28 replies to this topic

[raul]

Needed last minute fireworks for Diwalli, so i went into local Aldi in Leeds and bought a 55 shot cake called Airdance. let me tell you this is one impressive cake, had the lot from start to finish went down a storm with family and friends.

Will try the others from them this weekend...hopefully they are just as impressive.

[5thElement]

Seen them in the shop today, looked pretty decent. Glad you liked it

I just picked up the "Rio" rocket pack, looks like a good selection of rockets for the price, the pack is massive lol i'll get a photo of them posted up later.

Basically consists of Weco Challenger, Atlantis and Discovery rockets.

I was surprised they had some left to be honest.

Edited by 5thElement, 31 October 2006 - 08:22 PM.

[Reb]

first of all, hello everyone!

This years guy fawkes night was our best yet, except for one thing, the rockets!

we purchased a load of fireworks and gradually built up in size from the smallest to the largest etc etc
(yes we are just part time amateurs )

So I thought a couple of nice big shell burst rockets as a finale would be great!
trouble is the two weco rockets I bought (weco ultra and weco twin burst ) were like damp squibs after the last cakes we let off !!!

I am not saying the rockets were bad, far from it, but the last cakes we let off were so powerfull and so good that the rockets seemed lacklustre in comparison !

the last cakes we let off were from the cosmic group's "Next Generation" range, starblaster, imperial warlord, peacock in season, trail blazer, raptor mine (excellent 19 shot mine cake) and finally their "extravaganza".
these things had amazing scale, and colours so vivid it was incredible ! expensive yes, worth it you bet !!!
we also had a black cat "collosus" which was ok but not in the same class as the bigger next generation stuff.
So for next year I am going to have to find some bigger rockets (cat 3) than the weco's !!!
Any ideas anyone?

And even after all the big fireworks we had, I still think that the best value firework, pound for pound, is brightstar's
humble little 500 shot armageddon I WILL HAVE TWO NEXT YEAR ! one either side of the garden going off together.

any thoughts on larger rockets would be appreciated, and the new regulations from the UN will not bother our local shop, as they stock cat3 now, so all the small rockets going up a class to cat 3 won't matter to them (hopefully).
regards
Reb

[BrightStar]

first of all, hello everyone!
I am not saying the rockets were bad, far from it, but the last cakes we let off were so powerfull and so good that the rockets seemed lacklustre in comparison !

Hi Reb, Welcome to the forum!

I agree with you totally - some of the big Cat 3 cakes available these days are amazingly good. We had some recently with crosettes, spreaders, serpents, dazzling colours etc. etc. that just filled the whole sky for ages (we were too close, of course ).

I think that these cakes are one of the best things to happen for consumer fireworks in the UK over the last few years. It's certainly hard for the rockets to compete. I tend to just fuse a dozen or more medium sized rockets to launch in rapid sequence as part of a finale... it would be interesting to hear some recommendations for good ones though...

Edited by BrightStar, 11 December 2006 - 06:26 PM.

[Reb]

hiya and thanx 4 the welcome brightstar,

yes I had thought of a rocket pod / rocket flight or two for next year, but this year we saw some huge burst rockets going off around us, much bigger spread than the weco's, and they must be cat3 (for the public) as so many were going off!

unless we are the only ones in our neighbourhood who isn't getting aerialshells from the back of a van somewhere lol

I just hope that the "next generation" arm of the cosmic group start producing rockets to match their biggest cakes !
now that would be great!

One word of warning though, the next generation "Trail blazer" is very very wide and a touch on the low side with its shots
like 150 - 200 feet wide (75-100ft either side)!, watch out for trees in several gardens either side or greenhouses etc etc and has no "show" in the middle, (a peacock in season would fill the centre beautifuly).

I can honestly say, I have never seen anything like the scale and grandure of these things outside of a professional display!
all of our jaws were dropped! and even neighbours stopped my mum in the street the next day to say how good they were! (and their fireworks weren't small either).
Still thats over now, and roll on next november, and bigger shellburst rockets (hopefully)
regards
Reb

[Creepin_pyro]

any thoughts on larger rockets would be appreciated, and the new regulations from the UN will not bother our local shop, as they stock cat3 now, so all the small rockets going up a class to cat 3 won't matter to them (hopefully).
regards
Reb

I didn't think the new regs affected Cat 2 rockets... I'm not sure, but I think the rocket reclassification brings the larger Cat 3 rockets up to Cat 4, so you won't be able to buy any of the most powerful ones without the appropriate papers

Perhaps someone can clarify? - I'm sure it has been discussed recently.

[Reb]

I didn't think the new regs affected Cat 2 rockets... I'm not sure, but I think the rocket reclassification brings the larger Cat 3 rockets up to Cat 4, so you won't be able to buy any of the most powerful ones without the appropriate papers

Perhaps someone can clarify? - I'm sure it has been discussed recently.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
this is an edit:
At the time of writing the post below, I was confusing all sorts of things (regulations and classifications ) and so felt it prudent to explain the confused bits.
1, the re classification of rockets with more than 20 grams total powder weight is up to 1.3G not catagory 3.
1.1G, 1.2G, 1.3G 1.4G, 1.4S are hazard classifications for mass transport / storage international regulations.

cat 1, cat 2, cat 3, cat 4 are mainly for consumer classifications as regards safety distances for single fireworks etc.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ok,
The new United Nations regulations are as follows,
any rockets with more than 20grams powder weight will become re-classified as cat3.
comes into effect july 07 with a sell on period till march 08.

The actual regulations state this about rockets: (these are the new regs coming in).
ROCKETS
avalanche, signal, whistling, bottle, sky, missile, table type.
tube containing pyrotechnic composition and or pyrotechnic units, equipped with stick(s) or other means for stabilization of flight, and designed to be propelled into the air.

flash composition effects only 1.1G

flash composition > 25% of the pyrotechnic composition 1.1G

> 20grams pyrotechnic composition and less than or equal to 25% flash composition 1.3G

less than or equal to 20grams pyrotechnic composition, black powder bursting charge and less than or equal to 0.13gram flash composition per report and less than or equal to1gram in total 1.4G

These are of course the United Nations regulations, which also state that some ariel shells are 1.3G but we can't buy them due to our own uk regulations, so maybe there are areas within these regulations that our government will not impliment at home here in the uk, but any uk manufacturers must comply with, if exporting to any other Country?
And of course any other country exporting to the uk.
I think these new classifications are mainly to do with the transportation of fireworks around the world (say china to europe) rather than a LAW (dictatorship) for all nations own "in house" regulations, after saying that, I would guess our government will fully comply with all new regulations (we usually do).

This is how I understand it so far, but I am awaiting a reply from a certain person from the H.S.E, and this reply shall hopefully answer the question. I shall let you know.

regards
Reb

Edited by Reb, 04 January 2007 - 11:00 PM.

[Reb]

OK,
The new classifications for fireworks are under "BS EN 14035"
anyone wanna pay for them?
The main change will be an increase in safety distance for cat 2 fireworks from 5 metres to 8 metres!
(AND WHEN WILL THEY ACTUALLY BE IMPLIMENTED?)

Basically, what I gather from the reply I got is this,
If the fireworks comply with bs 7114 .2 /88 now, then they should still be available (depending on the importers (see below)) + SOME NEW TYPES OF FIREWORKS ALSO! (could it be? small aerial shells say up to 75-80mm for the public ?),
I can dream
after all, everyone seems to be bothered by where the sticks fall from rockets!
and a shell is a rocket without a stick effectively, (IN AS MUCH AS IT RISES HIGH AND THEN BURSTS).

The new regulations from the "UNITED NATIONS" affect the international transportation and storage of fireworks, and are completely seperate and should not be confused with any "British Standard" or "ce" or "euro" standard.

for a quick reference try checking out the http://www.chaf.info/ site and check out the videos of 20ft containers blowing up, kinda makes you re-think how dangerous a job on a cargo ship becomes should one go up eh!

So basically its all down to the new "united nations" regulations on the transportation side, which of course affects the importers and transporters of fireworks, will they be able to make the loads safe in the amounts needed to make the journey profitable?
Either they will just find new packaging methods / materials, or new safety equipment or new designs of storage containers ?

A lot of countries carried out tests on the safety aspect of firework storage and transportation, (the UK, Holland, Spain, America (sparklers lol) and Germany.
The 20 gram powder weight limit on 1.4G rockets suggestion came from german research, who demonstrated the effect of mass storage ignition of rockets containing more than 20grams total powder weight, and the results spoke for themselves!
hence the increase in rating to 1.3G (which would still be available providing they comply with BS7114.2 /88 WHICH THEY ALL DO!!!)

So I can see a few hiccups here and there (whilst the new regulations are ironed out and looked at by the importers), but long term "I" don't see anything to worry about really, it seems to me that it will be fireworks as usual in the uk + a few "NEW" types to boot !

Maybe i'm just an optimist !

Regards
reb

[lew]

I just checked out those videos on the CHAF website -

CHRIST ON A BIKE!!!

20 foot shipping containers with 5 tonnes of fireworks in them - that was some explosion!!!

I cant imagine the destruction that would cause to a cargo ship!

[Mortartube]

I think the most shocking is the container filled with waterfalls. They look so harmless when used at a display. It shouldn't be a surprise really though, they are basically a modified flash powder mix.

I just checked out those videos on the CHAF website -

CHRIST ON A BIKE!!!

20 foot shipping containers with 5 tonnes of fireworks in them - that was some explosion!!!

I cant imagine the destruction that would cause to a cargo ship!

[Reb]

Here are some more little vid clips of different kinds of temporary storage units (typically used by small retailers) and how much protection they give against potential fire risks.
they are about halfway down the page.

http://www.hsl.gov.u...rks-storage.htm

Not suprisingly the wirecages don't offer much protection, but the wooden cupboard is better than the metal cupboard !
now that suprised me a little (thinking wood burns and metal don't).

So i guess the best storage solution would be a storage cupboard made from firecheck doors?
Outer layer of wood then a sheet of steel then wood inner (sandwich).
Now how much are firecheck doors?

Maybe some more food for thought?

Regards
Reb

[Reb]

I just checked out those videos on the CHAF website -

CHRIST ON A BIKE!!!

20 foot shipping containers with 5 tonnes of fireworks in them - that was some explosion!!!

I cant imagine the destruction that would cause to a cargo ship!

Don't forget, most storage sites of fireworks (like festival fireworks for example) store their stock in the 20ft shipping containers!
and when they go up, do they go up !!!!


the following was part of the reply i got from the hse.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"And just for reference, since the enschende (holland) incident in 2000, there have been a number of other Major fireworks incidents.
2 accidents happened at sea (the "Hyundai Fortune" was one), as well as one explosion at Kolding, Denmark,
a port accident this summer in China and many others in India and China".
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
end of part reply.

Not to forget our own incident down at festival fireworks lewes in sussex late 2006 !

So I guess looking at the "subject" of storage and transportation of fireworks on an international level is enevitable
anything to make it safer must be a good thing.
So long as we can still get our fireworks !!!
regards
Reb

[BrightStar]

Over Easter with the family, I finally fired the Golden Lion 'Harmonious Swan' cake mentioned above in the thread. I have to say it was just what I had hoped for - the effects were all high quality with particularly good red strobe stars.

The video below is from about 40m distance... fully zoomed out... sorry I missed the first few breaks - they were bright silver streamers with colour cores.

Golden Lion Harmonious Swan Cake (divx, 3,749 Kb)

Post-mortem shot here:



As you can see, 8 x 4 of 30mm ID tubes, approx 8" length. There are some good examples here of what can be achieved with a 30mm insert for Caramanos2000's mini-shell competition.

If this is representative of the quality of Golden Lion fireworks, I'll be happy to buy again.

My best find so far though is this:

[Gigantic Crab!!!]

If this is representative of the quality of Golden Lion fireworks, I'll be happy to buy again.

Gigantic Crab!!! says:

(flirting) Dragon King (has sweet dreams) from Golden Lion is of unbelievable value and demands that you make purchase.

16 shot (~35/40mm?) mine cake with double aerial effects on top; spidery willow to crackling flowers for £20 RRP.

Gigantic Crab's!!! pincers are tingling at the thought!