One for those over a certain age

[davhill]

Thanks, could have been an original idea then.
I rebuilt a walnut crossbow stock to accept a modern prod (bow part) with a 101lb draw weight. It can put 10-inch arrow into a straw boss as far as the flights at 22 yards!

Look on YouTube for a 1,000lb crossbow. They exist and shoot a bolt, rather than an arrow.

[bimsb6]

glenrobbo said:

My mates and I used to make our own "aerial bombs" by screwing two bolts facing each other into a single nut with the void filled with either caps, or red match heads carefully scraped off the matchsticks.
Just chuck them up in the air as high as you could and if they landed on either end... "BANG!!!"

An alternative was a large hollow key filled with the same red match-heads, and a nail pushed in the end, both joined with a piece of string.
Whirl it round and strike it on a hard surface.... some very satisfying loud bangs, but a lot of split keys.

This paved the way to more adventurous work with ever more advanced explosive technology.

Amazing how most of us survived our pre- and early teen years.

These days we would have been rounded up as terrorist suspects.

Bolt bombs we used to call those .