Note: Videos from the party can be found here!
Note: New larger pics can be found here!
The plan was the same as the last couple years; go up to a place in the mountains, set off some stuff in the day, eat, watch some movies, and when it got dark, go back out for the rest of the fireworks. This year I had a similar amount of homemade devices to last year, but many more Class C fireworks.
The Class C fireworks we had:
Homemade devices for the party:
Once we got there we had to figure out where to go for the afternoons activities. The location we used last year was not an option because it was too close to other people and there wasnÔø‡t a big enough open space. We ended up going to the gravel lot that we used for the night fireworks two years ago. There were two vehicles there, so we decided to talk to the people. We explained to them that we were filming a movie (true to some extent) that required an explosion. Fortunately, they didnÔø‡t have a problem with this and didnÔø‡t run off to call Tom Ridge and report us as terrorists. Our first device was the "mega cob" taped to four small propane tanks with an old Macintosh SE on top of it. When it went off, it was not as loud as I expected, but still made a good boom. The fireball was not huge, and burned fairly long rather than a quick burst. We approached the site and saw one of the propane canisters flaming from a very small puncture. We kept back for a couple minutes so we would be protected in case it decided to flare up or explode. After inspecting the propane tanks, the fireball was from just one with a Ôø‡ inch hole and the one that kept burning for a couple minutes had a hole only about 1/16 of an inch in diameter. The other two tanks went flying but did not rupture. The computer had surprisingly little damage. The CRT was still intact, with the only real damage being a large dent in the bottom.
Computer before:
The "mega cob" going off:
Area where device had been placed after blast:
Propane tank with small hole burning:
Minimal damage to the computer:
It was time to show that computer who was boss. I pulled out one of my two "BMX bombs" and stuck it into a hole previously cut in the side of the computer. When the device blew, that computer was toast. The blast was significantly louder than the mega cob and pieces went flying everywhere. From our spot at least 150 feet away we heard/saw debris go flying over us. Inspecting the blast site, the computer was completely destroyed, having been blown apart at almost every joint. The main part with the motherboard and drives was still together, being held together by metal. The CRT was blown to shards, with the outer rim found about 30 feet away. Large chunks of the case were found up to at least 60 feet away.
Computer rigged up again:
Going off:
Computer blown apart:
Monitor remains:
Our "neighbors" still had not run over screaming at us, so we figured we didnÔø‡t have to make a getaway just yet. The next BMX bomb was taped to the two un-ruptured propane tanks and this was set on a piece of wood we found. When it blew, it was just as loud as the last one, but there was no fireball. One of the tanks went flying through the air and landed a distance away, spraying propane out the pressure release valve. The fourth tank was found horribly mangled but still full. The board had a large hole blasted in it and was snapped in half. We decided to give up on the propane and moved on. The BMX peg was found with the end that screws on blasted out. IÔø‡m sure this happened to the other one as well, although we did not find it.
BMX bomb with propane before:
During (Notice two specks
above and slightly to the right of the smoke cloud. Those are the
propane tanks flying through the air):
Board device was sitting on:
Recovered BMX peg with end blown out:
The mangled but not punctured tank:
Damaged propane tanks.
First one: Ruptured by mega cob, burned off in a couple seconds. #2:
Tiny hole, burned for several minutes. #3: Pressure release valve
opened:
.
Next we did three cobs and two small pipe bombs. I'd never used a pipe as a casing before, but I found these pipes and caps and wanted to try it out at least once to see how they well they work. The first cob was filled with paper match heads as an experiment. It just shot out the top and I found the casing intact. The next cob was of the same kind, but filled with bottle rocket powder to compare the two. It worked perfectly, with a great bang. I next lit the smaller of the two pipe bombs. It was only about a half inch in diameter and 3 inches long, filled with the powder from Piccolo Petes. It was placed on the board that was now both halves stacked on top of each other. The noise when it went off was louder than a cob, but I donÔø‡t think the extra shrapnel risk due to the thicker metal casing is worth the slightly louder boom. The wood had a crater mark about five inches across, so despite not being much louder than a cob, it seems to be quite a bit more powerful.
Small pipe before:
Damage to board from small pipe:
A cob was then taped to three cans of Aqua Net hairspray with the goal of creating a boom and fireball like last year with the cob and butane. The cob went off with a good bang, but it failed to ignite the hairspray, which was blasted into a large vapor cloud that would no doubt have been very impressive had it actually ignited. We should have left a burning sparkler or other flame source next to it, but we didnÔø‡t think if it in time. Our luck with fireballs this year was not too good, and it happened again later in the night (but IÔø‡ll get to that later). The last device set off at that location was the larger of the two pipe bombs. I forgot to measure either of them unfortunately, but I'm guessing this one was about 3 inches long and 1 inch in diameter. It was placed inside an old shoe we found and set of top of the board. It was definitely louder than a cob, but I donÔø‡t think it beat the BMX bombs. Shreds of the shoe flew everywhere and there was a good-sized mark in the board. We packed up and quickly left.
3 cans of Aqua Net failing to be ignited by cob :( :
Larger pipe inside a shoe we found:
"Shoe bomb" going off:
Damage to board after larger pipe (some shreds of shoe visible also):
