This was prompted by ARW's query about small blue LEDs. I didn't want to hijack his thread so this is under a new heading.
Does anyone remember about 40-45 years ago there was a 'toy' : a small wrap of paper which you would hurl at your friends and it would explode on contact with them or any other hardish surface. They weren't around long. I expect Thatcher banned them pretty quick, being the killjoy bitch she was. WTF were they?
CD.
Do you mean these Bang Snaps?
'Bangers'
They weren't banned, we had them in the 90s. They're basically just the same thing as the noise in a Christmas cracker.
1.5mg of explosive in each one:Theo
Yes, that's them. Was beginning to think I'd imagined the whole craze. Thanks!
They are still around today - I occasionally hear a spate of them going off, usually around schools. Not sure where they are being bought from.
Personally I made my own nitrogen tri-iodide, which was at least as much fun...
Nitrogen or Ammonium?
Wew made the latter at school. Our chemistry teacher took a year out and was temporarily replaced by a newly qualified teacher (he'd been in our sixth form while I was in the first form and was notorious for painting the stuff on radiators, the bottom of seats and the cleaners' brushes - the former went off if the teacher shouted loud enough, the next when someone sat down and flexed the seat and the last when the cleaners started to sweep up).
In class, it was placed in a corner and hit with a window pole - I was about 10' away and was deaf for about 5 minutes and deaf in one ear for about 5 hours!
... and what happened to stink bombs? Do kids still skilfully drop one (as it were!) and then walk on it?
better with a lone star cap gun
Very much more dangerous in my day, was firing fence staples around using a rubber band.
We plashed some in the middle of engineering drawings, so when dried and the drawing was opened up it would flash and crack.
Some GPO telephone boxes had open cable entries at the back, so poking a stink bomb in was great fun when occupied.
Thatcher banned 'em in the early 80s, as I recall. It was one of the things she cracked down on. She liked a good crackdown, did Thatch.
Still safer than using a catapult I guess.
Stink bombs are still around. My own kids confirm that they are set off in school from time to time.
Probably imported by kiddies on day trips to France I'd imagine.
Still available if you frequent the right sort of shops and/or understand the relevant chemistry. I haven't seen them on sale for ages.
If you get the chemistry wrong you can sometimes end up inadvertently making it when trying to silver a telescope mirror.
Way back pre WWII there used to be an even more evil bang mix sold by high street chemists that is now fundamentally banned.
The two main sorts of pyrotechnics are kept very carefully separated in fireworks factories to avoid catastrophic trouble. It doesn't always work :( Barrier layers are put between them when finally assembled.
Um, that sounds improbable. Can anyone corroborate?
Tim
Not a galvanised bucket, but yes for a tin can. In order to get a tin can to go high enough to clear a two-story house the process was: Place large banger in slightly moist sand (to get a good seal). Light blue touch paper. Push can (normal size soup or baked beans tin) firmly down onto banger. Run
A galvanised bucket would hardly have moved.
John
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