Proper Disposal Of Dangerous Pyrotechnics

[FinnAmerican]

My 2023 New Year's resolution was not to shoot anymore consumer shells, or ground [large firecrackers] and aerial [salutes].

I live in a close residential neighborhood. So shells are very dangerous in a small shooting area.
And salutes are just stupid to use without a proper license and education. When I first got into fireworks, I would watch all the YouTube videos I could find. Especially the channel: Codybpyrotechnics. I became obsessed with all the the [salute] rockets, shells, cakes, and very large firecrackers that he was shooting. So, I scoured the internet for those same items. That was a very dumb thing I did.
Cody should put a disclaimer on his videos, not to copy what he does in them.

I decided to dispose of them of properly, as it's written online.

[Completely submerge unused fireworks in a large bucket of water and soak until thoroughly saturated. This may take 15 minutes for small fireworks or as long as overnight for larger ones. Double wrap the completely soaked fireworks in plastic wrap or two plastic bags so they do not dry out. Place the double-bagged fireworks in a larger trash bag and put them out with your household trash.]

It's pretty scary to see how many unlicensed and uneducated people are uploading videos using these illicit pyrotechnic devices. I hope I learned my lesson before something could go oh so wrong. I've seen videos uploaded on YouTube showing children and teens lighting dangerous "devices" , after 50mg it's no longer should be called a firecracker in the U.S.
Cities have a big problem with dangerous fireworks especially in Europe.

Be careful with your hobby.

Just my own thoughts.

[RalphieJ]

Getting paranoid?

[Mattp]

Personally I would of “disposed” of them in a much different way.. with a lighter. ,, but hey.. to each their own!! And ya,, a city is no place for novice firework users

[Engineer Cat]

Personally I would of “disposed” of them in a much different way.. with a lighter. ,, but hey.. to each their own!! And ya,, a city is no place for novice firework users :o


Getting paranoid? ;)

Well Finn, Yes you made a mistake in thinking CB is someone you should look up to and want to be like. The consensus in ALL the pyro forums, and groups and communities I frequent do not have any respect for this guy because his only goal is to gain youtube subscribers. He's unsafe and no one should be learning anything from him. HERE, we don't talk about him. Here, bashing people isn't what this forum is about. This forum is about gaining knowledge and helping each other learn. Unfortunately that's not what CB does so his only presence is on youtube. You wont find him in any serious Pyro forums cause they will run him out of it.

BUT you did learn that this guy is not the person to be admiring or learning from so you indeed have learned! And he actually did teach you something useful!

Although people might think you're being a bit extreme with your watering down your product, it's simply a result of you realizing you shouldn't have these items where you're located and you were misguided when you obtained them. I think that's a good thing because fireworks are indeed dangerous and if you are feeling like it's not right, then you made the right call.

The best lesson that can be taught in pyro is to mitigate the risk. You did that!

[Engineer Cat]

I'd also like to mention that you have been around here a while. You post things of interest and reply to posts that are worth reading and replying to. So I have a question. Have you thought about joining a pyro club so you are around people that have a shared interest in pyro? If you were a club member you would be aloud to shoot those watered down products at club open shoots. (Well not after watering them down :p ) Clubs have magazines that members can use as contingency storage so that product you realize shouldn't be stored where it currently is, can be stored in the magazine instead. They will help you get your licenses so you can legally have those products. Joining a club was really the best thing I could have done to advance my interest it pyro. (I'm applying for the 54 this month). I helped on a pro shoot our club did for a town's winter festival. I helped to unload racks and learned a common method to screw them together. I inserted many shells into many mortar's from 3" to 6". It was a hand shot show and I was one of the shooters. Oh then I waited with the crew for 30 mins before clearing the field and we broke everything down and dragged it back into the trailer and cleaned up the shoot site. (It's not all fun) :D

We have 3 pyro clubs here in the northeast. I don't know much about the clubs out by you but I do know https://michiganfireworksclub.com/ is only 45 mins from you. And https://mpag.org/web/ is also in Michigan. For reference, I drive over 2 - 3 hours to go to most of my pyro clubs events. My first event was 4 hours away.

My club does some sort of event pretty much every other month. Sept we had an open shoot. Nov we had the pro shoot for the town. Dec we had our "big" meeting and open shoot. Feb we have an open shoot scheduled. There's something in March that I can't remember and then April 1st we are doing a PGI shooters certification course. And there's other stuff lined up for the year such as a building fireworks workshop.

Contact MFC or MPAG. Join a club. You wont regret it.

[BMoore]

To dispose of a live firework, I've been taught to soak in Kerosene to dissolve the glues so that it falls apart. This can take a couple of days. From there, burn the contents or dispose of it. I find a couple passes with the mower does the trick. I would not recommend throwing in the trash, especially with the items you are talking about. Water does not always destroy the item and in fact can make chemicals begin to crystalize and become even more unstable.

[displayfireworks1]

Fireworks products don't always fall apart do easily. I have a video where I left some canister shells outside in a pill of leaves /rain and snow all winter and come spring part of them still worked. There is group of people that are dead in Hawaii that thought they could destroy confiscated fireworks. There is post on the forums here somewhere , also an educational video summarizing the Hawaii event.
As far as that other stuff you wrote FinnAmerican . I'm thinking an event of some sort must have recently happened to bring all of this on.