surface to produce the flame. Do not wave the flare overhead. It’s better to be prepared, to be safe and not sorry. The Orion Safety 539 is a refill pack for your 12-gauge safety launcher or flare gun from Orion that comes with 4 red aerial signals. Another way to ask for help and attract attention while at sea, is by launching a parachute signal rocket. To fire it, simply remove the red cap from the bottom to release a string, hold the rocket upright, then pull on the string to launch the parachute. If you own a small boat or personal watercraft, the Orion Safety Pocket Rocket is ideal for you. To fire this aerial signal, take the pin out of the waterproof tube, pull the plunger down and turn it to the right to lock it, screw the flare unit onto the top, then push the plunger so it flies forward and fires the flare. Convenient kit combining both daytime and nighttime USCG Approved signals in a floating storage case. This is another convenient marine safety kit featuring a flare gun, aerial signals, a signal mirror, and a whistle all in a neoprene waterproof bag. The Orion Safety 534 is a marine signal kit featuring hand-held flares, a distress flag, and a whistle. This a perfect kit for lake and coastal boaters. Get the attention from a rescue party, another vessel, and/or an aircraft with the Orion Safety 589. This is a refill pack for 25mm launchers featuring very bright and potent red aerial signal flares. Last but not least is another piece of a simple but very effective signalling equipment. Push down with your thumb where the red arrow is pointing to release the bottom part of the Orion Skyblazer II, unscrew the base of the flare to release a chain, then pull it. Unlike some other products from our guides, there isn’t much to know or be said about marine flares. Just make sure you learn how to use each one of them in case of an emergency. Also, there aren’t many brands on the market that produce distress signal flares. Orion is the leading manufacturer of flares and their products come with the approval of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) so that you have peace of mind when you purchase them. Because flare guns and other distress signals should only be used as a last resort, it’s very wise to have a VHF radio. It’s less dramatic, but you never know what the sea will do, so having both a VHF and flares will serve you well. But here are a couple of things to consider before buying marine flares: There are basically 3 types of marine flares: aerial (rocket or parachute flares), hand-held, and smoke flares. These are the main differences between them: Aerial flares Smoke flares Hand-held flares Now that you know the differences between them, here’s a short video from the American Sailing Association that demonstrates how to properly use marine flares: Flares should be kept in an easily accessible and waterproof compartment away from flame and heat. And for safety reasons, they should not be disposed of in an ordinary trash can. They need to be treated as hazardous waste with the appropriate local authorities able to direct you to the right place for disposal. If your vessel is over 16 feet, you need flares or other distress signals for your own safety as written in US federal regulations: “All recreational boats operating in U.S. Coastal Waters or the Great Lakes, or bodies of water directly connected to U.S. Coastal Waters or the Great Lakes – up to a point where those waters are less than 2 miles wide – are required by law to be equipped with visual distress signals. U.S. owned boats must also carry visual distress signals when operating in international waters. There are some exceptions. During daytime hours the following boats are not required to carry visual distress signals: These boats are only required to carry visual distress signals approved for nighttime use when operating at night in the above listed waters.” Here’s another video showing discharge of various types of flares: Now, we’d like to know about you. Have you ever had to use any kind of flares while at sea? or do you know anyone who has? Share with us your thoughts and stories, we love to hear them! Only in the case of an emergency. In other words, when there’s an immediate or potential peril to the people onboard you should use Visual Distress Signals (VDS) such as flares. Misuse of VDS can incur severe penalties. If you’re on your boat near the coast and your motor is crippled, but there is no acute danger of sinking, for example, do not use a flare. Firing a flare gun isn’t complicated, but as any firearm, it needs to be handled with caution. Despite being a flammable solid, flares are not particularly sensitive to ignition. There is no threat of mass explosion, nor is there any threat of an individual flare exploding. That being said, expired flares should be disposed of as hazardous materials at the appropriate facility. According to Orion, “The flare will extinguish when placed horizontally in water (which is why puddles will extinguish flares) but vertical burning underwater shows that sufficient gas is being generated (as a byproduct of combustion) to displace the water away from the flame front.” And as you can see from this video, even when dipped in the water, the fire from the flare does not go out Most flares have a life span of three years and they must be replaced before the expiry date
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Marine Flares | Buyer’s Guide
Types of flares
Storage and Disposal
User’s Guide to Marine Flares
Do I need a flare gun on my boat?
FAQ – Frequently asked questions about marine flares
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