- TEKTITE® SOSeFLARE 5 NO MORE FLARES! Electronic Boat Distress Flare - USCG & SOLAS Compliant Marine Safety Signal - Nighttime SOS Emergency Light - Waterproof Handheld LED Locator for Boats.

As a matter of principle, I never post a review too soon in order to have time to torture the item a little bit, In this case I had to brake my rules, when I saw this SOSEFLARE from Tektite thingy advertised as NEW item, I had to have one to see if it was a better safety unit for us than what we were using which I call the Fat Boy that was bought at West Marine & serving Skipper's McGregor 26M for the last year, a brand called Sirius , I like the Sirus however the SOS Light from Tektite is OMG ! it kind of looks like, Fat Boy lost his weight & volume which is a big deal to us, 26 feet is not that much when in open ocean, so everything in its place is a must, We can now place the Tektite SOSeFlare so easily FLUSH on the steering wheel housing so to be deployed at a moment's notice no more fighting with that spongy awkward donut float of the Fat Boy, this alone is a God send to us, we just could not leave fat boy near enough for an emergency due to its corpulence. Another plus for me anyway, buy America or bye bye America, wow ! we still make flashlights in the USA , blown ! It says USCGA so I trust the US Coast Guard did their due diligence in certifying that SOS emitting beacon, In recap, considering: - the non-obstructive flush standby storage by our wheel - the ease of deployment & activation by simple twist of the lense - the OMG intensity coming from that LED module - the fairly inexpensive cost - the longevity / duration of the burn/illumination is why I derived to a word we all like INEXPENSIVE but not Cheap . PS, we've only been using Tektite SOS since March 26 2024 on the very next day we received it , so it has been a short time to fully torture it as mentioned, however I plan on taking pictures & possibly making videos of my torture chamber, time allowing, especially since I discovered some other usage which I will speak about later.

I bought this to put on my boat in order to comply with USCG safety equipment requirements. I was not sure how well it would work but after getting it and testing it out I am quite happy with this purchase! The most important thing to know about this electronic flare is that it only counts as a night time visual distress signal. Typical pyrotechnic flares count as both day and night time signals. If you intend to only have this electronic flare onboard then you will also have to get a daytime visual distress flag to comply with the USCG minimum requirements. For those who think that this is somehow not as effective as a typical flare I have to disagree. This strobe is significantly visually brighter than a flare (it hurts to look at it) and it has an IR beacon that is tuned specifically to show up on night vision gear so I suspect it may show up brighter there as well meaning it can likely be seen much further away. Second, this beacon operates for tens of hours as opposed to the 3 minutes typical of visual distress flares. Third, you could hoist this this beacon up your mast and increase the visual range by miles- literally. Other advantages over pyrotechnic flares include a one time cost to purchase, far less environmental damage associated with the manufacture and disposal of flares (which are nearly impossible to properly dispose of), takes up less space than multiple flares, no burning slag dropping on your boat and burning holes through the deck, no possibility of starting a fire on your boat, much easier to turn on, and as mentioned previously it could be easily hoisted up high to increase the chance of being spotted. I take safety on my boat very seriously and I am quite impressed with this electronic flare. It will make an excellent addition to my safety gear and it will make it easier to remain in compliance with USCG regulations in the future. I would highly recommend this product.

Why did you pick this product vs others?: Everyone knows that Pyro flares are a hassle. They are dangerous, they are costly, they expire, and there is no legal way to dispose of them ( at least not here in NY). The Tektite Electronic Flare is the perfect, elegant and cost-effective solution. Every boat should carry this flare. I hesitated buying this flare because of all the negative reviews. Those that say it is cheaply made are just plain dishonest. It is obviously made of the highest quality materials. Others say that it did not work properly. Perhaps they were unlucky enough to get a sample defect, and, judging by the number of negative reviews, maybe Tektite has a quality control issue. I don't know. My flare worked perfectly right out of the box. It is obviously of high quality and solid construction with no rattles or other issues. I've been boating for over 60 years and I've never used a Pyro flare, and hope to never use this one, but I'm thrilled to have it. Thank you Tektite for making such a great product and solving a real issue for us boaters.

Good quality for this very much needed safety device.

Seems fine, but mine came with dead batteries. 06/2034 expiration date, so they should have been good. New batteries and it works fine.

Sturdy and compact. Use it on my sailboat in San Diego bay.

The idea of a battery operated light is great. Mostly because you can easily replace batteries. Not with this device. The batteries are not a common size. The battery type is CR123A. Had I known this, I would not have purchased the item.

Great emergency kit for any boat. Electronic flare is very bright. And the whistle is quite loud.