Firework Purchasing Tips4351045
The 'standard' fireworks licence only permits a supplier to sell fireworks for a three week period before November 5th, a couple of days before New Year, Diwali and Chinese New Year.
If we deal with what to buy first, then the most essential thing to look for is that the fireworks comply with British Regular BS7114. This number should be printed on the box or firework, and shows that the product complies with strict safety standards. If you do not see this number, then leave well alone. These fireworks should not even be provided for sale, but unfortunately non compliant fireworks do still slip via the net.
Fireworks are divided into four categories, only two of which truly concern us right here. Category one is for such things as indoor fireworks, and category four is for professional show items, so most of what you see in the shops will be in categories two and three.
The main criteria for category two fireworks are that the fuse should burn for between 3 and 13 seconds, and it must be viewed from at least 5 metres away. For category 3 the fuse is 5 to 15 seconds, and the viewing distance 25 metres. There are also criteria for debris fallout locations, but these are the main defining criteria. You tend to get category two fireworks in the smaller sized display boxes, sold via mainstream suppliers' such as newsagents and supermarkets. The much more spectacular category three products are generally sold as person items, and are usually to be discovered in much more specialist outlets.
One extremely easy, but fairly dependable tip for gauging the worth and likely performance of a firework is to really feel the weight of it. Usually speaking, the heavier a firework is, the much better show it will give you. This is by no means a hard and fast rule, but it is a extremely great rule of thumb.
Having been in the trade for 40 years now, I like to think I have had a reasonable amount of feed back on the topic of DIY firework displays, and the thing that crops up time and again is that most displays last for as well long, with too many 'same again' fireworks! The problem could so effortlessly be solved with a bit of forward planning. Instead of the usual situation, exactly where six people all turn up with a small box of fireworks, extremely likely from a non specialist outlet, that fizzle and phutt their way via a lacklustre display, why not collect an agreed quantity of money from every guest rather, and then go to a specialist retailer, and buy a couple of really spectacular fireworks. Everybody will then see a shorter, but far better show.
We now have a normal customer base, which entrust their spending budget to us every year, and rely us to construct a memorable display for them. Initially it might be difficult to persuade them to invest any where between £40 and £140 on one firework, but almost with out exception, as soon as they have gone that route, they never look back!
