What are some of the dumbest things you have done with Fireworks?

[Viking 0]

having grown up in the south and with almost year round access to fireworks my brother and i have done some really dumb things with them. To name a few we have taken the starburst mortor shells and wrapped them in an entire role of packing tape then put it inside one of those big soup cans and turned it upside down. I have yet to see a soup can fly higher than that! We have used a peice of pipe to launch bottle rockets and got the hair burned off our knuckles. One time we even shot one of those star burst shells on a horizontal flight path to see what it would do (besides explode). Ya so we spent the rest of the day stamping out small brush fires We used to take the 100 and 200 pack of firecrackers and seperate them into singles and blow up ant piles with them. Needless to say we got used to getting fireant bites anywhere on our body!

so what about you guys? anyone here almost take out somebodies eye in a bottle rocket war?

I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver
My God has a bigger dick than your god -George Carlin

[TheBile 0]

We did that old pipe / rocket trick too. My mate launched one in our local village car park. It had plenty of space but only one car was parked in it. He still managed to hit it though .
Used to throw bangers as grenades. Light the blue touchpaper and throw. The challenge was to time the throw just right so that the banger exploded in mid air. It was like playing chicken with a piece of TNT.
I did it at a family barbecue once. As soon as I lit it and the sparks from the paper started to fly my parents completely freaked out with shouts of "OH MY GOD ! !", "GET RID OF IT ! ! " and "STUPID IDIOT ! !"

Gerb

I stir feelings in others they themselves don't understand. KA'CHOW !

[Scoby 0]

I did set someone's clothes on fire in a bottle rocket war...

My stupid fireworks tricks resume is too long to list. A few highlights...

Aiming all sorts of fireworks at each other (roman candles are the best, followed by saturn missiles)
Filling empty CO2 cartridges with gunpodwer and adding a fuse (did this many times, hilarity ensued)
Filling a perfume bottle with gunpowder, then glueing on BBs for maximum shrapnel, then putting it in a coffee can, lighting it, then tripping while running away (once again, hilarity ensued)
Destroying every single model kit I ever made with fireworks
Destroying pretty much everything any of my friends owned that could possibly blow up good
Trying to achieve flight with model kits and model rocket engines (then trying to rig them to explode when the parachute eject charge fired)
Attempted to launch a model rocket with the parachute section fill with gunpowder over the lake at night. Dropped the fuse accidentally, moments before a police cruiser came to patrol the beach.

All in all, it's amazing that myself and my friends all have full sets of fingers...

[quatorze 1]

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anyone here almost take out somebodies eye in a bottle rocket war?

Oh where to begin?

Bottle rocket wars? uh you do mean the big assed aerial burst kind don't you.

Or the string of 400 black cat firecrackers that went off in my cargo pants from the sparks from one of the little bottle rocket wars.

Or the bomb we made from opening like 25000 firecrackers and packing the gunpowder into a juice bottle ( bad idea, eyebrows grow back slow.)

The bright idea to light gasoline as it was pouring out of a plastic gas can so that we could pour fire. WTF?

Or when we found out what aluminum foil and "The Works" toilet bowl cleaner do when mixed together, fire dept showed up for that one.

The game that we played (guys and girls) where we stood like 40-50 yards apart and shot bottle rockets at each other. Oh did I tell you rule number 1? No one could dodge the fireworks.

All this before I was a teenager.

Better yet the time, when I was old enough to go to jail for this we climbed on top of some buildings downtown and shot bottle rockets down the street at passing cars. The police looked for us all night and never could figure out where we were.

Have you seen the firework that is a mini mortar tube, that comes with the semi-professionsal aerial burst fireworks? You are supposed to only light one at a time, well I am here to tell you that you definately should. We were in the same down town and put two in right at the beginning of or tomfoolery and found out that there is no aerial burst, the projectiles jam up and all the incinderary powder blows at once...x2. It knocked three almost grown men flying, took out two cars windsheilds, set off countless more car alarms and relegated one young man to sitting on teh ground just cryining... wuss, we ran...he caught up.

Or my friend who has the Civil War black powder ( this is the predeccesor to gunpwder, it is a lot more unstable than what we use today) cannn in his garage, btw the cannon's name is Satan. He was convinced to set off a blank charge with the cannon
in his garage. The concussion generated by this explosion did not blow the windshield of his wifes staion wagon in... it sucked it out fowards WTF. Blew open paint cans and knocked every window out of the garage and kitchen

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anyone here almost take out somebodies eye in a bottle rocket war?

Yeah I guess I might have almost lost an eye in there some where. But hey those are the joys of growing up in the sticks with no cable.

I'm not afriad of dying, I'm afraid of never really living- Erin Engle

[ernokaikkonen 0]

It's not dumb if no-one got hurt... So nothing!

-Just a couple of months ago at the DZ we did the already mentioned CO2/gunpowder combo. In the middle of the night. Luckily we're right next to an army training area, so loud explosions in the middle of the night aren't that uncommon...
-Firing starburst-rockets horizontally is always great fun. -Blowing up trash-cans and mailboxes with BIG firecrackers. Hey I was young and stupid!... Although not too stupid compared to the one guy who blew up the fridge at a new-years party... Cost him quite a bit that.

Erno

[SkydiveMonkey 0]

Only thing I've managed to do is (when launching a a rocket normally), it spiraled out of control as was about 1/2 metre from going down someone's chimney

____________________
Say no to subliminal messages

[Viking 0]

LOL that would have been funny to watch

I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver
My God has a bigger dick than your god -George Carlin

[flyhi 24]

Not really fireworks, but during training once, I was taught how to make a Claymore mine using C4, a u-shaped picket, and "items found around the area". Needless to say the part about move-back-a-safe-distance is very critical. I still have a scar on my arm where a pice of an "item found around the area" was accelerating backwards. Very effective, though.

Shit happens. And it usually happens because of physics.

[jessefs 0]

Oh boy, let's see.

Burned down 1 1/2 acres of my neighbors property (just brush/trees...no house thank god) The Fire Dept. didn't like that one too much not the mention my parents or the neighbor! hehehe

Put an M-100 in our living room's brick fireplace just to see what would happen..(was deaf for about 3 days)

Countless other injuries.....pyromaniac? Whats that??

jesse

[themaninblack 0]

super thermite flare bomb made out of a shitload of fine aluminum dust iron filings and powdered magnesium for color, wrapped tightly in folded cardboard and 30 layers of duct tape. the result was a whitish purple flash, blinding even at noon, which made a shallow fused crater and burned the paint off the concrete in the tennis court i set it off in, resulting in immediate operator departure.

evolution WILL be served, one way or another!!!! im not jumping, im imitating a reluctant meteor.

[kingbunky 3]

anyone remember the Cox model airplanes? they had a little two stroke engine in them that burned some alcohol based fuel (transparent flames, cool, but that's another story). the planes were controlled by a pair of kite-type lines. you stood with the control handle, had a friend stretch out the lines and start the engine (by winding the engine backwards against a spring then releasing it, great fun when it started before you got your fingers out of the way, cool, but again, another story). the pilot slowly turned in circles while the plane whizzed around at the end of it's lines and you could make it go up and down, loop-the-loop etc. anyway, to make a long story longer, my cousin had a 'deluxe' model, a stukka (sp?) i think, that had operating bomb bay doors and a couple of plastic bombs that you could release over a target. of course we thought a real bomb would be better but lacking access to actual fragmentary weapons we substituted firecrackers. one wasn't enough, so we bundled some together with tape, added a fairly long common fuse, lit it and took off. on bomb run we discovered we had overstuffed the bomb bay and jammed the door. nothing to do but watch the plane blow in flaming pieces in mid air. way cool, but remember the transparent flames? fire that you can't see is kinda funny when it lands on your cousin's head!

"Hang on a sec, the young'uns are throwin' beer cans at a golf cart."
MB4252 TDS699
killing threads since 2001

[ernokaikkonen 0]

>on bomb run we discovered we had overstuffed the bomb bay and
>jammed the door. nothing to do but watch the plane blow in flaming
>pieces in mid air.

Back to the ol' drawing board...

>transparent flames? fire that you can't see is kinda funny when it lands
>on your cousin's head!

Did the hair grow back?

Erno

[jumpy 0]

I'm only 16 so i haven't had all of my clowing up experiences yet.
Have made a couplea sparkle bombs..where ya get lotsa those sparklers, scrape all the sparkle shit off and put it in a container and then use a soda bulb as the explosive and a sparkler as a whick. Big bang!
Me and a mate are planing on going to the dodgy chinese shop soon where if you ask the right questions you get the cool explosives lol
Anyone got any suggestions

[helicam 0]

One part of being with the fire department is that you get to play with fire and its all cool!!

Our best was to fill a grocery bag half full with gasoline/ benzine/ some flammable liquid, fill the rest up with oxygen from one of the ambulance cylinders and put it waaaaay away in the open field we used for training. The fuse was a twisted rope of toilet paper soaked in gasoline.

Then we would bring out one of the fire tenders, unroll all the hoses and put on the necessary gear....one match and wait....

BIIIIG Crater!!

I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter

[scottbre 0]

Even though all these stories pretty much go the same way, I though I'd share mine.

1. In high school my two best friends (Matt and Jesse) and I were over at Matt's house, and were shooting off fireworks. Well after a bit it somehow turned into Matt and I trying to hit Jesse and Jesse trying to hit us back. Well every few minutes, Matt's mom would look out the window and see what we were doing and come outside to tell us to shoot them the "right" way. So we would start "playing nice" with them. But after about 5 minutes, go back to bottle rocket wars. Well either Matt and I were faster, better aim or both but after it was all over jesse had a number of little holes burned in his shirt and pants, and Matt and I managed to avoid any damage at all.

2. Last year, when I was living with Jesse and My brother we were once again shooting bottle rockets, and my brother got the great idea to aim at the dumpster that was sort of situated behind our apartment building. Well was we didn't realize was that someone had thrown out a recliner earlier. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway) the recliner caught fire, which let to all the contents in the dumpter catching fire which led to the wooden fence that surrounded 3/4ths of the dumpster catching fire, which led to a call to 911. The fire department came and put it out with us and several other apartment dwellers just standing outside and watching. Noone got in trouble.
Another good trick, for the shear stupidity and dangerousness of it is to de-stick a couple dozen bottlerockets, twist the fuses together, light it and get away and near something you can hide behind as quickly as possible.

"Your mother's full of stupidjuice!"
My Art Project

[nacmacfeegle 0]

Dude your with the fire department and you are encouraging people to play with oxidising accelerants? And carcinogenics like benzene....

Cool!

Get the overtime in man!

And no, I'm not 'flaming' you, hehehe......

--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[kingbunky 3]

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Did the hair grow back?

Erno

eventually!

"Hang on a sec, the young'uns are throwin' beer cans at a golf cart."
MB4252 TDS699
killing threads since 2001

[arlo 0]

thanks for all the pointers!! You guys should really come visit zhills in the winter. Boredom, a bonfire, starting fluid and av-gas are an interesting combination....

word for the day: concussion.

arlo

[Brisco 0]

I don't know how to post a link, but check this guy out! He lights charcoal grills using liquid oxygen!
http://ghg.ecn.purdue.edu/~ghg/

Brisco

Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.

[ChileRelleno 0]

My most recent accomplishment was this last July 4th while visiting East Texas Skydiving in Gladewater, TX. When we got finished jumping, we shut both the hangar doors so as to avoid any damage to planes or gear and the battle began! Just imagine Fandango to the 2nd power, total warfare! We even made a trip back to the local fireworks stand to reload. AAAHHH the smell of burnt hair... it just wouldn't be the 4th without it.

ChileRelleno-Rodriguez Bro#414
Hellfish#511,MuffBro#3532,AnvilBro#9, D24868

[Meathorse 0]

Hehe, this is good stuff. Y'all are crazy.

I once tied a few dozen sparklers together and lit 'em to see what it would do. It made a really cool hissing noise, a very unexpected bright flash, then fell over and caught fire to the yard. A buddy of mine picked it up by the cool end and dropped it into a bucket of water we had for just an occasion. The water hissed and instantly began to simmer, then the sparklers melted through the bottom of the bucket. I went right back to the fireworks tent and bought 5 gross of sparklers :).

After much unwrapping and taping we had a nice little sparkler wad on our hands.... what's 144 X 5? Stood it upright in a plastic cup, lit it, and backed up not nearly as far as I should have. The heat was unbearable. The entire front of my body tingled for a few minutes and I think I got a bit sunburnt . A fireball shot 30 feet into the air and midnight looked like noon. It was the first time I'd ever seen a mushroom cloud. Never found so much as a trace of the plastic cup.

Sort of funny that the only type of firework that's allowed within city limits seems to be the most dangerous

[happythoughts 0]

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thanks for all the pointers!! You guys should really come visit zhills in the winter. Boredom, a bonfire, starting fluid and av-gas are an interesting combination....
word for the day: concussion.
arlo

Hmmm...I like the little "angelic" end to that. Let's see...how did we get $500 worth of festival balls (3" mortars)? And we set that car on far for what reason? Hmmm...I sense a common element here Missy!

[wildblue 7]

I cannot comment. The investigation(s) are still ongoing.

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[arlo 0]

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Hmmm...I like the little "angelic" end to that. Let's see...how did we get $500 worth of festival balls (3" mortars)? And we set that car on far for what reason? Hmmm...I sense a common element here Missy!

Hey, I'm not Missy... you must have me mistaken for someone else.

I have heard a fun way to get a party started is to chunk a bunch of fireworks into a brown paper bag:those spinny things that go "whizzzzzzzzz" about 20 feet in the air are very complimentary, lady fingers, bottle rockets, morters, etc...pretty much one or twenty of everything. Stuff the bag full. Then light the bag...usually next to someone intoxicated by the bonfire.

You're actually doing everyone a service by encouraging people to dance...that's all.

OH yeah, if you're gonna use starting fluid as a "bon-bomb", make sure to spray out approximately half the contents. A full can just whizzes out. To get an actual explosion that causes RVs to rock on their foundation (hearsay, of course), the can needs to have room for the evaporating liquid to expand, thereby increasing the pressure of the can until it makes a round one out a square one...it's called a BLEVE (boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion).

acronym for the day: BLEVE
An acronym for Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion. Materials which BLEVE may cause storage containers and parts of containers to rocket great distances, in many directions. Any liquid may cause a BLEVE. - FEMA's definition. :)

arlo

[kingbunky 3]

BLEVE, i like that. i've encountered it without knowing it. many moons ago my buddies and i were camping on a riverbank. we had a spray can of right guard deodorant (can you still buy aerosol deodorant?) that was almost empty and decided to throw it on the fire, because it said not to on the can i suppose. anyway, we all sat there watching it, then the concave bottom of the can became convex and we all backed away form the fire to see what would happen next. luckily the top of the can was facing inland, because when it let go, the can shot across the river at an altitude of about 2 feet with a very flat trajectory. it went a good 150 feet out over the river before it impacted, and for a small object, it made quite a splash!

"Hang on a sec, the young'uns are throwin' beer cans at a golf cart."
MB4252 TDS699
killing threads since 2001