Have you ever seen someone launching a fireworks rocket directly through their hands? This is the way we tradittionally launch rockets in my country - Portugal! This is a technique not only used in Portugal, but also in Spain and some Latin-America countries.
The pyrotechnician holds the rocket with one hand and lights it with the other using a slow burning cotton cord or even a cigarette and that's it, let it go! Obviously this is a dangerous operation, but it is used for centuries and rarely accidents occur mainly because our rockets are well made, taking all the care to avoid injuries. By the operator, a crucial step is to let the rocket go, without trying to move it (or help it rise, it really doesn't need that).
Usually, during shows or events where a lot of rockets must be lauched, there are two operators - one to light the rockets and another to help giving the rockets.
Hand firing fireworks is allways exciting because you can feel the power near you. You must know the products and their origin and never trust 100% - remember the overcondidence is allways one of the most dangerous pitfalls in this job.
There is also a very traditional way of hand firing shells in Japan, please take a look at this other post.
After read the this post and the other in the link above, please tell us what you like the most (rockets or shells) here.
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