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Hot garage is actually fine for most consumer stuff as long as it’s not like 120F in there. The real killers are moisture and direct sunlight. Keep em off the concrete floor on a shelf or pallet so they don’t soak up damp. And obviously away from any gas cans or paint thinner you got sitting there. A cool dry spot beats everything else.
in reply to: Favorite 500g cake for Labor Day weekend? #6201If you can find ‘Winda’ brand stuff around you, the 500g from them have been real consistent for me. Colors are bright and the timing is on point. Worlds better than the generic crap I used to buy at the tent. Might be worth hunting down.
in reply to: Anyone doing a big Labor Day show this year? #6192We usually just grab a couple Brothers cakes and call it a day, cheap and they hit decent for a quick show. If I have time I’ll mortar out a little finale. Labor Day’s low pressure, don’t overthink it lol.
Tina’s right. And tbh the powder limits on 1.3G shells are way higher — you’re talking shells measured in inches (3″, 4″, 6″ and up) vs consumer 1.75″. Once you shoot a real 6″ canister you kinda get why it needs a license lol. If you’re genuinely interested, look up ATF type 54 ‘fireworks importer/distributor’ — it covers personal display use too, it’s not only for businesses.
Grab and go, but I do separate the fast stuff from the finale canisters so I can actually pace the show. Learned that after dumping everything at once one year and having the ‘finale’ done in 40 seconds lmao.
It’s not just you. I swear the print gets smaller every year lol. The DOT warning text on the side is regulated enough to require certain wording, but the legibility standard is basically “does it technically appear on the label” — not “can a normal human read it in the dark.”
My trick is I just read everything on my phone with the flashlight before setup, or honestly do it in the daylight before the show even starts. Once it’s dusk and everyone’s had a beer, nobody’s reading a 6pt paragraph anyway.
I actually did this a few years back with my club. Split a 20ft container between six guys. The per-case price was incredible — like 60% less than what we were paying at the local wholesaler. But dude, the hidden costs add up fast. Port fees, customs bond, ISF filing, trucking from the port to wherever you’re storing it… we figured we saved maybe 25-30% in the end, not the 60% we thought we’d get. Still worth it if you’re doing it every year, but one-off? Probably not.
in reply to: Anyone else prepping way too early for NYE? #6058Tina you gotta be careful with humidity in the garage. I ruined a whole case of Excaliburs that way one year ??the tubes swelled up and the shells wouldnt even fit in the tube. Now I keep everything in plastic bins with those silica gel packs. works like a charm.
But yeah Danny I’m the same way, always buying early. Nothing worse than scrambling last minute and paying full retail markup.
Dude same in Ohio. My regular guy said his mid-July restock order is still sitting as “processing” — distributor keeps pushing the date. He told me a lot of the Liuyang factories took way longer to bounce back from that July explosion than anyone expected.
I did manage to snag a case of Brothers 500g cakes from a place about 45 min out though. Had to drive but worth it. The stuff I’m seeing at the closer tents is definitely bottom-of-the-barrel selection.
You’re not overthinking it. I do a full bench test every spring AND before any big show. Takes me like an hour but it’s caught a dead module twice. I have a spare set of cue cards and I just re-load all the matches, test fire a couple into a bucket of water. Also those cheap 9V connectors are usually the first thing to fail, I replace them like clockwork now.
Honestly LCL for 1.4G is basically a unicorn. Most forwarders handling Class 1.4 explosives won’t consolidate – the liability’s too messy sharing a container with somebody else’s freight. Every importer I know just eats the FCL cost and resells the extra volume. If you only need a pallet or two you’re usually better off finding a domestic distributor who already does the importing and buying from them.
Yeah man residential hazmat pickup is always a pain. Its not even the carriers being difficult on purpose — most of their insurance policies flat out prohibit residential hazmat pickups unless theyve pre-approved it. The surcharge usually covers the extra liability and the fact that they gotta send a guy whos specifically trained for residential hazmat.
One thing that helped me — I started using a local freight terminal as my pickup address. Basically just rent dock space for a day at a nearby logistics warehouse. Costs like $50-75 but saved me hundreds on the residential surcharge. The carrier just drops the empty pallet there and you pick up the same way.
Worth looking into if you do this more than once.
Missouri is actually one of the easier states to get set up in from what I’ve heard. You’ll need a state license through the fire marshal’s office and local business permits from the city/county. No ATF license needed for just retail – that’s for importers and manufacturers.
The biggest thing people overlook is insurance. You’ll want at least $1M in liability coverage minimum. Some towns require more. Also make sure you understand the storage requirements – you can’t just keep inventory in your garage usually.
There’s a good breakdown in the Rules section on the site that covers the licensing process step by step. Might save you some headache figuring it all out.
I’ve shot a few shows out in Colorado and can confirm what others are saying. National forests are a hard no especially during summer. But I found that some state-managed recreation areas are more chill — specifically certain OHV areas and designated shooting ranges. Had good luck with a spot near the San Juan National Forest that’s technically private mining claim land but accessible. BLM is hit or miss depending on the local field office. Honestly best bet is just find a friend with a big private lot out in the country.
Jim – to answer your storage question: if you keep them in a cool, dry place, consumer fireworks will last years. I’ve shot cakes that were 3-4 years old and they worked fine. The key is moisture and temperature swings. Don’t keep em in a garage that hits 120 degrees in summer – that’s gonna degrade the lift charge over time.
My rule of thumb is if the garage gets above 100, I move em into the basement or a climate-controlled closet. I’ve got cakes from 2022 that still perform like new.
As for what to do with leftovers – I say just shoot em on Labor Day. That’s what I do. Buy extra for the 4th, keep what’s left for Labor Day, then start fresh next season. Way better than letting em sit around for a year.
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