Exploding Hammers

[displayfireworks1]

Apparently there is some connection to "Fat Tuesday". I did not know that. I am also getting a desire to do this. To Pyrojoe what do you feel the composition is they are using?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7jwmbF27Nk
Every year, hundreds of young men gather in San Juan de la Vega, Mexico, to celebrate Fat Tuesday by slamming sledgehammers loaded with homemade explosives
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http://www.tageo.com/get_map.php?lat=20.633&long=-100.767&name=San%20juan%20de%20la%20vega&tag=1
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I think this may be just potassium chlorate and sulfur. Similar to a Railroad Torpedo.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

Dave, Judging by the color and very large amount of the smoke produced my first guess is that this is just a simple "home brew" black powder mix. It seems to take quite a bit of energy for the device to detonate so I would rule out any of the metal & chlorate or nitrate mixes. Also, there would be a pretty noticeable visible flash & I don't think the head of those sledge hammers would stay intact [let alone the people] if it was a flash powder.
An Ammonium Perchlorate & Aluminum mixture [like the exploding rifle targets] produces a very similar density & color smoke cloud with very little visible flash, but with a lot greater energy than these devices seem to have. I don't see them mixing some up in their village.
Also, I would tend to think this was something "simple" like black powder since it is a common mixture & doesn't require a high degree of accuracy to weigh/mix to get a "workable" batch. ....or they could have raided the "bat cave" for some guano & mixed it up with charcoal & sulfur. Holy Smoke Bat Man!!

[countryboy7978]

This is indeed sulfur and potassium chlorate in those bundles. San Juan de la Vega is near Celaya where my grandfather lives.

[PGH_Pyro]

can clearly imagine how that must smell

[PyroManiacs]

can clearly imagine how that must smell

probably Divine!

[PyroJoeNEPA]

This is indeed sulfur and potassium chlorate in those bundles. San Juan de la Vega is near Celaya where my grandfather lives.

Thanks for the clarification on that countryboy. Can you tell us anything about how they are constructed? I would imagine a small paper pouch or tube with composition tied or taped to the end of the hammer? Also, can you give us any background on how it all comes together? Do individuals mix their own charges for the celebration, or is there one or two persons that makes all the comp for the people to use? sort of like the "village pyro"?

[countryboy7978]

Hey Joe,

I've never participated in this event however I've asked my grandfather about it many years ago. Apparently this has gone on for decades. He said its azufre which is sulfur and clorato which is simply chlorate (potassium is implied). Fireworks are banned in many parts of Mexico due to some major disasters resulting from clandestine manufacturing. Fireworks in Mexico are not typically sold in firework stores but in open air markets, fruit stands and the backs of candy stores. I even bought from a textile shop once. The way it appears is that these packets are made prior by some sort of pyro. Every video I've seen appears to have them looking the same with pastel colored paper tubes probably made on site. They appear to be preloaded and then sold in small and large sizes to be taped to the heads of the sledge.