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Interesting tip I ran across - I had been throwing away my expired flares up to now...

Don Casey Tip #13
Flares
Boats over 16 feet long are required to have three day-use and three night-use distress signals aboard. Flares are the usual choice, satisfying both day and night requirements. Check the expiration date on your flares and replace any that have expired, but do not discard the old ones. In a real emergency, the more flares you have aboard, the greater your ability to signal your need for assistance. Keep flares in a moistureproof container and most will perform normally for many years beyond the 42-month life dictated by the Coast Guard regulation.

Thats' right. We usually fire 'em up on Christmas and July 4th.
We keep plenty on board otherwise, because we have found the expire date is useless. We have had some that do not fire only 6 months old.We have had others that fire 8 years out of date.
My advice is carry more than required. They may just save your life or at least reduce your discomfort.

We have been saving them for the older kids to play with on the holidays too - but I think I will start hanging on to these old flares, the kids have more fun with bottle rockets anyway.

Do you see any reason to have smoke flares on board also? I understand that flares do ok for both day and night, but I have not been in a situation to use either signal types during the daytime.

Boats over 16 feet long are required to have three day-use and three night-use distress signals aboard

Do pistols with "hot loads" count as night use?
If another boater doesn't stop you can leave him stranded as well..

I got a warning 2 years ago for my flares being out of date . They worked fine as we later found out on the 4th.

My advice is carry more than required.

If flares satisfy the requirements for day use and for night use, am I required by regs to have 3 flares or 6 on board ? I don't want even a warning.