I set out to test those three flares 
The big one – the parachute flare – made a big bang, a chunk of the bottom flew out, a firework flew out of the top of it, lasted about 2 secs, and no parachute opened.
The two small ones are the type which just burn for 60 secs while you hold them, so that’s no fun, and if the big one is anything to by, they might just explode, so I am going to bury those two.
You were lucky, if the rocker flare container broke up on firing. Someone was killed when one failed sideways.
Is burying a safe idea?
The explosion ripped out the bottom plug from the flare tube, even though it screwed in. That’s a lot of force… surprising it didn’t blow up the tube and buggered up my hand.
A satellite phone is much better
Peter wrote:
A satellite phone is much better
Maybe, maybe not… I had a look at the offerings, and one has to be careful to select a service that might cover the region to be flown. Hi up North it can be rather difficult.
Iridium should work, but not one of the geostationary setups like Thuraya.
A PLB, or Garmin’s inReach are way cheaper, less cumbersome, and lighter.
No voice comm, but distress signal, and general messaging. And with a flight tracking + mapping feature, assuming one does remember to start the device prior to the flight 
Dont forget that your hands can quickly become useless in the cold. I’ve found in the past that in some occasions while camping I’ve had to be careful about the order that i did things as i was quickly losing the dexterity in my fingers due to cold.
So I wouldn’t count on being able to type significant messages. Predetermined messages should be fine.
The applications are different e.g. a 121.50MHz ELT is good only for short-range VDF search-vehicle use while a 406MHz ELT gets picked up globally. Similarly a flare is good only for close-in stuff whereas a satphone should work anywhere.
Yes that flare could have been seriously dangerous, and it was only 1 year out of date. Quite pointless getting your hand blown off…
It killed a shipyard guy firing off old flares – it entered his chest when the tube burst.
How the flares have been stored will probably affect their condition.
