Hi Larry, that's a fair question. In reality, for me, I have so many flares I will always have some. Even long-expired ones worked most of the time based on an experiment done at our Yacht Club a few years ago. A nice advantage of the light is it is not an intermittent flash-in-the-pan like a flare.

But you do have a point: watching a sequenced light might amount to nothing more than a curiosity for some folks, like the SS Californian watching Titanic fire its white flares at irregular intervals. Part of the question also depends where you're sailing. For coastal, you'd likely be in VHF and/or cell phone range to complement the light. For more offshore, you would think that more seamen than not seeing a Morse Code SOS would know what it is or at least think investigate further.

Perhaps the best bet would be to have both - the long-lasting, safe light, and some flares even if expired for extra attention.

Ultimately, perhaps an SOS light will become the recommended, universal solution and general awareness will increase as to what it is.