Since the 4th is tomorrow I thought it would be a good time to discuss the do's and dont's of fireworks and gunpowder.


Has anyone ever used/made exploding targets, sparkler bombs, bottle rockets bombs etc? How did your experience go?

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"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot."

Hell, my friends and I used to shoot bottle rockets at each other in the field behind my granddads house every 4th of July.....

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You know trouble is right around the corner when your best friend tells you to hold his beer!!

Since the 4th is tomorrow I thought it would be a good time to discuss the do's and dont's of fireworks and gunpowder.


Has anyone ever used/made exploding targets, sparkler bombs, bottle rockets bombs etc? How did your experience go?

 

We used to make homemade fireworks when I was a kid.  I type with my elbows now.

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and I thought I had it bad typing with one  finger  :ermm:

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and I thought I had it bad typing with one  finger  :ermm:

 

I've learned to live with it.  It really becomes distressful when my ear itches.  Most people, especially strangers, become alarmed and irritated when I vigorously rub the side of my head on their shoulder.   

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We used to have "fireworks" wars, we'd split up into teams, build forts out of milk crates and palm meadow leaves. Goal was to burn the other teams fort or catch all the leaves on fire, and of course we would work harder to hit each other. We'd use Mortars as hand grenades, take Roman candles as projectiles. I remember one year I bought one of those 1,000 Saturn Shots nailed it to ply board and turned it over as a Grenade launcher. Everyone always had PVC Pipes converted into Bottle Rocket guns, it was a blast!

 

Can't wait to do it with my kids one day! Just don't tell the wife!

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I've learned to live with it.  It really becomes distressful when my ear itches.  Most people, especially strangers, become alarmed and irritated when I vigorously rub the side of my head on their shoulder.   

Shoulder...sure...shoulder...

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"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia."
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Charles Schultz
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"The harder I work, the luckier I get."
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T-Shirt at District Wrestling Meet.

Shoulder...sure...shoulder...

 

Sometimes the itch is inside...

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Sometimes the itch is inside...

Be careful! They'll send you off to the vet to get fixed! That's what happened when our dog did that...

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What in the Wide Wide World of Sports is agoin' on here???

We used to have "fireworks" wars, we'd split up into teams, build forts out of milk crates and palm meadow leaves. Goal was to burn the other teams fort or catch all the leaves on fire, and of course we would work harder to hit each other. We'd use Mortars as hand grenades, take Roman candles as projectiles. I remember one year I bought one of those 1,000 Saturn Shots nailed it to ply board and turned it over as a Grenade launcher. Everyone always had PVC Pipes converted into Bottle Rocket guns, it was a blast!


Can't wait to do it with my kids one day! Just don't tell the wife!

I got some PVC pipe now....what should I do?

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"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot."

I got some PVC pipe now....what should I do?

 

Put a bottle or cap on one end of the pvc, use the open end as a barrel, light the bottle rocket and launch away. 

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When I was young we had cherry bomb wars.   It was really neat when we had a cherry bomb war at night in the dark.   We used small lengths of rope as lighters.  If you lit the rope and blow out the flame, the coal would remain, and you could use it to light your cherry bomb.   In the pitch dark at night, you would see the glowing end of the ropes as the opposing army tried to sneak up on you.   We also made banana bombs by inserting firecrackers into cut lengths of bananas.   And we made guns by getting a foot-long length metal pipe with a screw-on cap.  We'd cut a slot in the screw-end of the pipe for the fuse and insert whatever projectile would fit.   We didn't shoot those at anyone, though.   We weren't that stupid.  

 

There was a place on 103rd St that would sell illegal fireworks: firecrackers and cherry bombs.  It was like a roadside stand.  

 

When I was 12 years old I had a friend across the street who could make his own gunpowder.  We blew up a lot of stuff around the neighborhood.  Nothing significant or valuable, of course.  We didn't want to get into trouble. 

 

We also did this: http://www.estesrockets.com/

 

The rocket engines had a backcharge that would go off in order to push out the parachute.   So instead of packing a parachute, we packed a whole bunch of gunpowder and used the backcharge to set it off.   We hit the neighbor's house with one by accident.  Boom!   We scattered like rats. 

 

That was a long long time ago.   

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We had the brilliant idea of holding those tiny firecrackers in our hands when they went off. 

 

My cousin had a roman candle fly up into his shirt(he was wearing a jersey) and it melted a circular spot of his jersey onto his skin. Was epic. 

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