Fireworks as a Hobby

[FinnAmerican]

~Let's Discuss:
Why Fireworks for a Hobby..? What appeals to you the most about it..? What got you into pyrotechnics..?

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Buying M-80's as a kid and blowing up everything and anything I could find got me started!

[nightstalker]

Smell, color, and loud noise.

[Arles]

I love the beauty of aerial fireworks in the sky contrasted against how raw and violent the launch at the mortars is. And the smell, color and noise.

[Berserker23]

Well I used to watch WWF/WWE back in the late 90s early 00s when I was a kid and the pyro always caught my eye and I was hooked and we always had a little bit of fireworks during Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve, the explosions in the sky, the colors, the sound always amused me it always felt special. Then one day messing around on YouTube I found Dave displayfireworks1 and I found out you can do so much more with regular fireworks and I learned mostly everything I know about backyard firework shows from his channel I’ve been doing my own firework show for 9 years now.

[Icooclast]

Smell, color, and loud noise.

this is it for me, lol. primitive i know. lol.
to be honest i've been into fireworks since i was very little. my great uncle own a fireworks stand out around here, so... i am assuming it was mostly his doing, much like my one uncle i swear got me into gaming. and then another for giving me a love for pro wrestling. and yeah, their pyro is pretty cool :) though the quality of wrestling on TV has went down the crapper tremendously over the years

[ssmith512]

Fireworks are not a hobby.........they're a LIFESTYLE. :cool::D

[Icooclast]

Fireworks are not a hobby.........they're a LIFESTYLE. :cool::D

lol. good point

[Okimarine]

The auditory and visual overload got me into it. I still enjoy that and have alway loved the smell of black powder but now I also like the oooh's and aaaaww's and omg's from the kids. I shot remotely last year and sat in the crowd with them. It adds alot of excitement imo just listening to them when they see a new effect (like a gas mine). Most of the other adults really enjoy them as well and hang out to ask question certain shells or effects.

[Birdman]

As a kid my neighbor sold fireworks out of his basement from about Memorial day until the 4th. Fireworks were always a major part of summer in my neighborhood back then. My father liked pyro and had one friend that would build his own explosives and another that worked for a display company.....it seems pyro is in my DNA.

[blazerman]

Like everyone back in the day I would lite off firecrackers & bottle rockets one at a time around the 4th as long as I could get away with it (im an old hypocrite now and it drives me nuts when kids do it :o)

As an adult we have a family lake property that go to during the summer. My grandfather was a ww2 navy vet who saw action and loved the big booms so my uncle & I found wholesale fireworks on line and did a few shows at the lake before he passed, back then they were complete hand lit anarchy - unsafe, expensive random sky puke, crowd to close etc. but everybody loved it and that kicked it off. My uncle is less involved now that he is getting older but he still loves to watch them so the torch has sort of become mine to carry.

Now it has become a thing where the neighborhood throws a big party on the 4th with the fireworks being sort of the main event and over the last several years attendance has grown from family & neighbors to a ton of people from around the lake. A few years ago I set them out and had my brother in law light so I could stand back and watch and discovered the concept of too much in the air at one time and how important distance is for viewing so I started chain fusing for better control. Now I try to get better each year and safety is becoming much more important to me

This will be my first year with e-firing and I'm going to do it off a platform on the water to get further away from people - fingers crossed...

[Icooclast]

Like everyone back in the day I would lite off firecrackers & bottle rockets one at a time around the 4th as long as I could get away with it (im an old hypocrite now and it drives me nuts when kids do it :o)

As an adult we have a family lake property that go to during the summer. My grandfather was a ww2 navy vet who saw action and loved the big booms so my uncle & I found wholesale fireworks on line and did a few shows at the lake before he passed, back then they were complete hand lit anarchy - unsafe, expensive random sky puke, crowd to close etc. but everybody loved it and that kicked it off. My uncle is less involved now that he is getting older but he still loves to watch them so the torch has sort of become mine to carry.

Now it has become a thing where the neighborhood throws a big party on the 4th with the fireworks being sort of the main event and over the last several years attendance has grown from family & neighbors to a ton of people from around the lake. A few years ago I set them out and had my brother in law light so I could stand back and watch and discovered the concept of too much in the air at one time and how important distance is for viewing so I started chain fusing for better control. Now I try to get better each year and safety is becoming much more important to me

This will be my first year with e-firing and I'm going to do it off a platform on the water to get further away from people - fingers crossed...

sorry to hear about your uncle, blaze. but at least he can still enjoy watching. just wanted to say that and "good luck this year", so good luck :)

[Scotty Rockets]

No reason why, it just is. There’s nothing to point to and say ahh that’s why.

[fireworkguy98]

I was taken to the roof of a parking garage in Wheeling WV. when I was a few years old for the 4th of July fireworks. I remember getting scared to death by them... you'd think it would've kept me away but somehow it did the opposite. I Cant get enough of it now. :)

[mguerra]

This will be my first year with e-firing and I'm going to do it off a platform on the water to get further away from people - fingers crossed...
So you have to figure out how to handle a cake fire on a floating platform. If the surface isn't flammable and the product is spaced well apart you can let it burn. If you are on the platform you can put it out. But if the product is closely packed, it's a wood or other flammable floor, and no one is on the platform, you may have an exciting pre-finale! And a sunken platform...

[upNdown]

So you have to figure out how to handle a cake fire on a floating platform. If the surface isn't flammable and the product is spaced well apart you can let it burn. If you are on the platform you can put it out. But if the product is closely packed, it's a wood or other flammable floor, and no one is on the platform, you may have an exciting pre-finale! And a sunken platform...
I’ve been doing this exact thing, for the past couple of years, with a buddy. Our solution to that concern is to lay down a layer of cement board and put the cakes and racks on top of that. Not that I think it’s necessary, but better safe than sorry.
The real challenge is the water. Anchoring a raft, tightly, at multiple points, so it doesn’t twist and shoot into the crowd, can be a pain in the butt.
I believe this year, we will build a platform above the water, so we don’t have to worry about the floating.

[R. Derrick]

I like the science behind it all. Of course, I love a good show - but I love the shapes that can be made and the special effects that can be done. Not to mention the timing of a pyromusical.

I have always had firecrackers as a kid and blowing things up like a bottle (yes unsafe it was but as a kid but heck we rode in the back of the station wagon with no seatbelt - times were different lol) - I even love the smell of unused fireworks - fresh out the box! But it pales in comparison to the ones already lit.

I love the BOOM of the lift and the color in the sky - but my mind always wants to know how they did what they did!

[Pgdark19]

...the unpredictability of fireworks provide an element of danger and surprise... they're like a box of chocolate...you never know what you're going to get... :)