Author Topic: Some people use thundermugs and some use....sledegehammers? (Read 1605 times)

cannonmn · « **on:** May 11, 2009, 07:08:00 AM »

Since we've discussed holiday noisemaking in other countries, notably Spain, I thought I'd post this to show how national customs and traditions differ around the globe. I didn't look at where this was but looks Asian somehow. All those guys are going to have considerable hearing loss, so don't try this at home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j8EEc8yETM

intoodeep · « **Reply #1 on:** May 11, 2009, 08:14:46 AM »

One word...... CRAZY!!!! FYI. It also states that is "San Juan De La Vega carnival (Mexico)" That's one festival that I will pass on.

KABAR2 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 11, 2009, 08:39:04 AM »

I may be wrong but I think they are taping multiple "RAILROAD TORPEDOS" to the face of the sledge hammer!

thelionspaw · « **Reply #3 on:** May 11, 2009, 09:01:52 AM »

When I was in basic in the 50's, there were 4 hooples from Little Rock who were stopped just in time. One was standing on his steel pot while there were men to the left and right of him like gantry. His arms were out stretched and his hands were on their shoulders for balance and a straight-up launch. Number four was going to trigger an artillery simulator under the helmet. This reminded me of what would have happened. We grow too soon old and too late smart. $:-\$

rc

cannonmn · « **Reply #4 on:** May 11, 2009, 09:34:01 AM »

Thanks for the neat story Richard! I got the info I needed on the two Verbruggens at Watervliet, and posted it on the Company of Military Historians forum. I'm still waiting to get info on the two pieces in Queens, will post when/if I get it.

subdjoe · « **Reply #5 on:** May 11, 2009, 02:04:48 PM »

Heck, the problem is obvious from the start - using masking tape rather than duct tape.

One has to wonder HOW this custom started.

OK, a short blurb on it: http://www.geeked.info/celebration-and-explosive-sledgehammers/

Still, HOW and/or WHY?

Cat Whisperer · « **Reply #6 on:** May 11, 2009, 03:08:40 PM »

We need a separate category for the UNSAFE, STUPID, DANGEROUS clips.

Blaster · « **Reply #7 on:** May 11, 2009, 03:19:40 PM »

Quote from: thelionspaw on May 11, 2009, 09:01:52 AM

When I was in basic in the 50's, there were 4 hooples from Little Rock who were stopped just in time. One was standing on his steel pot while there were men to the left and right of him like gantry. His arms were out stretched and his hands were on their shoulders for balance and a straight-up launch. Number four was going to trigger an artillery simulator under the helmet. This reminded me of what would have happened. We grow too soon old and too late smart. $:-\$
rc

I took basic training at Camp Chaffee, Ark back in mid 1955. I well remember the artillery simulators. They made an M80 sound like a ladyfinger.

Cat Whisperer · « **Reply #8 on:** May 11, 2009, 03:21:51 PM »

I have not-so-fond memories (and a little less abiltiy to hear) of one grenade simulator that another 'individual' thought was fun to set off when people nearby weren't expecting it.

Victor3 · « **Reply #9 on:** May 11, 2009, 10:49:27 PM »

Quote from: KABAR2 on May 11, 2009, 08:39:04 AM

I may be wrong but I think they are taping multiple "RAILROAD TORPEDOS" to the face of the sledge hammer!

You could be right KABAR; that thingie on the ground they're hitting looks an awful lot like a railroad tie plate.

Victor3 · « **Reply #10 on:** May 11, 2009, 11:24:01 PM »

Quote from: Cat Whisperer on May 11, 2009, 03:08:40 PM

We need a separate category for the UNSAFE, STUPID, DANGEROUS clips.

What's the problem? He put his safety glasses on.

Seriously though, the explosion was unrestrained at the sides, yet look how high the hammer flew. The pressure in the small spot under the hammer head (10#, maybe?) took it out of his hands and up over his head!

I showed the video to my 10 year old Son. He wanted to see that last portion about 10 times (okay... I did too)

Terry C. · « **Reply #11 on:** May 12, 2009, 12:46:38 AM »

¡Sostenga mi cerveza y mire esto!

Cat Whisperer · « **Reply #12 on:** May 12, 2009, 12:52:06 AM »

Quote from: Terry C. on May 12, 2009, 12:46:38 AM

¡Sostenga mi cerveza y mire esto!

EVEN using one of the crude on-line translation programs, the meaning is clear!

" It maintains my beer and it watches this! "

Victor3 · « **Reply #13 on:** May 12, 2009, 01:29:49 AM »

Posted above was...

http://www.geeked.info/celebration-and-explosive-sledgehammers/

And from that...

"Tons of potassium chloride and sulphur along with many thousands of people gather to set off these explosive hammers."

(Puting on my safety cop hat) The writer actually meant "potassium chlorate."

You never ever want to mix potassium chlorate or potassium perchlorate with sulfur. It's a very unstable mix, much like the guys with the hammers.

subdjoe · « **Reply #14 on:** May 12, 2009, 03:37:46 AM »

Quote from: Victor3 on May 12, 2009, 01:29:49 AM

Posted above was...

http://www.geeked.info/celebration-and-explosive-sledgehammers/

And from that...

"Tons of potassium chloride and sulphur along with many thousands of people gather to set off these explosive hammers."

(Puting on my safety cop hat) The writer actually meant "potassium chlorate."

You never ever want to mix potassium chlorate or potassium perchlorate with sulfur. It's a very unstable mix, much like the guys with the hammers.

I think that may have been a deliberate 'mistake'. Since no one pays heed to the "Don't try this at home" warnings.

longcaribiner · « **Reply #15 on:** May 12, 2009, 04:45:54 AM »

When I was just a tyke, and society was not so "correct" every kid had a few cap guns. And caps came in a few different styles. Roll caps, perforated roll caps, stickem caps and flat sheets of caps, that could be torn off individually like postage stamps.

For 20 cents we could invest in days worth of noisey fun and games. However, sooner or later, we all discovered that instead of one lame pop, we could combine the effect of several caps at one time by overlapping them and hitting them with a hammer. And one day, at about age 11, we discovered that a tightly wrapped roll of caps could launch a rather sigificant boom, if stuck just right with a 10 pound sledge. My buttocks still warm at the memory of my father discovering that we had broke a corner off the concrete front steps to the house.

Double D · « **Reply #16 on:** May 12, 2009, 06:48:00 AM »

I remember roll caps. I remember hitting the whole roll with a hammer and my mom coming out the house and yelling at us. Can't remember what she was yelling, the ringing in my ears made it hard to hear. Humm, maybe that's why I am always saying "huh?" now.

subdjoe · « **Reply #17 on:** May 12, 2009, 08:49:58 AM »

We would spend days trimming the excess paper from rolls of caps. Trim off one side right along the compound, then the other side, then trim just the dab of compound into a dish and the waste paper onto the floor. That was the exciting part - sometimes we would trim too close and set it off, and if we did it during this part, everything in the dish would go up. Then came the cardboard, electricians tape, and Jetex fuse.

Cat Whisperer · « **Reply #18 on:** May 12, 2009, 12:26:49 PM »

Quote from: Double D on May 12, 2009, 06:48:00 AM

I remember roll caps. I remember hitting the whole roll with a hammer and my mom coming out the house and yelling at us. Can't remember what she was yelling, the ringing in my ears made it hard to hear. Humm, maybe that's why I am always saying "huh?" now.

And when I got the BIG hammer, the 5 rolls in the box were even LOUDER!!!

It's a wonder that we lived as long as we have!

GGaskill · « **Reply #19 on:** May 12, 2009, 12:56:59 PM »

It's a wonder that we lived as long as we have!

And maybe those things were not as dangerous as today's do gooders would have us believe.

Cat Whisperer · « **Reply #20 on:** May 12, 2009, 02:36:40 PM »

Quote from: GGaskill on May 12, 2009, 12:56:59 PM

It's a wonder that we lived as long as we have!

And maybe those things were not as dangerous as today's do gooders would have us believe.

Maybe not, though the rate of injury MAY be low from them the potential for serious damage is there. One of my grade school class-mates sees only from one eye because of an injury from some MINOR class C fireworks.

Terry C. · « **Reply #21 on:** May 12, 2009, 03:13:36 PM »

Quote from: Cat Whisperer on May 12, 2009, 12:52:06 AM

Quote from: Terry C. on May 12, 2009, 12:46:38 AM
¡Sostenga mi cerveza y mire esto!

EVEN using one of the crude on-line translation programs, the meaning is clear!

" It maintains my beer and it watches this! "

The exact quote I input into Babelfish was...

"Hold my beer and watch this!"

Yeah, I'm from Georgia.

RocklockI · « **Reply #22 on:** May 12, 2009, 05:49:27 PM »

yep roll caps ! dads hammer and wham

one roll one bang . then mom would come out and yell ' hell's bells' what are you doing ...

does any one remember the greenie stickem caps ? i had a winchester and a peace maker that shot little mattie mattel shootin shells .

you would 'load' the bullet into the case with a coil spring by pushing the bullet case combo and 'setting' them with a bullet loading hole in a grip .

plus a peacemaker used black powder just like a muzzle loading cannon .

so theres that too .

they were accurate enough to hit and scare my little brother to near death . but that was when i was a youth .

a move which is of course unexcusable and i regret it ...to this day ...but not much ...

eat cold plastic and cry for mercy ....or i'll finish you off with my rubber bowie kinife ....

my little brother was tough .

Double D · « **Reply #23 on:** May 12, 2009, 06:11:06 PM »

I use to do the same thing to my little brother...I think I know why he doesn't like me.

RocklockI · « **Reply #24 on:** May 12, 2009, 06:14:16 PM »

Quote from: Double D on May 12, 2009, 06:11:06 PM

I use to do the same thing to my little brother...I think I know why he doesn't like me.

some Marines are made and some are born . Semper Fi DD

GGaskill · « **Reply #25 on:** May 12, 2009, 08:59:32 PM »

I was more effective. I hit him with a ball pein hammer on the elbow.

Victor3 · « **Reply #26 on:** May 12, 2009, 10:52:28 PM »

I liked the "magnum" stikum caps that we used in those pot metal cap grenades.

My friends and I would stick them all over pool balls and large ball bearings and roll them down a paved street on a hill. I'd forgotten all about that 'till now.

subdjoe · « **Reply #27 on:** May 13, 2009, 04:02:07 AM »

AH, Greenie Stickum Caps - worked quite nicely on the soles of shoes. Put a few on near the toe during recess and pop them in class.

cannonmn · « **Reply #28 on:** May 13, 2009, 06:43:35 AM »

I used to set off a roll of caps all at once with a brick, but it hurt my ears so bad I got another kid to stand behind me and put his hands over my ears. That helped a little.

Then there was the carbide mortar. I nailed a very large juice can to a board and threaded a sparkplug in the side near the bottom. Insert carbide rock and put a drop of water on it, insert softball into mortar but fix things so it stopped a ways from the bottom. Energize spark plug with high voltage from a battery and spark coil, boom, ball goes up 100 feet or more, nice big red muzzle flash too. We had a stronger pipe around the juice can in case it let go. We got in trouble with that on several occasions.

Those are the tame things I did, don't even get me started on "the others."

and7barton · « **Reply #29 on:** May 13, 2009, 10:50:14 AM »

Seeing as it's confession time - I got hold of a big piece of steel pipe. Around ten inches long and 4 inches wide.......welded thick steel end caps on it......then drilled a little hole through the side......just wide enough for a piece of igniter fuse... I then immersed the whole pipe into a big tub of black powder, hole upwards, and swirled the powder around so it gradually filled the pipe. When it was near enough full I pushed the igniter fuse into the hole and stuck a piece of duck tape across it to hold it in place.
We drove over to a fishing lake with some woods around it.......There were a dozen or so people sitting fishing......... We crept into the woods the I tied a long piece of string to the pipe, and the other end to a bit of rock......threw it over a branch. Lit the fuse, which was long enough to give me a burn time of around ten minutes.......then hoisted it high up into the tree and tied off the string. We then ran out of that place and sat half a mile away and waited. That was the nearest thing to an atomic bomb I've ever built - The ground shook and I heard a piece of metal zing right across the sky for miles.
But of course...all this was when I was a reckless kid.....well, a 50 year old kid.