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Have you ever had anything too small for 25m?

Started by Guest_Anthony_* , Sep 09 2005 08:21 AM

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5 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_Anthony_*

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Posted 09 September 2005 - 08:21 AM

I have, in the fireworks market there is tons of small innocuous (and often miniscule size) Cat3 25m stuff which is mega-tame at 25m away and when I have complied with the distance required for it, my audience found these smaller items a bit flat at that distance away. It is a shame there is no permission for an intermediate 10m safety distance that can be allowed and incorporated into the BS7114 spec for this material which falls between two stools;small and tame at 25m but shouldn't be used at anything but 25m, that would be better really. This miniscule tame smaller stuff would be better at 10m away i.e. a large domestic garden as their sparks and fallout are less significant. Some companies ridiculously even give small garden stuff a 25m rating(Sovereign Fireworks do this to EVERYTHING in their range even if it is only the size of garden fireworks!!!!!!!!!!). They're Cat3 25m mad fanatics, give everything a 25m rating and test and label for that WOW! factor to get more people to buy our stuff!!! :glare:

Edited by Anthony, 09 September 2005 - 08:41 AM.

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#2 Mortartube

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Posted 09 September 2005 - 09:26 AM

When the British Standard came in in 1988, there was a problem with small pinwheels being labelled as cat 3 because they threw out sparks further than 2 metres (the test circle size if I recall correctly), so even though this was SIDEWAYS, they failed cat 2 testing . I believe that this issue has now been addressed thankfully. Basically our wonderfully competent HSE (God bless 'em) FORGOT about pinwheels. Doh!.

Organisation is a wonderful trait in others

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#3 Guest_Anthony_*

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Posted 09 September 2005 - 10:07 AM

I in fact remember a product in Cosmic Fireworks early years which was poor and too gentle at 25m away, the two ninety nine pack of 4 4" Cosmic Eruption volcanoes, these were so tame and so gentle at that distance I wrote to the firm to complain and you know what they did? Changed the classification to Cat2 5m! They over-reacted in rating and testing them. Or presumably merely gave them a Cat3 rating to save money on testing for Cat2 compliance. :blush:

Edited by Anthony, 09 September 2005 - 10:10 AM.

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#4 karlfoxman

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Posted 09 September 2005 - 11:32 AM

Would or could they ever stick a cat 3 rating for the purpose of sales? I wonder if its ever been tried on?

Edited by karlfoxman, 09 September 2005 - 11:33 AM.

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#5 adamw

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Posted 10 September 2005 - 08:19 AM

I don't think people generally buy a product based on it's 'Cat' rating, unless they have to (ie small back garden). People will generally be more impressed by the physical size (that's why you see a lot of tiny fountains surrounded by a massive box full of fresh air)

75 : 15: 10... Enough said!

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#6 Guest_Anthony_*

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Posted 12 September 2005 - 09:59 AM

And that's where the problems come in;people just buy Cat3 25m display fireworks willy nilly ignorant to the need to observe 25m safety distances, and don't always realise it until there is an injury or property damage but at the same time there is stuff on sale which is absolutely pants and very tame at 25m which would be better in a bigger garden but would fall flat at 25m away, which is why a 10m distance incorporated into BS7114 (or it's replacement European Standard) would be far better for this tame not very powerful material. Imperial put Cat2 5m ratings on their 16-shot cakes and Britannia put Cat2 5m ratings on their 10-shot cakes because they are quite tame for 25m;they have the right idea! Also shop staff aren't always very knowledgeable when it comes to advice over suitable fireworks for the location they're used in; I have a friend who asked advice for suitable fireworks for their particular spot (a mid sized garden with less than 25m distance), and they were served with a big 25m selection box marked DISPLAY FIREWORKS, 12 25-shot cakes, 6xHUGE 6oz whoppa shape rockets, a humongous catherine wheel and a massive 600shot display in a box free. Now fireworks which are big require the full 25m distance, but the assistant at the firework counter was so unsure. :unsure: