We'd had a few beers and then...

[Walt34]

I got this bright idea.

Since we'd been playing with a new acetylene welding torch I thought of adjusting it to a perfect flame with the oxygen, snuffing out the flame, filling a plastic milk gallon jug with the gas (both heavier than air so it would stay there), placing the jug in a paper grocery bag, take it over to the school's field, and light the bag on fire.

Good thing we put it at the opposite end of the field. Even then we were surprised that resulting explosion didn't blow out some windows. It was the kind you can feel the concussion in your chest 200 yards away.

30+ years ago and we still laugh at the idiocy.

 

[mn54]

WOW!! That sure beats the heck out of the cherry bombs we had on the fourth of July. You're lucky somebody didn't get seriously hurt.

 

[ziggy29]

Famous last words: "Hey, Zeke! Watch this!"

 

[MikeD]

I used to belong to a completely legal, permit-getting, federally-approved-storage-having fireworks club. We had a guy do that with 39 gallon trash bags. You know how you hear static sparks sometimes when you open up a trash bag?

Well, to make a long story short - it didn't happen to him because, as safety director at the time, I instantly banned it.

Anyway, the booms would knock the air out of your lungs and make you cough at about a hundred feet away.

It was great while it lasted.

Mike D.

 

[dumpster56]

Darwin award?

 

[DblDoc]

Job security for me

DD

 

[W2R]

Oddly, many girls don't seem to get into explosives during our teen years.

As I recall, we get sidetracked in front of a mirror, trying various hair gel and eyeliner experiments.

 

[REWahoo]

As I recall, we get sidetracked in front of a mirror, trying various hair gel and eyeliner experiments.

...and hope they don't blow up on you.

 

[SteveR]

Famous last words: "Hey, Zeke! Watch this!"

South of the Mason-Dixon line it goes something like....

"Hey Bubba...hold my beer and what this!"

 

[brewer12345]

Sounds much better than my best friend's claim to fame: he discovered the hard way why it is important to pick one with a long fuse when you decide to stick an M-80 in a dogpile, light it, and run. He got about 5 feet away when it went off. Splat.

 

[Walt34]

I did that too! Age about nine or ten.

But I had sense enough to use a long fuse and be close to the edge of a hill that I could dive over. I still remember the look on my friend's face: Astonished disbelief followed by near-panic as he followed me over the hill.

 

[Danny]

I got this bright idea.

Since we'd been playing with a new acetylene welding torch I thought of adjusting it to a perfect flame with the oxygen, snuffing out the flame, filling a plastic milk gallon jug with the gas (both heavier than air so it would stay there), placing the jug in a paper grocery bag, take it over to the school's field, and light the bag on fire.

Good thing we put it at the opposite end of the field. Even then we were surprised that resulting explosion didn't blow out some windows. It was the kind you can feel the concussion in your chest 200 yards away.

30+ years ago and we still laugh at the idiocy.

Wow! Liked have seen and felt that...
You wouldn't want to do that today what with us being on Orange alert level and all.

some months ago there was the story of the guy that didn't want to go to the expense of disposing of a junk dump truck and decided to explode it ito oblivion - it set off a high alert at the nuclear power plant close by - Video Link

the the guy and his parents are a hoot...

 

[UncleHoney]

Don't try this at home

Early 60's, a good friend didn't show up at school one morning. His girlfriend said he was in the hospital, he blew his finger off.

Turns out he was stuffing a toy die cast metal cannon with match heads and something set it off while he was holding it. It didn't really blow his whole finger off, just took the hide off his index finger on his right hand. A skin graft from his thigh replaced the missing tissue.

Then he went on to become a dentist and still remembers how he almost ended his career before it started. Not much of a market for nine fingered dentists.

The whole incident cooled everyones desire for pyrotechnics for a few weeks, then we were all back at the afterschool experiments behind the garage.

 

[Leonidas]

Oddly, many girls don't seem to get into explosives during our teen years.

Neither gender seems to grow out of it upon reaching adulthood. Yours is less dangerous, and ours is more fun that doesn't really lessen with age. But in some professions you would think we would know better.

I knew a fire fighter who decided to eradicate the fire ants living under the concrete path to his front door by using gasoline. Lots of gasoline. Which he proceeded to ignite with a match, while standing on top of the path. Granted it was a weekend and he got this idea while drinking beer and grilling burgers, but you would just think that there would have been a small voice saying "this is not a smart thing you're about to do".

 

[Sarah in SC]

Leo, that happened to one of my cousins last fall--I barely got the words out "don't light that" before the wha-hoom! and there went all his leg hair! Gawd he stunk!

We are big fans of the potato cannon--hardly a party goes by without the cannon getting brought out! We find potatoes for days after! That's my friend Amy from Maine with the cannon down at the Edisto River last spring.

 

[Leonidas]

We are big fans of the potato cannon--hardly a party goes by without the cannon getting brought out! We find potatoes for days after! That's my friend Amy from Maine with the cannon down at the Edisto River last spring.

Ah, a fellow potato-canoneer! My BiL, a very dangerous man who wants to own a "real" cannon someday, got my kids interested in this. After the first shot I was a more than willing participant.

 

[HFWR]

Not much of a market for nine fingered dentists.

Oh, I dont' know. You wouldn't have to open so wide...

 

[Sarah in SC]

We have a friend with a real cannon (shoots #10 blanks) and it is ridiculously loud! We told him he couldn't bring it to the last party as there is not enough doggie valium in the world to keep the dogs from freaking out when it fires. I won't let anyone shoot real guns after 4 pm on party days--too many beers involved!

 

[HFWR]

In my experience, guns and party do not mix...

 

[Leonidas]

In my experience, guns and party do not mix...

I knew I was getting older when the invitations to parties I attended included the request "no guns please." Those were the ones that also said "Bring your wife but not your girlfriend."

 

[calmloki]

ok, so how many of us shot arrows straight up into the air for fun? (arrow pretty much can't be seen if you are looking at it heading right at you or away from you, so the trick, as i understand it, is to spot the arrow as it reaches it's apex and turns over - that tells one the direction it moves off of a point above one and indicates the direction to move away from. i understand.) The fun part is being calm enough to wait for that turning arrow moment....

 

[HFWR]

Yep, done that...

 

[MikeD]

Ah, a fellow potato-canoneer! My BiL, a very dangerous man who wants to own a "real" cannon someday, got my kids interested in this. After the first shot I was a more than willing participant.

I have a real cannon. It's black powder powered and shoots 6 oz juice cans filled with concrete through car doors. Yup, both sides of the car. It's a lot of fun and I am not dangerous. All entirely legal.

Mike D. (who got older but did not grow up

)

 

[Walt34]

Those were the ones that also said "Bring your wife but not your girlfriend."

We had one guy who brought the GF and the wife showed up. Now, THAT was an interesting party!

Good thing nobody had any guns!

 

[Westernskies]

Bigger gun=more fun

I built a bowling ball mortar a few years ago. Welded from heavy wall steel pipe, it uses 4 ounces of blackpowder to launch a 16-lb bowling ball -(mostly) straight up and WAY out of sight.. the ball stays airborne for ~20-21 seconds (maybe one of you physicists out there can figure the elevation)

A lot of fun, especially when the wind at altitude is different than the wind at ground level... Usually a 2-3 degree incline is enough to get them to land 100 yards away.

The best part is that you get to learn a lot about the people around you in 21 seconds... some of them just watch launch-landing with a big grin on their face , others panic, and run around like they have one foot nailed to the floor. I actually saw a very successful type-A hard -charger- control- freak- type bawling like a 4-year old... I told him to shut up and sit on the mortar- it was the least likely place for it to land... You find out in a hurry who you would want beside you in a cape buffalo charge or natural disaster......

Cheap, too- less than $3.00/shot; usually the bowling balls are free or around a buck at a garage sale; the old black ones work best (find them with the right names on them and launch your boss into space!) A lot of people give them to you just to see them go up, up and away.. At that price it is cheaper than a lot of the new CF rifle cartridges. And definitely more fun with the right group of like-minded friends.