Do you want to have your own cheap and reusable firecracker? Here’s how to make it:

Well, the video is pretty much self explanatory. There is a few points to note though:

• The dart on stick cracker can split the wood open and break. When my daughter scared me, I was trying to show that I had put a metal washer on the wood and nailed the dart through it so that hitting the cracker wouldn’t cause the dart to go further into the wood and break it.
• In general the stick cracker is more rugged and lasts longer than the throwing kind.
• The rubber band may break once in a while. So have more ready to repair it.
• The throwing cracker has a relatively soft tail that can break easily. Either some how reinforce it, buy one with stronger tail or just have many tails available to replace.
• I believe wooden matches are easier for this application than paper ones.
• Less than 3 matches makes the bang smaller, but using more may make it harder to explode. 3 is a good number from experience.

And of course there are a few safety notes to go with it:

• Matches make fire, of course! So do not make fire with them especially in house or close to flammable stuff.
• The firecracker make flames, so make sure there is no flammable thing where you use it.
• Never throw the cracker towards a person or people’s properties.
• The cracker leaves a burn mark where it hits. So avoid leaving marks here and there!

And stay safe and have fun! And don’t worry, there are no Nazis shooting at people in downtown Vancouver!