Pyrotechnics in Europe

[FinnAmerican]

I was watching some YouTube videos filmed in the Netherlands. Young men shooting salute shells, rockets and cakes and multi-gram Firecrackers in their closely populated towns. And doing this all illegally. And the law enforcement is out-numbered by the pyros, so there is little they can do about this activity. Since only small fountains, spinners and crackling strips are legal in the Netherlands, the men travel to nearby countries of Belgium, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Germany, searching the black markets for large firecrackers, salute fireworks and professional grade shells. All the while filming their pyro travels. And often shooting their purchases in the heavily wooded nature preserves and off-season agricultural lands. The larger crackers or should I say "explosive devices" surprise me by the staggering amount of flash composition contained in these. Some up to hundreds of grams for a single device. The uploaders always using the similar quotation: "No Pyro, No Party".
Although some large crackers and salute fireworks make it to the shores of America, but not like the amount in Europe. Here ends my rambling. This is not new news by far. I'm just glad I live in the U.S. where pyrotechnics is more regulated for consumers and licensed by professionals.

[Salutecake]

Thanks for the post FinnAmerican! Made me think about how I view regulations, and I will admitt I am not fond of a lot of regulations.
But if that's what it takes, some regulatons for us to purchase and display fireworks, then OK.
I'm not surprise of any person in any country looking for "illegal" things, or things they are not allowed to have.

[RalphieJ]

Finn, I've watched a number of the videos you refer to. In every one they appear to be sober, adult men having fun with their "toys", although their "toys" could easily remove a hand, or worse. Here in NY from the '60's to the '90's, organized crime manufactured and sold ground salutes in all sizes, from M-80's to yogurt-cup-sized devices. Most were made in basements in Manhattan or one of the other boroughs, although a few were made by licensed pyros. I know the owner of a display company who was approached by a couple of dubious-looking fellas who offered bokoo bucks to make M-80's. They would supply the money and the machine that plugged (hot melt glue), charged, and fused multiple crackers at a time. They were politely told "No thanks". I know this is hard to believe, but I personally ordered ground salutes (dimes, quarters, halves and dollars........you can figure out what they were, right?) by phone from upstate NY, and they were shipped by USPS within days with a fake return address. The M-80's, which I preferred, were a different color every year (traditional red, light red, pink, dark blue, orange, yellow, silver, Kelly Green, kraft), and were very high quality with American viso and superior Vitamin F. The most vicious device I ever saw were 3" salute casings capped with hot melt and visco-fused. A friend of mine brought a few over one day, we pasted, lifted, and quick-matched them, just to get those bastards the hell out of the way. They were brutal. The "industry" took a major hit in 1995 with NYC Mayor Guiliani's Joint Fireworks Task Force, and then 9/11 pretty much ended such activity in NY State. However, it seems that the Los Angeles-based gangs have taken up the business on the West coast to this day.