And that's why the rules on *every* box sold legally in the UK state NEVER to approach a fiework once its been lit.

One reason why civilian use of fireworks should be banned.

I think civilian fireworks should be mandatory and decrease the surplus population.

Darwinism at its finest.

Unnatural selection.
Proof that the tree of life is self-pruning.
Belly flops in the gene pool, etc.
I snagged those lines from the 3 Darwin Awards collection books I have.

Also, nobody should be allowed to own kitchen knives or a car.

And definitely nothing electrical!

or other potentially dangerous devices.

No doooogggs allooooowed...

keep out of children.

Wisdom comes from experience.

At least you're wearing safety glasses on that pic, that's rarely done :)

They say the best thing to do when these rockets get stuck on the stick is to run like hell and find cover.

Its best to stick a pipe in the ground and put the bottle rocket in the pipe,honging off the edge, stick in the middle, fuse on the outside.

Hmmm...reminds me a bit of family reunions of years past.

That's why they call em "Bottle Rockets". Anything supposed to fly with a stick can't be stuck down too solidly, so you put them in long neck beer bottles so they don't get slowed down on blast-off.

One time when I was really little our neighbor was setting off Fourth of July fireworks and a bottle rocket launched directly at me. For the next few years I was terrified of them and I'd stay inside the house while watching them.

I am SO Glad that you had slow reactions.... O_O

LOL they are banned in oregon, that doesent stop nor slow down the use of them.
dude watch your fingers you need them to be our art slave. umn i mean to draw with .

I always launch rockets from a tube, for just this reason. A two-or-three-foot length of copper or iron pipe pounded into the ground or a bucket of sand works great!

oh my god!! Karno almost become a Darwin award winner!

Well, maybe not a Darwin award winner... losing a few fingers or a hand might not be too lethal. But we'd have lost a great artist...

Like everyone else, though, glad to hear you got through new year's night unharmed.

'sploded hands are a bad thing. good that you're ok

Yea I know how you feel, They wouldn't let me shoot off the cannon this year...

aww man. another "good thing I didn't do it, might have become lethal" moment... ours was when someone from our party stuck a huge firecracker into the end of a traffic sign post tube. it never got lit, luckily.

Did someone not soak the lutefisk long enough, and they lye pickled your brain?!?!?

You're playing with EXPLOSIVES, man.

CHEAP explosives. (They may charge a lot, but they're not made to exacting standards. The Quality Control department only shows up AFTER the plant blows up.)

Once the flame has touched the fuse, you have NO idea when it will go off, nor any idea if it will burn in stages as planned or simply explode like a grenade.

Once it's lit, stay the #$%@ AWAY!

I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but as an Engineer, safety is always on my mind, right next to my own personal 'what's the worst thing that can happen theater,' and like Joel in MST3K, I cannot stop the movies in the theater.

You are a wonderful artist, a true with with comic storylines, and from what I've seen, a generally great person to be around. I would hate to find out you blew yourself to Gory or destroyed your talented hands before I get the chance to meet you face to face.


I personally never use a naked flame to light fireworks, I use a 'punk,' a slow-burning unscented incence stick about a foot ( 0.3 metres ) long. Better safe than sorry.

I use a propane torch with a pizo igniter. Lights it quick so you can get away fast. Or electrical, but that takes longer to set up.