Unwise, unsafe and way cool

I remember one stupid fourth of July we got our hands on a case of 155mm artillery simulators.

For those who don't know, that's black powder, some explosive, some magnesium and flash powder, and enough to simulate the sound and impact of a 155m artillery shell (huge) going off. They're potentially lethal at short range in areas with debris.

We set off a few with car batteries previously, but decided it would be more "fun" to ...make them into more useful toys.

I was sitting across a picnic table outdoors (we were smoking, of course, I know, I know!) from a friend.

He poured an entire simulator into a paper picnic bowl and with a crap-eating grin, plunged his cigarette into it.

I couldn't see at night for a couple weeks, my poly glass lenses were MELTED on the surface rendering them basically useless, and the flash and shock wave...was...legion.

My foolish friend ended up in the ER with third degree+ burns to his elbow, and they said he'd lose the hand. They screwed up his morphine injection and giave him OD-class amounts, which in the folly of youth, didn't have any ill effects.

A couple months later, he had a massive pile of scar tissue but ...no other loss of function.

I beat the living crap out of him, and he, to his credit, didn't fight back.

He'd earned it.

Two stories about CO2 cartridges:
1) A couple guys I knew back in the late ‘50s were making homemade guns out of them and, while aiming, one misfired and the guy ended up with a scar that ran up his cheek and through his earlobe for the remainder of his life.

2) I had a CO2 cartridge that a friend had soldered on a nosecone, fins, and launch islets (use piano wire for launch). I stuffed it full of match heads and stuck in a homemade fuse made of a string soaked in melted saltpeter and, using those islets, wired it to a stake in the ground. After lighting the fuse my buddy and I got behind a tree in the yard and waited for the big bang that didn’t happen. After a short wait, he started reaching for my little rocket while I’m yelling “no no no” and BANG it ignited. I really had to laugh when he turned around with a very surprised look on his face that was covered from hairline to chin with burned match heads. At first I couldn’t find the cartridge, just the two islets that were still wired to the stake, but eventually I did find it stuck in the hull of my father’s boat sitting on a trailer in the yard about 20 feet away.

Pop bottle rocket (with report, of couse) wars. We got on our roof and creamed the neighbors across the street. They were on their sidewalk.
Not as adventurous as you guys tho.

I did put a black cat in a spent 30-30 cartridge. Flew right by my brothers head and chipped up a brick.

I lived in a 9 story dorm in college that had an identical dorm across the street. Every now and then a bottle rocket war would break out between the buildings. It was like two tall ships going to cannons broadside. Much fun.

One day in grade school I saw my older brother riding his bike up the street towards us. I stuck a bottle rocket in the little hole in a sewer cover where you'd put a tool to pull it. It was the perfect angle towards my brother as the rocket took off straight at him and blew up about 2 feet above his head. He. was. angry.....and much bigger than me. That may be the fastest I've ever ran!

In high school we found out you could buy gun powder and fuse. We filled empty CO2 cartridges with gun powder, stuck in the cannon fuse, lit and ran like hell. We made two, lit one off and were scared to do the other but pretty much had to. Never made another after that.

Then there's the tennis ball cannon wars we had. We'd set up two teams about 50 yards apart. We made stands out of coat hanger to hold them at an angle and launch the tennis balls mortar-style at the other team. One guy got the idea to run towards us with one on his shoulder like a bazooka with a team mate behind him to light it. He took a tennis ball to the forehead from our defensive fire.

As a kid, we found a five acre or so secluded forest section (in the middle of the city, mind you) by the main rail in Chicago.   There was spot where a tree had fallen over in a storm ages ago and had a giant pit, so we started...making fires there.

Our "sport" was to see how long we could keep them going (once we left, of course).   

First time I ever got shot at was there - a railroad maintenance shack was up the embankment and one of the dudes on the railway would stash booze and cheap, bad 70s porn.

He figured out it HAD to be those damn kids, and one day while we were making too much of a racket....he comes barreling down overweight and pissed and starts shooting in the general vicinity out of a crappy S&W revolver.

Didn't stop us from going back, of course.    Because, kids. 

I learned to set fires, keep 'em going, and make ...improvised explosives there. 

Many years ago there was a news story about some kids who had an outdoor kegger going....along with a huge bonfire.  At some point someone thought it would be cool to throw the keg into the fire.  IIRC, people died.