StevenRS

Sounds good... But I wouldn' want to cut it!

Ok, I simulated a CATO by packing a tube 3/4 full of BP and filled the remaining 1/4 with loose powder, and capped with a PVC cap. I did several, with and without Duct tape.When lit, anchored to the ground , the DT rockets produced NO sharp shrapnel, it all got clumped together in 3 or 4 chunks, glued together with 1/2 melted duct tape. The normal rockets burst into flower shapes, with a fair amount of shrapnel, but it wasn't sharp. It seems the PVC gets hot, and under the explosive stress, plasticly deforms, not shattering. I also tried a paper rocket, it exploded with the sharpest report, and no shrapnel.

Just simple distance (or a tree) is great protection, unless your rocket wants to give you a kiss. The idea of the DT is not to stop the fragmentation, but hold the fragments together as they fly away, so they slow down faster. Also, you might get hit in the neck with a lump of PVC bits stuck together with duck tape, instead of razors, so you get a bruise instead of a laceration.
Defiantly not foolproof, but add up alot of little precautions like this, and it starts to get safer.
Or you could just use paper.(I do now)

It's foolish to assume that just because you haven't had a CATO yet that by chance you won't end up shooting PVC that has a fault across it's center.

True, True... Still need to be careful. I heard that wrapping Duct Tape around the rocket acts like the backing on shatter resistant glass, and kind of holds the shrapnel together, stuck on the duct tape. I wonder if anyone has done this, or could test it?
I think it would work, if it does at all, on the smaller rockets, like mine.

Hmmm.. First rockets.. Good memories..

A great, small, but ridiculously fast little rocket that I designed a while ago

http://img214.images...bprocketwx7.jpg

Easy to make, cheap, and good to experiment without wasting anything expensive. The plugs are to big, and the casing is overkill, but it allows a lot of experimentation without blowing up. The PVC can be substituted for paper, but I have made thousands of these, and of the few that blew up, only the plugs blew out, no shrapnel. And this size PVC is very cheap.