"Hold my beer and watch this" (The Darwin Thread)

[RobbieB]

Hehe, since we're all sharing...

Me and a couple buddies (say about age 15) made a pipe bomb out of some stuff one of us had around, a nipple, adapter, a plug and a cap. Drilled a hole for the fuse and filled the thing with about 1500 matchheads cut off the booklets with hedge trimmers. Was about a foot long and inch diameter.

We strapped the thing to a bike and brought a GI folding trench shovel on another bike and rode out to the empty field. Dug a hole about a foot and a half deep and buried the thing which had 2 feet of fuse attached.

The we lit it and waited. When the thing detonated the ground shook and dirt went 20 feet into the air, most impressive! We went to the hole and found the pipe shredded on one end where it let go from the pressure.

At least we were smart enough to bury the thing eh -

 

[Jerry1]

Okay, since we’re sharing. I was stupid enough to put a cherry bomb in a neighbor’s mail box. In broad daylight. While my mom was having coffee with the neighbor.

The beating I got would be described as child abuse today, but I can’t say it wasn’t deserved. Blew the mailbox right off the house. What the heck was I thinking?

If the explosion doesn’t get you, mom will.

 

[RobbieB]

Instant feedback!

 

[aja8888]

My story from 1978:

I was training for a Marathon back then and was out on a long run through the fire roads in Connecticut one summer afternoon on July 4th.

At about mile 15 or so, which was near my house, I was on a path through the woods where it entered our house which was in the woods on three acres. I was running along and my right foot stepped on a pile of leaves which were on the trail. Unknown to me under the leaves was a round rock the size of a baseball and my ankle went 90 degrees from my leg. Down I went and somewhat in shock, I managed to get up and just stood there. Within a minute or two, my ankle was the size of a softball.

I limped home the remaining couple of miles (maybe less) with the aid of a found tree branch (no cell phones back then).

My wife took me to the local ER in the hospital (only one in town) and I was waiting for an X-ray to be done. This was on a weekend, if I remember, and no one was available at the time to look at me so I sat in a wheelchair in ER as the 4th of July casualties came in. I sat there pretty much all evening and into the wee hours as the drunks with blown off fingers and heat burns were coming in. It was a sideshow and there seemed to be no end to the arrivals. The nurses said every 4th was the busiest day of the year.

I ended up with badly torn ligaments and was in a cast from my ankle up to my knee for the next 8 weeks and on crutches.

 

[travelover]

I might have shared this before. When I was about 20, I worked at a rental store so we had unlimited access to devices to get into trouble. One slow day we filled a big garbage bag full of a mixture of oxygen and acetylene. We stuck a couple of nails through a Brillo pad into the female end of an extension cord as an igniter. We reeled out a couple hundred feet of cord and then plugged it in. It was amazing - it shook the entire neighborhood.

On other slow days we had belt sander races. They are amazingly fast, particularly out of the hole.

 

[TrvlBug]

And now we hear from the other side...Was in high school at my locker between classes. Some bright kiddos decided to have some fun with an M? . I still have the newspaper clipping that listed the injured. They had to dig a bunch of stuff out of my lower leg. I developed a healthy respect for fireworks.

Nowadays we cringe when we hear them going off as we're in a "semi-rural" and high fire danger zone. Many of my neighbors have received homeowners insurance cancellation notices. Luckily, we only got a healthy 40% or so increase last year.

 

[NW-Bound]

We also used a car battery to power a hydrolosis rig in our shower to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen. We collected the gasses in garbage bags over a few days. When we thought we had enough, we decided to tape the garbage bags to a long metal pole and stick them out the window and light them. We used toilet paper as a fuse. The oxygen one was a dud. The hydrogen one was quite enrgetic. Luckily we were smart and put the large, heavy glass windows down before we lit them. Damn near broke the windows right in front of our faces.

Anyway, how I didn't end up with a Darwin award out of all of that, I have no idea.

At least you did not have a better idea of mixing up the oxygen and hydrogen gases before igniting it.


See the following excellent video to see the difference.

 

[scrabbler1]

I had a few scary incidents while a teenager in the late 1970s, some involving fireworks.

A neighbor kid had some firecrackers and he would light them one at a time and toss them into the air, timing it so it went off near the top of its arc about 15 feet above us. Once in a while, he would yell out "short fuse" which meant he'd have to toss it almost immediately after lighting it.

He would hand one of us a firecracker and light it so we could get that same thrill. We were all a pretty safe distance from being under the lit firecracker in case the thrower tossed it up too soon, which happened once in a while.

He handed one to me and yelled out "short fuse" to warn me to toss it quickly. But the fuse was extra short and I barely got rid of it before it went off, less than 2 seconds after he lit it. It scared me a little, and it was bad for my ears because it felt louder. No damage or injury to me or anyone else.

Then, on July 4th itself (not sure if it was the same year), I burned my thumb just lighting the match for a sparkler. No long-lasting injury, but it smarted for several hours. I remember having to carry around a cup of ice water to soak it to numb the pain. I never tired to light a match for anything July 4th again. I always feared lighting matches after that.

Unrelated to fireworks, I once thought it would be cool to see how aerosol cans work when the top is removed. I stuck something metal, like a skinny drill or knitting needle, into the hole. Some liquid inside the can was released under high pressure and got into my eyes. I was in the basement so I went upstairs, screaming. My parents happen to be in the bathroom so I ran in there and they instantly flushed my eyes out with water. My eyes stung for a while, but no long-term damage. Would I have had the sense to flush my eyes without their presence? I hope so, despite running passed the kitchen sink on the way to the bathroom, but in instances like this time is of the essence. Lucky for me my parents were in the right place at the right time and knew just what to do.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

I might have shared this before. When I was about 20, I worked at a rental store so we had unlimited access to devices to get into trouble. One slow day we filled a big garbage bag full of a mixture of oxygen and acetylene. We stuck a couple of nails through a Brillo pad into the female end of an extension cord as an igniter. We reeled out a couple hundred feet of cord and then plugged it in. It was amazing - it shook the entire neighborhood.

On other slow days we had belt sander races. They are amazingly fast, particularly out of the hole.

That is hilarious.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

One day we were setting off bottlerockets. One mis-behaved and fell before exploding...about two feet over the windshield of a passing Cadillac.

5 mins later the cops rolled up.

The Caddy was driven by the mayor.

Fortunately we kept most of our stash hidden for just such an eventuality. Fifteen minutes later we were back in business.

 

[Fermion]

Wow. We used to pack CO2 cartridges with match tips and they went off like M80s. I can't imagine a fire extinguisher.

I did this as a little kid (like age 12) almost exactly the same with the co2 cartridges....I do not know how I survived childhood....one tiny mistake and I would have been missing a hand or dead. I have a much greater respect now for things like that. I never did anything malicious, other than maybe blow up my own star wars stuff that is now worth many thousands.

 

[travelover]

When I was a kid, we'd make hydrogen balloons by mixing aluminum foil, water and lye in a soda bottle. Once it got cooking, we'd put a balloon over the bottle mouth and the balloon would fill so we could tie it off and release it. But then we thought, what a waste - all that explosive gas and no bang. So, we started attaching firecrackers to the balloon with a long fuse that we made out of heavy string. They were pretty spectacular at night and the long fuse gave us time to look innocent.

 

[aja8888]

When I was a kid, we'd make hydrogen balloons by mixing aluminum foil, water and lye in a soda bottle. Once it got cooking, we'd put a balloon over the bottle mouth and the balloon would fill so we could tie it off and release it. But then we thought, what a waste - all that explosive gas and no bang. So, we started attaching firecrackers to the balloon with a long fuse that we made out of heavy string. They were pretty spectacular at night and the long fuse gave us time to look innocent.

You guys sounded like potential candidates for the Darwin Award club.

 

[Fermion]

When I was a kid, we'd make hydrogen balloons by mixing aluminum foil, water and lye in a soda bottle. Once it got cooking, we'd put a balloon over the bottle mouth and the balloon would fill so we could tie it off and release it. But then we thought, what a waste - all that explosive gas and no bang. So, we started attaching firecrackers to the balloon with a long fuse that we made out of heavy string. They were pretty spectacular at night and the long fuse gave us time to look innocent.

I did this one too. I used toilet paper as a fuse though...just 10 feet of it and lit the bottom.

We were destructive little ... back then weren't we?

 

[travelover]

You guys sounded like potential candidates for the Darwin Award club.

Those of us that survived became engineers.

 

[Walt34]

It wasn't really dangerous but when I was working in a gas station I discovered a good way to clean out the 55 gallon drums we used as trash cans. Being a service station that also did maintenance/repairs, the trash cans eventually became very heavy to carry out to the dumpster out back because of the the build up of grease/oil/dirt that collected in the bottom. This mixture was of course impervious to water, so how to clean it out?

When I came across some M80's and "ash cans" the solution was clear: Simply fill the can with water, tape an M80 or whatever to a rock or bolt heavy enough to make it sink, and light it. The resulting compression shock would make the can jump a few inches high and loosen all the greasy gunk in the bottom of the trash can so that it could simply be poured out and the trash can was now easy to carry.

Environmental concerns? That stuff hadn't been invented yet.

 

[frayne]

Those of us that survived became engineers.

In one form or another !

Looks like we have a number of Darwin Award rejects of one form or another reporting in. That said, nothing beats det. chord and daisy chained one pound bricks of C-4 to create a real nice big boom.

 

[CardsFan]

When I was a kid, we'd make hydrogen balloons by mixing aluminum foil, water and lye in a soda bottle. Once it got cooking, we'd put a balloon over the bottle mouth and the balloon would fill so we could tie it off and release it. But then we thought, what a waste - all that explosive gas and no bang. So, we started attaching firecrackers to the balloon with a long fuse that we made out of heavy string. They were pretty spectacular at night and the long fuse gave us time to look innocent.

You guys sounded like potential candidates for the Darwin Award club.

I did this one too. I used toilet paper as a fuse though...just 10 feet of it and lit the bottom.

We were destructive little ... back then weren't we?

Why am I tempted to look this one up and try it?

 

[Souschef]

Those of us that survived became engineers.

Guilty! A friend of mine and I were trying to make nitroglycerine Fortunately, we did not succeed.
And I am an engineer

 

[isisdave]

All these stories remind me of my observation that half of us, by definition, are below average in measure of any human virtue, including knowledge, wisdom, good sense, thoughtfulness, consideration, and ability to bail ourselves out.

Before I arrived at college, I thought I ate more than most teenagers. I discovered that some kids ate three times as much as I did.

I also thought I was a pyrotechnic badass. Umm, not so much, I guess.

I'm going to send this thread to my wife, who still thinks my teenage misdeeds were notable.

And we should note that a lot of the stuff we got away with 50+ years ago would land us in jail today.

Originally Posted by travelover :
Those of us that survived became engineers.

This is true ....

 

[14thMed]

Didn’t see this one in the thread.
We would take aerosol cans of deodorant,start spraying then light the spray. The flame would be 4-6 feet!!

 

[travelover]

Didn’t see this one in the thread.
We would take aerosol cans of deodorant,start spraying then light the spray. The flame would be 4-6 feet!!

Another good Darwininan stunt. Anyone ever seat a tubeless tire with a can of ether and a match?

 

[Sunset]

I did this one too. I used toilet paper as a fuse though...just 10 feet of it and lit the bottom.

We were destructive little ... back then weren't we?

We lived in the age of nuclear bombs.... so our experiments were tiny by comparison.

 

[Masquernom]

Pure Darwin. Some guys I knew, after high school, were stealing gas from cars by syphon. One of them wanted to see how full their can was, and actually struck his lighter to see. He died.

Another guy, after high school, was hired to burn down a house as part of an insurance scam. Apparently he went about pouring a lot of gasoline around the first floor, then struck a match while still inside the house to start the blaze. Of course, the house was full of fumes. He didn't make it either.

 

[calmloki]

Country kid - we had wood heat and the random 3'+ diameter logs to take apart. Dad had a couple splitting guns - think a 16" long 2" diameter cannon barrel with a tapered to a sharp edge muzzle. Appropriately guesstimated black powder would be emptied in, then a sledge hammer used to pound it into the butt end of a log. Dynamite fuse was used and the splitting gun would be backed up with a heavy log. Worked pretty well tearing a big log into partial logs, and sometimes you got to watch out for falling splitting guns.

While I made a fair number of things go bang and set a field a-fire and the wood bed of a truck smoldering on separate occasions, the dumbest thing I remember is smacking cartridge primers with a hammer after setting them on an anvil. Feels like a good way to get blind in an eye.
Still alive. Still can see. No justice in the world.