Flags that last

[Nicholson58]

We’ve been,buying the best quality flags where ever possible. That is courtesy flags and the US flag. Our experience has not been great but it is improving.

We tend to take them down I’d the wind will be over 20 in the anchorage and usually they are down under way in stiff wind. In the eastern Caribbean that means most transits.

A couple years ago we started treating all of the seams with Seam Sealer for camping gear. Results were pretty good with most of six months to make shreds. Last year I ran out of the stuff so I switched to clear silicone rubber caulk. I now use a putty blade to smear 100% of both sides of every new flag. What a difference! Not only do the seams stay intact and locked but the added mass causes the hard flutter in high wind to vanish so there is less mechanical abuse. Hint - do one side and let it cure totally before the opposite side. I apply over a rubber door mat flipped over as a working surface.

I think we get a bit of UV protection as well.

[bobnlesley]

We took the opposite approach and bought the cheapest. In every Caribbean Island and many of the Pacific ones too, we found that most of the local 'Chinese shops' stocked courtesy ensign sized flags (usually on a plastic stick) for about US$2 each; pull out the stick, thread a cord through and hoist. Unless you got a real blow, they were usually good for about 6-8 weeks each; or if you plan before you depart, you'll get them all via Ebay for even less, though do check what gets sent, we only realised that our Colombian flag was actually the Ecuadorian one once we got there