Fireworks 2008

Last night we had our best home fireworks show ever. The weather was perfect, and progress is being made on the methodology front. The KEY innovation this year was the addition of 40 HDPE tube launchers from Pyro Mortars. I'm a little taken back by the name, as a person with an average interest in firing off something like $700 worth of fireworks (shared 3x) in 15 min or so, the term "pyro" seems extremely misplaced!

After years of fireworks, I continue to come to the conclusion that fireworks are not "sippin entertainment". There is some "optimum show", but it is not a long drawn out shoot one, reload, shoot another, repeat. It needs a kickoff with some draw, a middle with solid interest and reasonable pace, and then a finale that is something to remember.

We got there. Fireworks were purchased from Island Fireworks, but I'll link to some websites to show examples and to try to remember what to purchase for next year.

• For $29, we picked up 6 small 200 gram repeaters in a grab bag and fused them together (maybe just a bit too slowly). Very nice kickoff I thought, could have been improved by a short volley of mortars.
  
• For value, it is very hard to beat Rambo Kid and Double Impact as mortar shells. They can be had for around $1 a mortar, and with taking the time to fuse them in a nice mortar setup with HDPE tubes, these are the bread and butter of the display. For a decent amount more size, Excalibur is a nice touch, but at $75 for 24 shells, more spendy.
• It was the first year for a "wave repeater" Peacock is an example on the web and one we had, but "Pyro Swords" stole the show in the category.
• We ended the show with a 3" 9 shot finale with assorted other items to fill in (mortars and a nice triangle 500 gram cake, but I think for next year we will skip the 3".
  

Live and learn, everything appeared to be shut down, we even had a slow beer around the fire before heading off to bed, but in the AM it was discovered that a couple of spent cakes next to one of my 20 tube mortar sets had caught fire and had COMPLETE melted to a puddle with the cakes being nothing but ash. Sitting in the middle of our 2x football field sized lower lawn of grass with nothing but green for 100+ yards in any direction, the danger approximated zero, but it was a reminder to do some soaking at the end of the show, especially if conditions are getting dry. At $50 or so, a VERY inexpensive fireworks lesson!


The initial model for next year:

1. Some small "early test firings" to maintain crowd interest.
   
2. more mortars, mixed multiple fires ... except for kick-off an finale, 2-4 in a group is likely all that is needed.
   
3. A couple of roman candle packs in a milk crate that are fused can give a good relatively long shoot, inexpensive "filler".
   
4. The 500 gram cakes can hold their own ... no need to mass mortars around them.
   
5. Some 200 gram cake/mortar combos are great for the intermediate.
   
6. While we did a "No firecrackers" version this year, the addition of a few strings of fused firecrackers is a nice inexpensive way to add some sound interest.
   
7. Getting to the right combo of some 200 gram cakes and potentially a fountain or two could be a great way to go. The big shows are generally limited as to what they can do on the ground due to lack of visibility ... good spot to capitalize in a private show.
   

Another high for the home show, onward and upard for next year!