Comets and flame effects in plastic bags

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I'm going to be using a ton of comets and slices and flame effects (SO76 flame pots) in my show next year. Since I live in the swamp I usually put all my cakes in plastic garbage bags to protect them from the rain, and I shoot through the bags. I'm wondering if it would be okay to do the same with the comets and flame effects?

[PyroJoeNEPA]

Saran Wrap---or thin shrink wrap is your friend. You can "pod" slice rows & wrap as well. You do have to be careful of the "extra heavy duty" trash bags--three years ago we had a small bore [1/2" tubes] whistle cake in the finale & it was in one of the heavy duty bags--guess what happened---or should I say "what didn't happen"-----yep, the small bore cake inserts didn't have enough oomph to blow through the bag! Since it was in the finale the audience never knew what happened----but we found it quite entertaining!!! You can put strobe pots & flame pots in sandwich bags.
Also, I like to use the 196 shot Neon Tracer roman candles from Bigs. I peel the top paper off, put a few strands of black match on top, lay an ematch on top & use two pieces of Uhaul tape to close it up. Then I put some clear packaging tape over that---that waterproofs it quite nicely.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Thanks Joe. I buy the Wal Mart cheap crap trash bags for my cakes. I was thinking about using the small bags (like what you'd use for a bathroom trash can) to cover the comets and flame pots. My guess is the flame pots and strobes would burn through them easily. Just wasn't sure about the comets and slices. But since I'm going to have to use talons on visco for many of them, I'm going to want to waterproof them for sure. Saran wrap is a good idea. I might just pre-build some of the effects and wrap them before I get to the shoot site. Thanks again for the tip!

[MtnViewPyro]

Hey Rick,

Not sure about the flame pots but the comets pack a pretty good punch. They shoot through those thick plastic covers on the slices and sweeps. I think any trash bag you use they will have no problem busting through.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Thanks MVP! That's exactly what I was hoping to hear. :cool: