21 replies to this topic

[David]

Put bluntly, I think this would be a good idea. Some brands do already mention it in catalogues, but many don't.

(I'm not saying it's going to happen, just a topic for discussion- I think it would be useful.)

Edited by David, 22 September 2009 - 10:20 PM.

[Firework Crazy]

problem is it just adds to the confusion, you will have people thinking that the more powder the better the fireworks when it's not the case at all.

[David]

people thinking that the more powder the better the fireworks when it's not the case at all.

Thats certainly true in some cases (Airboss is much better than it's 500g would suggest,) although in other cases the ammount of powder can be a useful guide, for example with cones. A cone with 600KG NEC probably will be better than a cone with 300g NEC, despite the fact that outwardly (that is to say, by looking at them or dummies of them) they might appear identical- or put directly- one that is "window dressed" and one that isn't.

Edited by David, 23 September 2009 - 01:19 AM.

[Mortartube]

I don't think so. It would not be much help in the case of smaller items like cat 2 fountains, and also there is limited space on the labels.

If it were on each individual item in a selection box, people wouldn't bother adding the NEC up to get the total box NEC and if you put it on the box, then sometimes some items are substituted for others if there are supply problems, so it may amount to misinformation.

Whilst I agree that it may be helpful on a large cone for instance, it may not in other cases. If you had a flash mine for example, the NEC may be less than if you had one of the same size that was filled with coloured stars (with flash being so light and the regs restricting the amount allowed.) But the effect of the flash mine may be better in your opinion than the coloured stars.

I think in most cases it would not be indicative of the quality of the item, with perhaps the exception of cones and gerbs.

[Gigantic Crab!!!]

the ammount of powder can be a useful guide, for example with cones.

Gigantic Crab!!! says compare Kimbolton's Mammoth cones, the first (silver) batch against the revised ones (with bits of colour). Same weight and size yet the newer type are piss poor compared to the originals.
Gigantic Crab!!! reminisces fondly at their mighty power, especially as Kimbolton cocked the price up and sold them at eight squids each.

[starseeker]

Thats certainly true in some cases (Airboss is much better than it's 500g would suggest,) although in other cases the ammount of powder can be a useful guide, for example with cones. A cone with 600KG NEC probably will be better than a cone with 300g NEC, despite the fact that outwardly (that is to say, by looking at them or dummies of them) they might appear identical- or put directly- one that is "window dressed" and one that isn't.

You probably mean david 600g rather than 600kg as that would be one heluva cone

[Arthur Brown]

NEQ (also NEC and NEM net explosive mass!) is of no use to amateur users of fireworks and would only perpetuate the rather laddish attitude that bigger is better without considering the actual effect. In professional usage marked NEQ is a help for transport compliance BUT it needs to be on the transport packaging (the one with the hazard class 1 diamond ) not on the retail packaging.

[Floydman]

Maybe just a plain and simple decibel rating on the retail packaging would be a start ?

[David]

NEQ (also NEC and NEM net explosive mass!) is of no use to amateur users of fireworks

Depends what you class as "amateur user."

Edited by David, 23 September 2009 - 10:59 PM.

[David]

Maybe just a plain and simple decibel rating on the retail packaging would be a start ?

Unlikley that we would ever see this, but it is certainly something that would be useful, yes.

It works both ways, I've had fireworks that were promoted as being "low noise" which most certainly were NOT low noise!

[BrightStar]

Depends what you class as "amateur user."

Indeed... and those of us who like to buy our fireworks well in advance should probably keep the 5kg NEQ storage limit in mind. Having some numbers is obviously quite helpful here.

Edited by BrightStar, 24 September 2009 - 03:02 AM.

[Spyrotechnics]

NEQ (also NEC and NEM net explosive mass!) is of no use to amateur users of fireworks and would only perpetuate the rather laddish attitude that bigger is better without considering the actual effect

completely agree, there are plenty of other items of information that would be useful to the consumer other than the powder weight

[chimp]

completely agree, there are plenty of other items of information that would be useful to the consumer other than the powder weight

such as a supplier who knows what he's talking about - how better a way to make a learned decision?

[Bri]

such as a supplier who knows what he's talking about - how better a way to make a learned decision?

The best thing for amateurs is watching a video of the actual firework.

Suppliers who provide this option are well worth there weight in gold.

Putting the NEC on the actual firework will encourage the "mine is bigger than yours" brigade amongst the Chav's which is want we need to move away from However putting the total NEC of all fireworks bought on the reciept along with how long it can be stored for and in what conditins is a good idea to help people with the storage of fireworks

[chimp]

Suppliers who provide this option are well worth there weight in gold.

Providing they use footage of current, non-enhanced product - which some don't.

(Putting the storage duration on paper may well waken some people up!)