Darwin says, "Accepted into the Archive. Excellent first-person account of near-terminal stupidity."

This is a true story I know this because it was a personal moment of blissfully pure and unadulterated stupidity going back a few years i was managing a sucessfull franchise exhaust shop (that i will not name).

i managed to get a contract to build custom exhausts on a series of hot rods.

due to the exacting workmanship and time required I ended up doing these jobs after hours when I wasnt being distracted by customers and my staff.

one evening (around 10 pm) I was tired (and in retropect a bit bored) and decided to take a break , I set my Cokecan down on the pipe rack and it fell neatly into a length of exhaust pipe this raised some imeadiate possibilities and I wondered if an acetylene explosion would launch a can from the pipe . as it happenned the acetylene set was ready to hand and I proceeded with my experiment i welded a plate over one end of the tube and made a small hole in the side just above the plate i then dropped an empty can down the pipe and added some acetylene and oxygen though the hole my trusy zippo did the job of igniting it.

test one went quite well and made a loud pop although the can only went about ten feet in the air . being somewhat of a prefectionist I felt that i could do better. realising that the empty can was slightly smaller than the pipe much could be gained from sealing the pipe by wrapping the can . test two was better (and louder)and the can was launched with enough force to sligtly dent the tin roof of the building (from the inside ).

At this point I realized that I could possibly do some damage ,so I moved my enterprise out back of the shop and proceded with test three , i carefully wrapped a full can with an oiled rag(to reduce friction) and had to ram it hard down the pipe ,i could only get it down about one foot but decided that it would be o.k ,I then aimed the tube straight up so that i could see where the can went. i then pressure filled the three remaining feet of the 3" tube with oxygen and acetylene i must confess that there was a brief moment of doubt but i lit it off anyway. The result was considerably more violent than the prior launches there was a extremely loud explosion and a searing flash of heat i was imeadiately knocked over by the muzzle blast (i was carefully kneeling down about eighteen inches from the pipe) I looked up and caught a brief glimpse of a burning projectile disappearing at high velocity into the night.the recoil of the launch drove the tube about a foot into the ground and the open end of the pipe had a distinct bell shape luckily the pipe had held and not blown up in my face. somewhat stunned i staggered back into the shop and knocked over a six foot lenght of exhaust pipe instead of the usual crash ,I could hear nothing but a high pitched buzzing . break time over I carried on working and was surprised about half an hour later by two cops tapping me on the shoulder They were a wee bit agitated as they had been calling to me for a while and thought I was ignoring them .

After much shouting and written messages it became apparent they were investigating a loud explosion heard behind the 20,000 litre propane tank at the gas station next door to the shop, the gas station had of course been evacuated as soon as this had happened (this tank was about ten feet from my test site on the other side of a six foot wooden fence). due to my impaired hearing i had failed to hear the four fire appliances turn up outside and was blissfully unaware of the mayhem going on next door . of course I denied any knowledge but one of the cops became curious as to why the oxy acetylene hoses went outside (I guess my burnt and deaf state didnt help) and checked it out.......

I was lucky I guess i got a severe telling off by the cops I still have hearing issues and got a minor flash burn on my foreheard along with some singed hair .

I must confess though I still sit back sometimes and wonder

A) what the F#$K was i thinking and ... B) where the hell did that can end up ?

Submitted on 12/03/2008

Submitted by: dave
Reference: personal

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
Maybe the propane tank next door WAS a coincidence...or maybe the cops needed more evidence to convict! Either way, a highly amusing tale! Thanks!

Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
You're not the only one who is wondering where the hell that can ended up. Thanks, Dave!

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