Bill Weimer: Hi, I'm Bill Weimer with Phantom Fireworks and today we're talking about the proper selection and use of consumer fireworks, and now we're going to talk about tubes, mines and shells. When you think about fireworks, a tube is a classic firework device. This is called a tube or a gun or a mortar preloaded with one shell upon ignition the lift charge carries the shell up into the air, the bust charge at the height of the trajectory will bust the shell apart and the effect will then be ignited and produce the colors and the noise and the different effects that are so beautiful. So when you think about fireworks a tube is the classic up in the air firework display item. A tube is preloaded with one shell. The shell can have one or two busts. Some have three busts, but it's one shell. Once the energy is expended and the tube used, it is not to be reused again. This is a single shot tube device. A mine is a shell device that shoots the sparks directly out of the tube. It does not go up in the air and bust. It busts literally straight out of the tube. A shell device is limited to 60 grams of pyrotechnic composition. Part of that is the lift charge that carries the shell into the air. Part of it is the break charge that busts the shell apart and finally part of it are the actually effects that you see, the colors and the noise. The launch should be from a hard, flat, leveled surface. Remember, the tubes produce considerable downward thrust energy. As a result these can vibrate. So the best practice is to take a tube and put bricks on either side of the tube to make sure it's secure. The brick should face the audience, so if there is an accident and the tube falls, it falls away from the audience.

Now that we understand the basics about tubes, let's go to the next level of tubes, the reloadable tubes.