Cricket-Bombs 

Yeah never try this at home! Always do it at a friend's house.

"Register with the atf" That's the best joke you've ever made.

Turns out I was a very felonious kid in the mid-90's.

And... Just like that we're all on a watch list.

Not sure how my brother and I survived the 80s but we blew up a lot of stuff, and these were one of my personal favorites. The hardware store gladly sold me all the black powder and fuse I could buy. This brings back some fun memories.

the fact that you guys are sponsored by a literal international ordnance dealer is absolutely amazing and i love it

"Things got out of hand here." *GROAN*

The fact that you guys are not scientific is absolutely awesome. It relates so much more to the inner "light the fuse and run for your life"-child we all possess. Never change, you guys are doing what was my dream as a kid

you should try lighting these things off near ballistic gelatin to show the actual power the fragments have.

So according to the comments, i missed an extremely fun childhood by about 5 years

Man reminds me of my childhood. Glad I still have all my digits. County life was fun

Actually, I made these as a child using match heads scraped off the stick mixed with propellant from .22 rimfire shells. They worked like a champ.

I know two different kids when I was younger who made these. Both used firecracker fuses. They both have pincers for left hands. Other than that they are OK except for the brother who had to pick up the fingers of one

When I was a teenager, 14-16 my friends and I would buy whole boxes of matches, 50 books to a box and man, would we have fun.

As a kid in the 60's I remember using match heads as a filler

I came up with a design for an anti-coyote mine based on these about 30 years ago. It was a pretty nasty little device. I never even built one, as I had no way to exclude non-target species. Glad I thought it through. No regrets.

Dude. I made those 25yrs ago. They are dangerous but fun. Bury one just to the top and put a 1gallon zip lock filled with gasoline on top. Awesome ending of a fireworks show.

Best channel on RU-vid you guys are the best.

I love how in the end he said arms length to set them off because you honestly don't want to be anywhere near that when you set them off. Me and my buddy set them off all the time back in the day and I still mess around and do the same thing except with empty bullet shell casings. And even as small as a .22 shell can issue a nice injury. Great video tho and informative

The reason the black powder mixed with smokeless powder worked so well is because of the nitroglycerin and the overall larger gas’s volume that the smokeless powder creates, the black powder speeds up the reaction instead of making it just hiss or something

I never heard that name before. I used to make these when I was a teenager. I always called them CO2 bombs. Another cool thing I did was to fill up a piece of aluminum arrow with black powder and put a shotgun shell primer on the end. Then tape a bb on so it will push the primer. Then just stick the piece of aluminum arrow onto a regular arrow shaft to make an explosive tipped arrow.

Wait, not everybody made napalm as kids? Oh wait, everyone here did, the rest of the normal people didn't, my bad.

I can’t believe how many other people here made these as a kid!

I never knew these had a name....used to make em all the time as a kid. It's sad to think that I was probably the last generation of kids who will be able to enjoy fun like this (late 90's and early 00's). Although I doubt much will ever change for kids out in the really rural areas thankfully. Anymore it seems like the rural areas are the last decent and free places in America

I used to sit and smoke the whole time I was reloading for pistol or rifle shells, But when the black powder came out it was ALL serious business making these. One spark, even a static spark can cause a serious explosion. These co2 devices were equal to or stronger than 1/4 stick loads. They could throw shrapnel up to 50 yards or more. If sealed with candle wax, they would even work under water. Glad I survived the 70's lol.

Never made a cricket bomb, flash powder in spent .308 casings always made a good bang

I loved it when he said "Things really got out of hand here" as he's holding parts of the mannequins arm and hand. 😆

We did these as kids back in the 70's. I was 12 years old and had no problem buying the powder at Gibsons. We blew up tool boxes and all sorts of stuff. Thank God I have all my limbs intact.

You must have some badass crickets where you are for them to have a bomb made especially for them.

Dude! I made sparklers bombs for years. The last one was the LAST one. I blew away a refrigerator. The blast radius was 150 feet. I won't make another one.

I actually like the butcher paper idea for this use case. It does well enough to show the spread pattern, unless it’s an actual directed explosion or shaped charge it’s not likely to be much different in the open area direction than the other 3 sides. Plus it’s reusable, so it’s environmentally friendly too lol

Long ago an uncle told me how he used to make these in the 60's when he was a teenager. He and his friends got into all sorts of stuff growing up in san francisco, which is a big reason my mom made sure to get us out of there back then.

you can also use matches, my uncle use to use matches make it into a powder and pack it into a co2 containers and then use a fuse with a bit of hot glue at the tip. he'd put a pot over the top and light the fuse and watch the pot shoot up in the sky 🤣😂

You don't get too many second chances in that biz. I respect the folks that do it and those that work in other risky occupations - like high amp/voltage electrical work. Hats off to ya'll.

I learned enough to get myself arrested. I was making blackpower when I was a teenager in the mid 60s

I had no idea there were called “cricket bombs” or that they were destructive devices. Me and my friend used to make these as kids using powder and fuses from arial fireworks as a kid. Guess I’ve been a “felon” for longer than knew.

These little guys used to really piss off some woodchucks. Allegedly

Next, let's see a hybrid flash powder/nitrocellulose mix. I can tell you from experience, adding smokeless to a faster explosive like flash powder or HMTD, massively increases power over either one by themselves. When I was younger I dissolved one ounce of Acetone Peroxide (I know, but everyone starts somewhere😉) into three ounces of smokeless powder with acetone, then formed it into small cylinders with cardboard tubing and let them dry. Those were terrifying little cylinders for their size. I also formed some into small balls (1/4"-3/8") and shot them from a slingshot rifle, (it used a piece of cord behind the pouch for a trigger so nothing was pinched inside the pouch). The balls were impact sensitive with the acetone peroxide above 200 FPS, but the nitrocellulose decreased it's sensitivity enough to handle safely and shoot from a slingshot safely. That was a fun little thing, I was shooting moths on the walls of my dad's shop with them, I only had to hit within a few inches of them and the shockwave would strip the wings off them lol. Man I did sketchy stuff when I was a kid lol.

I worked a crime scene where an adult bully in the neighborhood was targeted with one of these that was used as a boobytrap. It basically blew three of his fingers off. We followed ant trails to locate chunks of the guys fingers.

I like the friend you acquired at 4:47. You could say that you got stick bugged.

The ones I definitely didn't make as a kid just went off like rocket engines.

I'm never messn with these things. Idk what I'd do without palmala. She makes me happy every morning

I would think if you wanted fragmentation that you would roll the little cylinders in some kind of adhesive and then ball bearings.

“We don’t have the budget to be scientific” Probably because everything you do costs $200 at minimum

I made these as a kid in the 70s. I epoxied carpet nails to the outside of the co2 cylinder. Set one off in the inside of my dads aluminum shed. The nails were imbedded in a great circular pattern in the shed . The shed leaked in the rain from that day on ! Sorry dad !!

Dangerous little bundles of joy...

I'll never forget when the Newark police came my house at 5:00pm, there to show my parents remnants/shrapnel from by first pipe bomb, clean bust and I didn't even get in trouble. It was 1969, I was 14.

Here I was thinking I was a genius 25 years ago when I made these as a kid... I didn't know they were called cricket bombs, never knew anyone else made them. I used to fill them with smokeless powder. I knew it was sketchy as hell, even at 13 or 14. Always made sure me and the boys were behind cover, lol. I got tired of being so paranoid about when and where I could set them off, so instead, I started filling ping pong balls with smokeless, and wrapping them with an absurd amount of electrical tape. They were decent, we called them "black thunders," lol. Couple years later I'd discover traditional salutes, and that ended my experiments with sketchy ass homemade crap. I still think kids that age would be better served with salute cannons, or those mug-type devices. All the bang with hardly any of the risk. Big harm reduction, imo.

The difference between screwing around and "being scientific" is recording data. This definitely counts.

Those are called ground pounders. You bury them 4 inches down

my boss is missing his thumb, index and middle finger making these as a 12 year old kid in the early seventies.... He told me he didn't even know he was missing his fingers till his younger brother looked at him and took off running. He ran to catch up to see what was wrong and his brother screamed your hand. Haha turn out his brother was running to get help. Moral of the story is fuses are always shorter then you think. That and don't F around with explosive devices.

"Things got out of hand here" that's classic!

Co2 grenade, that brings back memories. To be honest, surprised I still have all my fingers and toes

I may not have made napalm as a kid, but I did make thermite when I was 9

I knew there was a good reason I was saving all my empty CO2 canisters

Interesting channel, pretty sure RU-vid would have been much more interesting in the early 90s, we woulda really gotten in trouble. Glad you guys are doing things safe and legal, enjoyed it!

At this point the algorithm is combined with mind reading technology

Would have been cool to see a slow mo of one in some ballistic gel.

First learned about these when I was 12. My good friend Jon watched his buddy lose 4 of his fingers on his right hand and had to help find his fingers in a field in the middle of the night. After hearing that story is when I decided to give it a try. The trick: ALWAYS use cannon wick that fits snugly and you'll probably be keeping all your fingers. Probably

I made dozens of these in my late teen years. I never knew they had a real name. Also didn't know they were a felony until years later. I destroyed many things with them.

Finally someone invented a use for cheap drones.

I used to make these things the early 90's using 4F flash powder. I put one in a model rocket and the longest burning jet I could find. Could barely hear the report when it went off. Used to have a lot of fun with these things.

You don't need powder at all. Take a full co2 cart and 2.5 feet of fuse wrap it tightly around the cart leave 10 or so inch tail for lighting and enjoy

I found that if you only fill the CO tube 2/3 full with Black Powder, you get a better bang.

You should try a Cricket-Bomb inside of a cardboard, plastic or PVC tube with BB's as filler around the CO2 container. First one we tried, was in a cardboard container that a 1 1/4 inch end mill came in and set it off in a small room of a dilapidated old farm house. The spread was good and some BB's penetrated the wooden dresser drawers. Second one we used PVC pipe with end caps with the CO2 container inside, caps glued on with one cap drilled for the fuse to stick out. PVC was 1 1/2 with BB's on bottom sides and top of CO2 container. Mix was about 1/2 & 1/2 B/P and Unique Smokeless. Same house but in the slightly larger Kitchen. Several BB's penetrated the metal oven door. blew out the glass in that door, several went through the walls and ceiling, some were in beaded in the wooded floors and there was a lot more damage to that room. That old house was on my uncle's farm out in the middle of no where and he was going to burn it down in a few months along with the old barn that had collapsed.

Middle finger and thumb came off with one of these back In the late 80s, fortunately had enough parts hanging off to repair , make sure to use cannon fuse not the long piece found in the middle of a Black Cat roll ,

we used to grind match stick heads into a fine powder and cap with bluetack when I was a kid

I used to put these into model rockets. The fuse of the cricket bomb touched the back of the rocket motor (clay removed), causing it to detonate mid-aid. One time the weight was off balance, causing the rocket to fly sideways. Detonated on someone's roof.

You should try power augering a small (2 - 3 feet deep) hole in the dirt (minimizes shrapnel effects), dropping the cricket bomb in under a water filled (to add weight, use a syringe) tennis ball. Usually goes pretty high. Angle the hole for a mortar effect. Use water color paint for a splash effect.

We used to make cricket bombs and would super glue a 210 shotgun primer into the nipple end of the CO2 cartridge full of 4F black powder. Then,glue a BB onto the primer and electrical tape the thing to an arrow shaft. Remember that scene in that Rambo movie,where Rambo uses an explosive broadhead to blow things up? You get the idea.

No fukn way! These things actually have a name! "Someone" used to make these lil things thinking he invented them🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I had a friend in high school that made these. Except he bought the little hundred packs of paper matches and pack them in after cutting the heads off and matches to make the fuel for the explosion. Needless to say one day he was making them in his room and was using a screwdriver to pack the cutoff match heads into the small neck of the CO2 cartridge as he usually did. The friction ignited the match heads while he was packing them and holding it in his hand. It exploded and tore the meat off of a few of his fingers. Shattered the glass that he had put on top of his desk and his brother was in the room at the time watching. His brother was knocked over they were both temporarily deaf. They both suffered glass shrapnel wounds as well. They got a visit from the ATF. I think we were like 15 at the time maybe 16

Dialed these bad boys in with some paper sparklers from the $ store in the 90s. Your missing the vintage Newport cigarette timer.

Back of that shirt is almost as good as: " I am a bomb disposal technician. If I am running, try to keep up."

Someone has to keep those prosthetics companies in business!

Dad often wondered where all his reloading powder went….

There was a video out there I saw of some guy losing a hand from one of these (or something similar) , really terrifying. I like keeping my hands so I'll refrain from making these.

We used to open firecrackers and make these things all the time as kids. Almost as much as putting The Works and aluminum foil in soda bottles wrapped in duct tape.

I love this channel, but given my viewing habits on youtube I'm probably on some watchlist by now lol xD

There was a guy I used to know who lost 2 fingers from one of these. He was known as "3-finger Tim".

I subscribed. It seems your channel is all about blowing things to pieces. This is content I can enjoy.

I made the combination black/smokeless powder CO2 bomb in the 80's. I lost 2 two fingers not counting other scars. I did it when I was 14 and got a thumb ( toe to hand transplant) for my 15th birthday. It could have been worse. Good video, thank you.

There's just something so beautiful about blowing shit up. I love your channel keep up the great work guys.

“keep it at arms length”. Good one.

"It's all fun and games until someone looses an eye..." -- Duke Nukem

I remember seeing a video of someone making one of these with tatp and he said it blew up in his hand due to metal oxides forming or some unstable reaction with the metal. Needless to say he doesn't have a two handed backhand anymore

It's all low fragmentation until you put them in a box of bbs then your in trouble lmao

You should cut grooves into the canister with a Dremel tool or something to produce more fragmentation. That would be an awesome video comparing cut vs not cut canisters and diffrent paterns to see how it changes the fragmentation.

I don’t think this should be on my watch history

I used to make these and they were pretty powerful. Years later I made some and they were far less potent. I believe the cartridges were cheapened up "thinner".

DO not add BB's to them, what ever you do.... 😏

“Things really got out of hand here” 🤣

As you can see things got out of hand here hahaha, just mint!

As a kid I threw a black powder one into our barnyard horse trough. Blew the sides out and I had to shovel a lot of horse "schidt" to buy another one.....😮

The "noisy cricket" of small explosive devices.

I used to build these all the time with fine black powder I got from the local gun store. My friends showed me the genius of them. They’re pretty powerful. I’d blow giant old TVs to tiny pieces. I never had a problem with shrapnel, the CO2 container usually just peeled open.

Impaled pumpkins , where is the justice? Where is the outrage ? PLM! Pumpkins and Those who love them shall have our revenge! Anything left to make pie?

My friend got a collapsed lung and a massive scar from doing this in high school. A massive piece of shrapnel went through his back and into his lung, when he was running away after lighting it. He lived, but still has a massive scar from it.

Lmmfao! "Eerrr meh geerd that ain't scientific" 😂🤣🇺🇸