BajaNomad

Fireworks

Dannyrose - 6-24-2008 at 07:10 PM

Asked this once before and received some passionate responses from some that may have misunderstood. I picked up a box of 3, 4 & 5 stage mortar fireworks from an Indian Reservation in Southern Utah. They're not legal to set off in Las vegas. These are semi professional displays. No annoying bangs or ones that sputter out like you get in baja. Nor are they the mild "safe and sane" kits bought at the corner kiosk. these are large beautifull multi colored explosions close to a show at a local park. they're sure to draw attention. My questions is will they be confiscated by the local cops or worse? People shoot off the cheap ones bought in the local rosarito stores all the time on the beach with no problems. Am I asking for trouble if I bring these high end ones down?

fireworks

tehag - 6-24-2008 at 07:14 PM

Ask somebody with a thatched roof what they think.

Dannyrose - 6-24-2008 at 07:17 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by tehag
Ask somebody with a thatched roof what they think.



Not too many thatched roofs two blocks from Party Central in downtown Rosarito. I would think they'd be a lot more worried about the locals burning big piles of palm leaves next door to my condo

Bajabus - 6-24-2008 at 07:37 PM

If these are on a par with professional fireworks be safe and sane. Send up some small rockets with small bursts out over the water on the same trajectory to see how the wind is blowing. It is not always the same as close to the ground. If there is any question as to blow back over land then don't do it.

Don't put the mortars above ground on their little stands. Bury them at least 3/4 into the sand and at an angle out over the water. these things occasionally flowerpot ( blow in the tube ) and you don't want that to happen above ground.

make a safe box to keep the ready to load shells in. Any relatively fireproof box with a cover. Assign someone to be the safe box person. never keep the lid open while a shell is in the tube or being transported to the tube or just been fired. They open the box and hand you shells while you go back and forth.

never put any part of your body over the tube.

if it duds in the mortar DO NOT go over and look in the tube after you think it's safe. I have seen alleged duds go off without any notice up to 30 min later. Wait an hour or two and douse the tube with water.

If you need extra tubes DO NOT make them with PVC and end caps. PVC will shatter and send shrapnel hundreds of feet way if the shell flowerpots. Only use ABS pipe it will shred harmlessly.

use a long lighter or punk to light the fuse. never cup your hand around the fuse with a match to light the fuse. Some defective Chinese fuse will go super fast and scare the crap out of you.

My wife and i were licensed pyrotechnicians for the grucci fireworks family in the early 90's. We manufactured from scratch and set off many great safe shows. I still have all my fingers. Don't cut corners. if you find yourself thinking about shortcuts or ignoring any of the above, alarm bells should go off in your head.

oh and it should go without saying that drinking and shooting serious fireworks do not go together.

disclaimer, if Mr Bill is around ignore all the above, point directly at him and fire away repeatedly.........LOL

fulano - 6-24-2008 at 09:24 PM

In Mexico, fireworks (cohetes) are regulated at the municipality level. Rosarito, for instance, has regulations for the size and amount and hours when they can be set off. Whether they enforce the laws is hit and miss. The Mexicans know about July 4th and are hard-up for tourist dollars, so I'd expect the local police won't do anything unless somebody calls them.

If those are those fireworks that are launched from mortar tubes, they are illegal. You should be more worried about a military checkpoint. They are basically explosives and those soldiers will ruin the rest of your life if they see them.

By the way, it is also illegal to even drive across the border into California from Nevada with them, if you don't have a license for them.

DENNIS - 6-24-2008 at 09:30 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Dannyrose
Asked this once before and received some passionate responses from some that may have misunderstood.


What was misunderstood in your first question?

woody with a view - 6-25-2008 at 01:21 PM

you only live once (so they say!) so go ahead and look both ways and let 'em rip. just be smart about it....

Bajabus - 6-25-2008 at 01:42 PM

I have never had mortar based fireworks confiscated from me. In fact when the soldiers at a check point near San ignacio saw them they asked if we could shoot one and we did. I left them a cardboard tube and 5 shells for their enjoyment.

I suppose if you showed up with a 6 inch shell they might have something to say about it but the 1.5 to 2 inch shells of typical consumer fireworks are no big deal.

Don't listen to Bajabus

The Gull - 6-25-2008 at 03:46 PM

Based on your judgement so far...

Hold one six inch in each hand, twist their fuses together , light them and wait until the fuses are almost done and then reach back real far and throw them. Repeat, if still alive.

The smaller ones can go in the tailpipe of your car. Real special effects.

You have no stones, if you don't do as I suggest.

Bajabus - 6-25-2008 at 10:15 PM

Based on my judgments so far.......????

Gull WTH are you talking about?

Besides most anything over 4 " is set off with an electric match. In the old days we used black match but even that was iffy on a 6".

In most jurisdictions the local fire marshal will not allow hand firing and reloading...it's all electric now.

You don't know what you are talking about dude so please just stick to your usual wing-nut political theories

Skeet/Loreto - 6-26-2008 at 04:57 AM

Thanks Bus: Good Information.

Many times I would bring M-80's from Baja for use in Fresno Calif. Could not get them in Calif. Also could get 1/4 sticks of Dynamite. Sure did shake up the Block on July 4th.!!!

Hope all is well with your Politics.

Skeet/Loreto

Bajabus - 6-26-2008 at 08:36 AM

Skeet, great to see you on the board.

I personally love flash bangs but they are not for everyone.

In the old days we used to mix up the comp with potassium chlorate as the oxidizer. very sensitive to friction. Now pretty much everyone except the older hard core guys use potassium perchlorate. A little less bang for the same volume but safer.

We did the mixing with wet clothes and bare feet to minimize static. flash powder is very dangerous stuff.

it's the stuff you see in the typical end of show chest thumping bangs.

usually 3 - 4 inch cannister shells with about 200 to 300 grams of comp

M-80's have about 50 grams at most.

At PGI conventions you can see and hear massive 6 inch salutes that will rattle windows and set off car alarms for a mile or so.

If you have never been to one you should go to a PGI convention. It's members only but on the last day they put on a public display that you will never forget or see anywhere else. Grand masters from around the world come to compete with shells that they sometimes spend months making from scratch. It is an awesome spectacle

My politics are going great, thanks for asking. stay safe and don't discount running around nekid. I miss your nekid hippie rants.

Before you go vote, open the bible and read the Beatitudes. Both the Matthews and Luke versions.

Woooosh - 6-26-2008 at 10:05 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by fulano
In Mexico, fireworks (cohetes) are regulated at the municipality level. Rosarito, for instance, has regulations for the size and amount and hours when they can be set off. Whether they enforce the laws is hit and miss. The Mexicans know about July 4th and are hard-up for tourist dollars, so I'd expect the local police won't do anything unless somebody calls them.

If those are those fireworks that are launched from mortar tubes, they are illegal. You should be more worried about a military checkpoint. They are basically explosives and those soldiers will ruin the rest of your life if they see them.

By the way, it is also illegal to even drive across the border into California from Nevada with them, if you don't have a license for them.


I live in Rosarito and the huge size of the fireworks can make it feel like a war zone at times. All third world countries celebrate with foreworks.

There are signs posted at every entrance to the beach that prohibit fireworks and the introduction of any contaminants and foreign objects to the sand. The signs are in Spanish and English and include the fines for doing so.

Mango - 6-26-2008 at 10:44 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by fulano

By the way, it is also illegal to even drive across the border into California from Nevada with them, if you don't have a license for them.


Thats the first part of your problem.

If you do get them into Mexico then you have to worry about their laws.
Quote:
Originally posted by Dannyrose
My questions is will they be confiscated by the local cops or worse?

Yes, they very well could be. Everyone loves fireworks... even cops. This would give them a great reason to get some money and fireworks out of a drunk gringo. If you get a a-hole federal cop(the beach is federal land) it could get worse.

Who is to say that your tube is not a "gun" and the mortar is not "ammo"?


This guy?
Quote:
Originally posted by Dannyrose
People shoot off the cheap ones bought in the local rosarito stores all the time on the beach with no problems. Am I asking for trouble if I bring these high end ones down?


The law is very negotiable in Mexico. How much money do you have and how well do you negotiate?

Do you feel lucky? Well do you?

Mango - 6-26-2008 at 10:49 AM

All the above said. I agree with Woooosh, Mexican holidays and parties often sound like war zones... with large projectile (m-1000) type rockets going off all over the place.

Either way.. I'd rather sit back and enjoy the atmosphere and party than to spend my time negotiating with or worrying about the man.

:cool:

Skeet/Loreto - 6-27-2008 at 04:40 AM

Bus: Thanks for all the Info. I had never got into how those things were made, but have sure enjoyed Fireworks for years. Here in the Panhandle there is a Great Show that i can observe from my Home to the Discovery Center which is at least 11 miles distance.

Glad to hear that you are engaged in changing the world. I have read the Bible complete on several occasions starting when i was about 12 years old. I like both old and New. Also just finished the Koran, a very interesting Bible??? Read the Book of Mormon when I was in College in 1954.

Don't take my Rants too seriously, I have always been known as a Pot Stirer.

It is interesting how "Weak-Minded' People are led down a Path by someone who thinks he knows "The Bible Says This"!!!!. I always figured the Good Lord gave me a Mind to make my own Decesions and Interpatations of the Acts of People not their Words.

Hope all goes well for you and yourins on the 4th of July

Skeet/Loreto

Bajabus - 6-27-2008 at 05:03 AM

Skeet, do you remember torpedo's? they were sold just about anywhere and came about 10 in a box as I recall. they looked kinda like small cigars and you put them on the ground and stomped on them for a nice impressive bang.

They were finally outlawed because they were made with potassium chlorate and Sulfur. In the industry now that is known as a death mix. We never use sulfur ( fuel ) with potassium chlorate ( oxidizer ). It makes for an incredibly sensitive comp.

Store fronts and trucks used to blow up regularly as clerks slid and dropped the boxes while loading or unloading

strike anywhere match heads used to be made the same way.

Bible is a good book. I just don't take it literally like some do.

Never read the Koran...I should.

Stay safe sir and another 100 years to you.

Skeet/Loreto - 6-27-2008 at 03:17 PM

Thanks for the Info. Yes I recall the Torpedo's and also recall a small Cigar Shaped that would after being Lit would chase you around the Street We called them---------Chasers. Most of my people do not use the Racist word that was used many years ago.

Just made reservations for a 4 day Trip to Nootka Sound British Columbia for some Kings. Will let my Cousin Hookem Up.
Skeet

Sharksbaja - 6-28-2008 at 11:54 AM

Bus, were those cracker-balls made the same way?

Bajabus - 6-28-2008 at 08:40 PM

Not sure but i would guess it's a silver nitrate compound. Very friction sensitive also. Made by bubbling acetylene into a saturated silver nitrate solution and then collecting the resultant crystals. when wet it's safe to handle. tri-iodine is similar stuff. Supposedly so sensitive when dry a fly landing on it will set it off. Nice flypaper eh?

Both are popular high school chemistry taboo experiments.

I never messed with either but there is a lot of literature on it out there

Fireworks are for the stupid!

toneart - 6-28-2008 at 09:12 PM

You read my subject line.

Fireworks are a base form of entertainment for the amateur who lacks brains. They are dangerous.They maim and sometimes kill people, especially children. They are a form of pollution; noise. They scare dogs and make them panic, often running away. They start fires. They are illegal in many locations.

Here in Northern California we are under siege by over 1000 lightning caused fires. They have been burning for a week. Fireworks have been banned in most cities of Northern Ca. and Gov. Schwartznegger is urging all cities to ban them.

Find a community that has professionals, legally presenting a better show with more money and more spectacular fireworks than the amateur could ever hope to present. They are in Mexico and The United States.

Little brains will argue with me but they are still little brains!

Woooosh - 6-28-2008 at 10:03 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Skeet/Loreto
Bus: Thanks for all the Info. I had never got into how those things were made, but have sure enjoyed Fireworks for years. Here in the Panhandle there is a Great Show that i can observe from my Home to the Discovery Center which is at least 11 miles distance.

Glad to hear that you are engaged in changing the world. I have read the Bible complete on several occasions starting when i was about 12 years old. I like both old and New. Also just finished the Koran, a very interesting Bible??? Read the Book of Mormon when I was in College in 1954.

Don't take my Rants too seriously, I have always been known as a Pot Stirer.

It is interesting how "Weak-Minded' People are led down a Path by someone who thinks he knows "The Bible Says This"!!!!. I always figured the Good Lord gave me a Mind to make my own Decesions and Interpatations of the Acts of People not their Words.

Hope all goes well for you and yourins on the 4th of July

Skeet/Loreto


Wow. That was a great post. I was raised a strict catholic (altar boy in latin mass no less). In college I burned some elective credits searching academically deeper into all religions. With one class I spent a few weeks with a guru on a commune in Taos. We did peyote buttons and visited the native american spirit world of Black Elk Speaks.

Oh the early 70's- college class road trips to communes with peyote in the professors VW bus. Such risk taking and freedom in the pure pursuit of gaining more kowledge. In the end I came to believe that if God (Allah, whoever) inspired someone to transcribe his words into books for us- he hasn't given any of us the ability to understand it as he meant us to. I still feel that way. The again I can go with aliens visited the aztecs, egyptians, Indians and chinese thousand of years ago and were misinterpretted as gods.

Woooosh - 6-28-2008 at 10:14 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by toneart
You read my subject line.

Fireworks are a base form of entertainment for the amateur who lacks brains. They are dangerous.They maim and sometimes kill people, especially children. They are a form of pollution; noise. They scare dogs and make them panic, often running away. They start fires. They are illegal in many locations.

Here in Northern California we are under siege by over 1000 lightning caused fires. They have been burning for a week. Fireworks have been banned in most cities of Northern Ca. and Gov. Schwartznegger is urging all cities to ban them.

Find a community that has professionals, legally presenting a better show with more money and more spectacular fireworks than the amateur could ever hope to present. They are in Mexico and The United States.

Little brains will argue with me but they are still little brains!


My blind lab sufferred greatly from the loud fireworks (aka "the good ones") and my older 12 year labs still shakes like a leaf for hours after the first one. I'm sure he'll die of a heart attack before old age. We both take xanax. lol We get some blasts that shake our block house. I only get mad and say someting when they are so close/loud that the concussion could break our windows.

Most countries outside the USA love them and it's part of their culture. It would be unthinkable in some countries to not "chase away the demons" with firecrackers. I don't mind firecrakers- I mind "the good ones" that cause every person in range to skip a hartbeat.

Also- Many cities in So Cal have cancelled their displays this year out of lack of funds- not fire danger. Sorry about the losses in the fires up there BTW. This means more yahoos than normal will be heading to Mexico to blow things up.

toneart - 6-29-2008 at 12:45 PM

Thank you for the reply, Wooosh. One correction: Firecracker sales have been banned in many No. California communities due to fire danger. The only sad thing about that is that many youth organizations usually benefit from their sales and this year they will lose out. I say, find another source of funds. :light:

Sharksbaja - 6-29-2008 at 02:57 PM

Tony if it weren't for fireworks the Chinese would not have enabled the rest of the world to wage war or shoot their beloved guns.

10 to 1 you loathe guns also.:biggrin:

toneart - 6-29-2008 at 10:16 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Sharksbaja
Tony if it weren't for fireworks the Chinese would not have enabled the rest of the world to wage war or shoot their beloved guns.

10 to 1 you loathe guns also.:biggrin:


Without (hopefully) turning this into a political hijack, I would point out that usually those who dislike loud amateur fireworks would also dislike guns. They usually line up on one side politically. It has to do with sensitivities, life's experience and philosophy......
When I was a kid, I shot a bird just to watch it die. I have never gotten over the remorse. It was certainly not my expected reaction.

I realize that some cultures have a rich tradition of fireworks,including the United States during the 4th of July. I enjoy watching them during festivals and celebrations. That is different than having idiots setting them off in my neighborhood, illegally, for all the reasons I have previously stated.

Bajabus - 6-30-2008 at 04:49 PM

for what it's worth I am a liberal, democratic party member and NRA member....go figure

Sharksbaja - 6-30-2008 at 07:26 PM

Now that's what I'd call a dangerous fellow!:lol:


Silver nitrate eh? Aren't those little things(rocks in paper) that you throw against the ground made with that?
I think I must have been a pyro in my last life. I love em, still have nine fingers.:bounce:

BajaGringo - 6-30-2008 at 07:43 PM

I don't have a problem with fireworks enjoyed safely in isolated areas / away from homes and communities. Our 11 year old Lab cries from the blasts of some of the small bombs that marooons set off on the beach below our home.

As usual, common sense is in short supply...

Bajabus - 7-1-2008 at 07:58 AM

common sense is the key and I am not about to advocate banning anything because there some marooons out there that want to ruin it for the rest of us.

There are lots of cool special effects that can be made with regular consumer fireworks that do not involve loud bangs or the danger of setting roofs on fire. A RESPONSIBLE person will look at the location, take into account the surroundings and plan the display accordingly.

Try making a Chroma-trope wheel out of ordinary cones, you will be surprised how simple and beautiful the effect is.

scroll down to the section on the wheel.

The point is that blanket statements about banning fireworks because you don't like them or they scare your dog are "simple minded" statements.

Bajabus - 7-1-2008 at 08:31 AM

Sharks, that same site also has directions on making those snap-pops in an eariler article from 2001 I think.

skylighter is a great site and place to get supplies

Martyman - 7-1-2008 at 08:35 AM

Hey bajabus;
Did you ever post that last chapter of your story about your fireworks displays in Mexico? I'm not on-line all the time so maybe I missed it, but I really enjoyed your previosly posted story.
Oh yeah I'm not a gun lover but I enjoy fireworks.
Too bad that a lot of the skyrockets I get in Mexico are crappy.

Stuck on Stupid

MrBillM - 7-1-2008 at 09:00 AM

Although I lost interest in Fireworks displays sometime around Puberty, I can see a justification for the impressive visual displays. I've noted that many of those displays are relatively quiet.

The problem is that those don't seem to be the fireworks the marooon Bunch are interested in. If it doesn't shake the windows and the ground (with or without visuals), it isn't popular.

For years, I've summed it up as: "I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, so I assume that they're all buttcracks". When I say this to a friend or acquaintance and get the expected response, I say "Look, any Adult who actually derives enjoyment from touching off these Bombs is either Retarded or an buttcrack. Most people would rather be considered a Jerk than retarded".

More than one of my friends who partake have not appreciated my assessment.

TOUGH.

[Edited on 7-1-2008 by MrBillM]

Bajabus - 7-1-2008 at 09:30 AM

Marty, at the request of the other parties involved I was asked to not finish the story since it involved the Mexican navy, the marines ( the guys in blue uniforms) and a host of other authorities looking for " the terrorist training camp"

as for rockets, get yourself a set of rocket tooling equipment and make your own black powder rockets. Very easy and relatively safe as long as you follow the directions carefully and do not attempt to cut corners.

Don't try and make the Vaseline whistlers you see described on the skylighters site unless you get very experienced with BP rockets first.

Get some of the beginners books...well worth the cost.
If you live in the west try to get to a PGI convention. lot's of workshops, awesome demos and absolutely spectacular competitions in the evenings. pyro unlike anything you have ever seen before.



[Edited on 1-7-2008 by Bajabus]