Sailor Beware ... Equipment and Vendor Reviews Forums

I am, pre-DE, the recipient of Sabre Yachts 1987 Outstanding Performance Award and do long-distance, blue water sailboat deliveries.

Thinking 'safety at sea', prior to setting sail, I always test my emergency equipment.

Having purchased an Orion Safety Products Orion 12-Gauge High Performance Red Aerial Signals, Item Number: 539 and an Orion XII 12-Gauge Signal Pistol at West Marine, I followed the instructions to the letter and, held straight up at arm's length, test-fired a single flare.

I immediately suffered severe hearing loss and am now hard of hearing in both ears.  My hearing was checked by Audiologist Constance N. Metropulos, AuD and Doctor Curtis Johnson, DO at The Hearing Doctors, 220 S.W. 84th Ave, Suite 101, Plantation, Florida 33324, who informed me my hearing will neither return to normal nor improve naturally and I require a hearing aid.

The insurance company for Orion Safety Products is Admiral Insurance whose Claims Adjuster, at Vantage Point Claims Management, PLLC, is Mr. Mark DeCarlo.

Despite sworn and signed notarized written testimony presented as evidence by an eyewitness to support the flare I discharged at my residence, on the date of loss, was manufactured by Orion Safety Products, Mr. DeCarlo informed me, 'There was no evidence presented to support the flare you discharged at your residence on the date of loss was manufactured by Orion Safety Products therefore, Admiral Insurance Company must respectfully deny liability in this matter.'

Other than an eyewitness account, I'm not sure exactly how else, after the fact, to present a very loud 'BANG!' as evidence  to support the flare I discharged.

This is not intended as a reflection on West Marine but, on my recent experience with an Orion Safety Products 12-Gauge High Performance Red Aerial Signal flare fired with an Orion XII model flare gun manufactured by the Kilgore Corporation, as a warning to others in the ame boat.