The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

VIDEO: Fun With Fireworks

Posted on | February 17, 2011 | 2 Comments

Watch this low-breaking shell set off car alarms:

Being a serious fireworks buff, let me explain what appears to have happened here: The shell was either fired from the wrong size mortar or else the lift charge was just weak, resulting in the “break” being at least 50 feet too low for safety.

Judging from the size of the break, I’d say that was at least a 3-inch shell, which is much larger than the largest consumer mortar shells (1.75-inch) sold in the U.S. There are consumer 3-inch shells, but they’re sold either in pre-loaded #500 tubes or in the so-called NOB (“nine on a board”) 500-gram finale racks, to avoid the risk of injury from idiots trying to re-load a “hot” tube.

The risk of injury from consumer fireworks, when used according to proper safety instructions, is really quite small, as I explained in a 2006 Reason magazine article, “Light Fuse, Get Away.” And as it’s now less than five months until the Fourth of July, its probably time for me to start planning my next big purchase for the annual Alabama show.

That’s the 2009 show. In 2008, I wrote an American Spectator article about my preparations for the show at Camp FUBAR on Lake Weiss.

Hit the tip jar — this year’s show is gonna be awesome.

Category: Fireworks, Video

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