# Flare Gun breaking up snow **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 24, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flare-gun-breaking-up-snow/561723 "2010-11-24T01:09:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kat\_Day](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5e925/32.png) [@Kat\_Day](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat_Day)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flare-gun-breaking-up-snow/561723/1 "2010-11-24T01:09:18Z")
Can you use a Very pistol (flare gun) to break up a dangerous snow overhang? Would the snow put out the flare and would you require a special underwater flare? ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flare-gun-breaking-up-snow/561723/2 "2010-11-24T01:18:40Z")
IMO there’s not much about a gun-fired flare that would tend to make it effective at dealing with a snow overhang. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flare-gun-breaking-up-snow/561723/3 "2010-11-24T02:09:04Z")
> [@Kat\_Day](#): > > Can you use a Very pistol (flare gun) to break up a dangerous snow overhang? Would the snow put out the flare and would you require a special underwater flare? I’d suggest an axe or a sledgehammer. Doesn’t use ammo, less likely to be regulated, and more people are familar with them. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flare-gun-breaking-up-snow/561723/4 "2010-11-24T02:34:22Z")
how far away is it? you can get snow rakes for roofs with handle extensions, can be used at 30 feet. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flare-gun-breaking-up-snow/561723/5 "2010-11-24T05:18:35Z")
Those flares burn magnesium at a few thousand degrees, I doubt anything will put them out, not even the fire department. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flare-gun-breaking-up-snow/561723/6 "2010-11-24T09:11:32Z")
Why would you need to fire a flare gun underwater anyway? I’m pretty sure firing a flare at a snow overhang is pretty much like firing it in your house; a bad idea and a great way to burn it to the ground. ---
**Author:** ![FasterThanMeerkats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/278dde/32.png) [@FasterThanMeerkats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FasterThanMeerkats)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flare-gun-breaking-up-snow/561723/7 "2010-11-24T13:43:11Z")
You should also consider ricochet potential if the flare hits embedded ice, rock, or underlying structure. (You’ll shoot your eye out!) :smack: All in all, seems pretty dangerous. Definitely a task for young children; let us know how it works out. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flare-gun-breaking-up-snow/561723/8 "2010-11-24T15:14:45Z")
I do a lot of skiing in avalanche terrain, and I just assumed you were talking about that. I dont know about simple flares but I have shot a “bear banger” Basically a flare that explodes, into snow to see if it would be useful for the purpose. It shot through the snow with a hiss, ricocheted off the ground, shot out skipping along the snow and then blew with an ear splitting pop. Cool but not a good idea around property. I have sawed off numerous cornices with a length of rope, drawn back and forth between two people. We have also used this method to clear dangerous snow load off of roofs. It allows you to stay clear of danger. Pretty cool watching a meter + slab of snow slide off a roof. For a overhang from a house roof find the longest pole you can and try to get at it from the side out of the way. If it is two stories up you will need a ladder. Or try the rope trick with a friend, if there is enough of a over hang to catch the rope thrown over it this is the way to go. You can put knots in the rope to give it something to bite with. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flare-gun-breaking-up-snow/561723/9 "2010-11-24T15:33:39Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > Why would you need to fire a flare gun underwater anyway? I’m pretty sure firing a flare at a snow overhang is pretty much like firing it in your house; a bad idea and a great way to burn it to the ground. This one time we all came out to Montereax on the Lake Geneva shoreline and… and… ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flare-gun-breaking-up-snow/561723/10 "2010-11-24T18:20:04Z")
> [@Kat\_Day](#): > > Can you use a Very pistol (flare gun) to break up a dangerous snow overhang? Would the snow put out the flare and would you require a special underwater flare? If you’re talking about cornices that might start avalanches, we use dynamite on those around here. I don’t think a flare gun would be adequate. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flare-gun-breaking-up-snow/561723/11 "2010-11-24T18:38:52Z")
Isn’t a flare essentially a rocket? If so, the instant it hits anything solid, it’s going to bounce and fly off in a new direction. While the odds of it bouncing back perfectly to spray you with 1000 degree magnesium gas are pretty low, I personally wouldn’t want to risk it. Even if it doesn’t hit -you- there’s still a pretty good general fire hazard risk. And I’ll note that the flame is -behind- the projectile. If it hits a chunk of ice, it’s accomplishing nothing more than a well-thrown rock would do. It’s a metal canister, not a ball of flame. If by luck the head lodges in some snow, it will just sit there spraying flame out into the open air. If your goal is to apply fire to ice, I’d recommend getting one of those luau torch things, duct taping it to the end of a long pole, and holding it out like the world’s largest match. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flare-gun-breaking-up-snow/561723/12 "2010-11-24T20:30:51Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > This one time we all came out to Montereax on the Lake Geneva shoreline and… and… Hey, man, is that a Freedom Post, man? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flare-gun-breaking-up-snow/561723/13 "2010-11-24T21:06:59Z")
Try a potato gun, instead. [http://www.spudtech.com/](http://www.spudtech.com/) Just don’t tell Dan Quayle.