Power Flares

I just got 2 of these guys today. I think they are great tools in case of a vehicle breakdown, etc. VERY well made.

http://www.pf-flares.com/

is it just me or is everything being marketed as military grade...not a bad find though..

Crenshaw

I think $50 each is just a little expensive for something that you'll probably never use, I'd rather have regular flare instead.

Pretty cool. I wonder how long until we see these available on store shelves, maybe for a lower price.

Pretty cool and it would take care of the problem of people going off and leaving flares burning long after the scene has been cleared. Plus that little advantage of not having an ignition source nearby flammable substances.

I'm pretty sold on carrying my Inova 24/7 for the same purpose. With the magnetic holder, which can also act as a stand, they work in any situation plus they have several modes and can be used for more than just a flare. I have at 2 in the Jeep and one with each motorcycle.

Just my take but I like things with multiple functions when possible but the Power Flares do have a neat look to them.

Did you buy the rechargeable or CR123 version? I'd think the CR123 version would make more sense given the storage durability of CR123s.

bitslammer said:

I'm pretty sold on carrying my Inova 24/7 for the same purpose. With the magnetic holder, which can also act as a stand, they work in any situation plus they have several modes and can be used for more than just a flare. I have at 2 in the Jeep and one with each motorcycle.

Just my take but I like things with multiple functions when possible but the Power Flares do have a neat look to them.

Did you buy the rechargeable or CR123 version? I'd think the CR123 version would make more sense given the storage durability of CR123s.

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I bought 2 of the CR 123s. I wanted to put one in each vehicle. I really liked the idea of one in the wife's car. It would be kind of hard for a woman to " strike " a flare up in my opinion. They say the units can be run over by a truck. After looking at the things I kinda buy that,,,,,heavy duty for sure.

I think Fenix-Store also carries a red diffuser tip now, in case someone EDCs a Fenix when driving.

Hello Slinger,

Welcome to CPF.

The PowerFlare is a great product. I have a bunch of them.

My wife used the ones in her car about a month ago. Someone had slipped into the ditch across the road and their car was still sticking out on the road, but they had turned out all their lights, or their lights stopped working. She loaned them some PowerFlares to keep traffic away until the tow truck could show up.

Real flares would have also worked in this case, but I don't trust my wife with real flares...

I have used mine a lot, but not in emergency situations. Food delivery, "Look for the flashing beacon in the window." Marking the beginning of a contest, "Line up on a line between the two flashing beacons." I took a pair with me while kayaking and used them to mark the best landing zone on a rocky beach. My son fastened one to the back of his bicycle and went for a ride. The local police pulled him over asking for information on the PowerFlare. They were impressed with the side, as well as back, visibility. I had a nice chat with them.

I have both amber and red LED units. After an afternoon and evening of testing, a group of people finally settled on the fact that red seems to be more visible in daylight conditions, however at night both amber and red seem similar in brightness.

Our vote for the most "noticeable" pattern was rotating for both red and amber. Second best was quad flash.

No one was impressed with the flashlight mode. They all figured that constant on high or low would do just as well.

The younger generation thought the strobe mode was "really kewl..." but even they agreed that the rotating mode was more noticeable at greater distances in the daylight.

At 1000 feet in bright sunlight, you first notice the color of the unit, then you can see a flickering light. While not optimal in bright sunlight, I think it does get the point across that there is danger ahead.

I haven't tried putting a cone over one of them. That should be interesting.

I ran some R-CR123 cells and they did fine. However, the battery holder had to be slightly modified to handle the extra length of the R-CR123 cells, and when the protection circuit cut off, the PowerFlare shut off. With a CR123 battery, as the battery dies everything just dims down and slows down. If you are running them every day for short periods of time, the R-CR123 option would be worthwhile, but for occasional use stored in a car, I would stick with the primary cell.

They are a little expensive, but I am impressed with them.

Tom

craig333 said:

Pretty cool and it would take care of the problem of people going off and leaving flares burning long after the scene has been cleared. Plus that little advantage of not having an ignition source nearby flammable substances.

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True, but it's one more thing to add to the list of things to check every week or so. They take up space that could be used for other things and somebody has to pick them up after the scene is cleared.
You will need a LOT of them for a proper setup on a higher speed roadway and that means the danger of walking that roadway to retreive them.

Also people seem to actually respond to flares. They don't pay a lot of attention to the guy waving the sign at them to STOP (which means Steer Towrds Our Position)

I bought a couple cheap ones a few years ago to use outside houses in emergency situations. It was not uncommon for me to be first in with the engine and ambulance having to go through the same problem of finding the house I did. (Very small town volunteer department)

No fire? Whats the point?

ill take 100

no but really, i know a certian police department that tried to use them, diddnt work as good as a flare, they all got ran over, i guess they werent bright enough or something, but for personal use YES YES YES

I got a sample at SS2008 and will be buying a pack for my team to use.
Yellow case with amber LED's (CR123A model).
I agree the rotating and quad-flash modes are the best based on the limited 'testing and evalutation' we've put the sample through so far.
They are really expensive. I'm buying a pack of six so we can evaluate their usefulness to warn of a vehicle pulled mostly off the road (which will have hazard amber lights and a rotating amber beacon on as well).

Al

Al, where are you getting them from? Is there a UK or EU distributor?

DM51 said:

Al, where are you getting them from? Is there a UK or EU distributor?

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I have a quotation from
Enphos LED Systems Ltd
Parent Company of:-
Safety Lighting Systems Ltd
Chamaeleon Technologies Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 1245 325000
Fax: +44 (0) 1245 327177
Web: http://www.chamaeleon-tech.com

I am seeking further quotations from retailers in the UK. I work for the Environment Agency so I am doing this by the book (which means no shortcuts)

Thanks for the info.

slinger said:

VERY well made.
http://www.pf-flares.com/

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Pity I can't say the same about their site. MS FrontPage templates just don't do it for me, nor does 8 different type styles on one page.

How robust are they? They show a pic of a fire truck parked on one, but fireluvrandrew said his got run over and presumeably wrecked.

One of our P-T firefighters was a contestant on SpikeTV's BULLRUN. They used PowerFlares by the hundreds for the show. He was impressed with them. He brought one by the firehouse that he "appropriated" and we took turns throwing it at the wall and at the bay floor while it was on. It never stopped blinking.

The regional aero-medical (AirLife) guys really like 'em because they're easy to see and they don't get blown around by the rotor wash.

Still can't get our chief to buy 'em though because initial cost is "too high" even though we'll burn through 10 - 15 flares in 20 minutes trying to secure an accident scene.

there is also a video on one of the websites that sells them (maybe this one) of them trying to destroy it with explosives. a litle much but it gets the point across. it was still flashing........wow