: What makes you say that handhelds are not very useful to kayakers?
: And I guess youre saying get the orion ones. Are those the 3-pack of
: handhelds?

Orion makes both handhelds (like a road flare) and rocket flares (like a roman candle). The Orion rocket flares are supposed to be a bit more reliable than the smaller Skyblazers. The Skyblazers are the small (3/4" x 6") rocket flares in the orange plastic casings. I think Orions are more like 1" x 7", and are in a white casing.

: And the Skyblazers, those are the smaller handhelds with the shorter burn
: time and lower altitude, not the 12-guage type?

Yes, they don't have much "hang time".

: If I sound confused, I guess it's that I am. I thought most of us carried the
: small skyblazers, but that they arent all that good except at close range.

Right, we give up reliability and performance for size and convenience--if a flare is too big to justify carrying it all the time, we're less likely to have it when we really need it. Tough choice.

: Next step up, it sounds like, is the Orion handhelds that shoot a little
: higher and have a little longer burn time but hand-helds not very
: applicable to kayakers? Does anybody carry the 12-guage gun type? Are they
: better than the Orion handheld?

West Marine has them. So do most mail-order chandleries, and rec. fishing catalogs. I think they're more expensive initially, but replacement flares are cheaper.

25mm flare guns are even bigger and brighter, but only slightly more bulky than 12ga, and more expensive loads. Parachute flares may be available for this gun.

:It sounds to me like those Orions are the
: good midlle-of-the-road compromize, and the big rocket flares the best on
: the market but too bulky for a vest.

Shawn