Most cat sailors on Netherlands don't use the flare gun or flares with 40% failure rate.

I will have to look up the brand but what most use is a handheld flare and my own experiences thus far (new years firework celebrations) they have a 100% success rate even when several years overdate and corroded on the outside. When you pop one off at midnight you'll light up the whole street and you can almost look for any contact lenses they you may have dropped earlier. This flares produce alot of smoke also and will burn through anything even when underwater. This is, I think, another safety issue, when the knife doesn't cut it anymore then I plan to use the flare as a blow torch. You've got about 1 minute to get the job done.

I'll look up the brand for you guys when I'm at the beach this weekend. They cost about 20 Euro's overhere.

Ohh, by the way, if any of you can remember fireworks int he stands at big soccer matches (the red coloured flares) those are the same items. Interestingly enough, nautical shops sell most of these to soccer supporters rather then sailors.

Wouter