Really stupid things you and your mates did as kids...
Discussion
I don't know why but a memory has just popped up in my head and made me chuckle to myself all of my dinner break. It got me thinking of all the absolutely retarded things me and my mates used to do as kids, usually during the summer holidays. I thought I would write my memory down and share it here. Hopefully our stupidity will bring joy to others ...
My childhood home had a sort of car port on the side that was bricked up at the front so essentially a makeshift garage. We used to keep a sofa in there for the dogs to sleep during the day when we were out so us kids would often just chill around in the garage getting up to stupid stuff as it was like our own private living room. This was back in the early 90s when smoking was cool and everyones parents smoked. We were probably around 8 years old. Me and my mate Lawrence decided we wanted in on the smoking action but we didn't want to just pinch a few of my mums from the kitchen cupboard and give it a go. Oh no... We wanted to make the ultimate cigarette and become smoking bosses.
The ultimate cigarette consisted of a very large piece of paper rolled up and selotaped into a cone shape which was then stuffed full of rolled up balls of paper, because, you know, rolled up paper is the same as tabacco right? It was massive. Must have been a good few feet long and stuffed to the brim with paper. We would be the coolest kids in Chingford if we could pull off smoking this thing...
We pinched one of my Mums lighters from the kitchen and lit a few of the balls of paper at the the top of the Cigarette. it was the middle of summer so the paper burnt really well and the cigarette was soon very well alight with smoke starting to fill the garage. I'm not sure how we decided who would take the first puff of our creation but all I can remember is Lawrence putting the huge cone to his mouth and taking a deep breath... What happened next (and I can still see it clearly in my head now) was Lawrence performing a stumbling and hopping dance around the garage clutching his chest, unable to speak, or breathe for that matter. He finally took a gasping breath and gave me a look that could only mean "f
king hell, that was stupid". We knew then that actually tring to continue to smoke this thing wasn't the best of ideas... But we were kids! It was my turn next!
All I remember is holding this huge cone of paper, the tip flaming wildly with smoke pouring out, then a deep breath. The pain. Oh the pain. The scoulding smoke filled my lungs and my chest felt like it was on fire. I too performed the stumbling and hopping dance around the garage whilst struggling to breathe. After a few laps of the garage, I was able to breathe again and we quickly stamped out our gargantuan cigarette and stuffed it into the wheelie bin so my Mum wouldn't see the remains. I don't think we ever spoke of our cigarette or experiences of smoking it ever again and still to this day, my Mum never found out!
Looking back now, I wonder if we could have actually killed ourselves, or caused some serious harm. Smoke inhalation is really fking dangerous! Still. It's hilarious to think we thought this was a great idea at the time. Anyone else have any memories of really stupid things they did as a kid?
My childhood home had a sort of car port on the side that was bricked up at the front so essentially a makeshift garage. We used to keep a sofa in there for the dogs to sleep during the day when we were out so us kids would often just chill around in the garage getting up to stupid stuff as it was like our own private living room. This was back in the early 90s when smoking was cool and everyones parents smoked. We were probably around 8 years old. Me and my mate Lawrence decided we wanted in on the smoking action but we didn't want to just pinch a few of my mums from the kitchen cupboard and give it a go. Oh no... We wanted to make the ultimate cigarette and become smoking bosses.
The ultimate cigarette consisted of a very large piece of paper rolled up and selotaped into a cone shape which was then stuffed full of rolled up balls of paper, because, you know, rolled up paper is the same as tabacco right? It was massive. Must have been a good few feet long and stuffed to the brim with paper. We would be the coolest kids in Chingford if we could pull off smoking this thing...
We pinched one of my Mums lighters from the kitchen and lit a few of the balls of paper at the the top of the Cigarette. it was the middle of summer so the paper burnt really well and the cigarette was soon very well alight with smoke starting to fill the garage. I'm not sure how we decided who would take the first puff of our creation but all I can remember is Lawrence putting the huge cone to his mouth and taking a deep breath... What happened next (and I can still see it clearly in my head now) was Lawrence performing a stumbling and hopping dance around the garage clutching his chest, unable to speak, or breathe for that matter. He finally took a gasping breath and gave me a look that could only mean "f
king hell, that was stupid". We knew then that actually tring to continue to smoke this thing wasn't the best of ideas... But we were kids! It was my turn next!All I remember is holding this huge cone of paper, the tip flaming wildly with smoke pouring out, then a deep breath. The pain. Oh the pain. The scoulding smoke filled my lungs and my chest felt like it was on fire. I too performed the stumbling and hopping dance around the garage whilst struggling to breathe. After a few laps of the garage, I was able to breathe again and we quickly stamped out our gargantuan cigarette and stuffed it into the wheelie bin so my Mum wouldn't see the remains. I don't think we ever spoke of our cigarette or experiences of smoking it ever again and still to this day, my Mum never found out!
Looking back now, I wonder if we could have actually killed ourselves, or caused some serious harm. Smoke inhalation is really f
king dangerous! Still. It's hilarious to think we thought this was a great idea at the time. Anyone else have any memories of really stupid things they did as a kid?Edited by MysteryLemon on Thursday 12th July 13:03
Me and my mate rode down the hard shoulder of a motorway one evening after taking a wrong turn trying to get home after venturing too far and panicking about getting home before it went dark (must have been around 11 at the time) - we got picked up by the police who chucked our bikes in the back of the patrol car and took us home.
My mum saw the funny side - my mates parents were livid
My mum saw the funny side - my mates parents were livid
bobtail4x4 said:
shooting each other with air rifles,
it was a wargame....
Yep. it was a wargame....
And cycling on the railway line, and in Tesco.
Sticking a toy metal pistol in a pendant light bayonet fitting when it was turned on - that went well!
Using scaffold poles & hand railings as launchers for fireworks (bangers).
Probably loads of others.
bobtail4x4 said:
shooting each other with air rifles,
it was a wargame....
This..it was a wargame....
Also with a crossbow and bow and arrow, luckly we were s
t shots... One arrow did almost hit me as it passsed through the place I had just been sitting in my tent a second ago. Jumping out of trees, into trees.. Climbing anything and everything, such as the new (at the time) M65 bridge near J3..
Los of dodgy chems.
Set fire to stuff
Make petrol bombs,chuck aerosols on fires
Ride on the road on mopeds when we were 13
Nick bullets from the CCF open them up light the gunpowder
Stick .22 bullets into a vice and hit the ends with a punch
Drink
Smoke,and yes later that funny stuff too
Make some lethal fixie bikes and jump them off stuff.
So quite a few things,many of which I frown upon now im an old git,and some things that recently my own son has been caught doing,which clearly I have to chastise him for while thinking you are a mug for getting caught,at least when I did it we didnt get caught!
Dont ask about age 17 to 19, some really really stupid behaviour.......
Make petrol bombs,chuck aerosols on fires
Ride on the road on mopeds when we were 13
Nick bullets from the CCF open them up light the gunpowder
Stick .22 bullets into a vice and hit the ends with a punch
Drink
Smoke,and yes later that funny stuff too
Make some lethal fixie bikes and jump them off stuff.
So quite a few things,many of which I frown upon now im an old git,and some things that recently my own son has been caught doing,which clearly I have to chastise him for while thinking you are a mug for getting caught,at least when I did it we didnt get caught!
Dont ask about age 17 to 19, some really really stupid behaviour.......
LordHaveMurci said:
Sticking a toy metal pistol in a pendant light bayonet fitting when it was turned on - that went well!
Mains electrics were always fun... I once stuck the two bare wires from a Mechano motor into the mains socket and turned it on. It ever so slightly exploded and left scorch marks all over the wall. Not quite sure how I survived my childhood to be honest.bobtail4x4 said:
shooting each other with air rifles,
it was a wargame....
We all had air pistols and war was the main game back in the early 60's. (Only15 years since WW2).it was a wargame....
Letting fireworks off in our hands, bangers etc. The best was a firework called a Bazuka. It actually had a handle and fired about 5 flaming balls. Perfect for our war games.
Smashed up an abandoned car.
My friends and I, out and about on our bikes in the countryside, came across an old car abandoned, well away from any roads up a forestry track. I forget how it started, but somebody threw a stone at it, then somebody else did, then I joined in because what's the harm, right? Soon 8 or 10 of us were smashing everything on it that was smashable. Lights, windows, all done in, laughing away and very much enjoying the madness of it. Then we continued on our merry way.
I think it was later that night that I had a sudden massive panic attack when I realised....
There was absolutely nothing to indicate that the car was actually abandoned. I'd assumed it was, but I couldn't think why. It was probably some poor bloke walking his dog or something.
Sorry, Sir, whoever you were. I really didn't mean it. Kids are dumb as hell.
My friends and I, out and about on our bikes in the countryside, came across an old car abandoned, well away from any roads up a forestry track. I forget how it started, but somebody threw a stone at it, then somebody else did, then I joined in because what's the harm, right? Soon 8 or 10 of us were smashing everything on it that was smashable. Lights, windows, all done in, laughing away and very much enjoying the madness of it. Then we continued on our merry way.
I think it was later that night that I had a sudden massive panic attack when I realised....
There was absolutely nothing to indicate that the car was actually abandoned. I'd assumed it was, but I couldn't think why. It was probably some poor bloke walking his dog or something.
Sorry, Sir, whoever you were. I really didn't mean it. Kids are dumb as hell.
Obviously setting fire to stuff was good..
Me and my mate killed all the fish in my neighbours' pond. We didn't mean to, we just didn't think of the consequences of our actions at all when trying to make a "Lake of fire" by pouring petrol into lake - we knew it would float, right? - and then burning it. But that didn't work at all.
Me and my mate killed all the fish in my neighbours' pond. We didn't mean to, we just didn't think of the consequences of our actions at all when trying to make a "Lake of fire" by pouring petrol into lake - we knew it would float, right? - and then burning it. But that didn't work at all.
Probably got a couple to add to this.
We were out on pushbikes in the woods one day, on a track leading up to a farm, and we "found" a Mini van half in a ditch. No idea why it was there but we convinced ourselves it was dumped and that therefore we could play with it. After a little while we got it running and started driving it up and down the track, oblivious to the fact that it was belching out black smoke at the same rate as a coal-fired power station.
Next we knew, the fire brigade turned up. Someone had called them and said they thought the woods were on fire. Mr Nasty Fireman stood us all in a row, told us not to move, and said he was calling the police. Cue much panic from us. We stood there trembling for a while and no police showed, so we said to another fireman "do we have to stay here?". "I'm not a policeman, I can't make you stay" was his extremely helpful reply, at which we jumped on our bikes and pedaled like we were auditioning for THAT scene in ET. Halfway home we passed a police car heading in the direction of "our" Mini....we expected a knock on the door for days after but it never came.
We were out on pushbikes in the woods one day, on a track leading up to a farm, and we "found" a Mini van half in a ditch. No idea why it was there but we convinced ourselves it was dumped and that therefore we could play with it. After a little while we got it running and started driving it up and down the track, oblivious to the fact that it was belching out black smoke at the same rate as a coal-fired power station.
Next we knew, the fire brigade turned up. Someone had called them and said they thought the woods were on fire. Mr Nasty Fireman stood us all in a row, told us not to move, and said he was calling the police. Cue much panic from us. We stood there trembling for a while and no police showed, so we said to another fireman "do we have to stay here?". "I'm not a policeman, I can't make you stay" was his extremely helpful reply, at which we jumped on our bikes and pedaled like we were auditioning for THAT scene in ET. Halfway home we passed a police car heading in the direction of "our" Mini....we expected a knock on the door for days after but it never came.
We also used to make homemade pipe bombs from fertiliser and sugar (imagine THAT these days…). We’d get some copper pipe, hammer one end over, drill a pilot hole halfway along, then stuff it with the fertiliser mix and hammer the other end over. Lay a trail of fertiliser mix to a safe (ish) distance, light, and take cover. Worked really well!!
We used to camp out at the end of the gardens in the summer and one night we decided it would be an excellent idea to set light to a huge mound of the fertiliser & sugar mix in the playing field behind us. Around midnight, we went to the middle of the field, poured out a bucketful of this stuff, laid our usual fuse, lit it and ran.
Long before we got back to the safety of the tent, the whole lot went up and suddenly the entire field (we’re talking about 6 football pitches and several hockey pitches) was brighter than a bright day in the Sahara. How we got away with that one I don’t know.
And then my mate discovered how to make what I believe he said was TNT. Either that or it was chemically similar - but less stable. Made it in a baking tray and once it was cooked it broke up into tiny fragments. If you threw it at the ground, or impacted it any other way, it exploded with a loud crack. So we put a load on the floor in his Dad’s garage and waited until his Dad walked in there, resulting in the old man leaping off the ground and running out lifting his feet about 2ft off the ground with every step
We used to camp out at the end of the gardens in the summer and one night we decided it would be an excellent idea to set light to a huge mound of the fertiliser & sugar mix in the playing field behind us. Around midnight, we went to the middle of the field, poured out a bucketful of this stuff, laid our usual fuse, lit it and ran.
Long before we got back to the safety of the tent, the whole lot went up and suddenly the entire field (we’re talking about 6 football pitches and several hockey pitches) was brighter than a bright day in the Sahara. How we got away with that one I don’t know.
And then my mate discovered how to make what I believe he said was TNT. Either that or it was chemically similar - but less stable. Made it in a baking tray and once it was cooked it broke up into tiny fragments. If you threw it at the ground, or impacted it any other way, it exploded with a loud crack. So we put a load on the floor in his Dad’s garage and waited until his Dad walked in there, resulting in the old man leaping off the ground and running out lifting his feet about 2ft off the ground with every step
A friends parents house came with a nice long 100ft back garden, we were around 14/15 so what better way to pass the time than going to the shop to buy camping gas cartridges, setting them down next to a couple of lit candles and then shooting them with air rifles 
When we had no money any aerosol would do, one day however we were just returning back from the shop on our pushbikes to find a police car outside with the police knocking on the door! We just said "oh isn't anyone home?" and cycled off, later that evening after friends mum had a visit from the police she made it very clear to all of us via a flip flop across the backside it had best no happen again!
When we had no money any aerosol would do, one day however we were just returning back from the shop on our pushbikes to find a police car outside with the police knocking on the door! We just said "oh isn't anyone home?" and cycled off, later that evening after friends mum had a visit from the police she made it very clear to all of us via a flip flop across the backside it had best no happen again!
When I was about 11 or 12 we lived in a house with a long garden with a big shed at the end of it, behind the shed was about 6ft of empty ground, then a bank with several trees on it then about 50ft of empty waste ground covered in brambles before it backed on to other gardens.
One summer holiday about 8 of us had watched The Great Escape and decided that it would be a genius idea to copy it. We would tell my mum we were going out then sneak into the back garden through the waste ground and start digging our hole behind the shed. We dug about 2 metres down and the hole was about 1mx1m, all of the spoil could be easily disposed of into the waste ground. Once we had our hole we needed out tunnel, we were experts, we had watched The Great Escape, some of us had watched it twice, we knew that we would need structural support, and because of The Great Escape, we knew that the best support for a tunnel was bed slats. Harry (see, it was meant to be!) had a bunk bed, so very quickly we cycled to his house whilst his parents were out, and liberated as many slats as we could without completely ruining the bed.
So we had a big hole, we had steps dug into the side, we had a pulley system hung from a tree for removing the spoil, and we had the timber to sure up the roof of the tunnel, it was time to start digging.
The tunnel was about 2 ft tall and 2 ft wide and we probably made it about 10ft deep before the guards found us! (actually, Harry's dad found out that his bed was a wobbly mess and made Harry tell him why) He turned up at my mums house and they made their way up the garden. We heard them coming so dragged the piece of board that was covered in sticks and dirt over the top and hid in the waste ground thinking we would never be found. Shockingly this didn't work and we were all grounded and forced to fill the hole, and the tunnel back in.
Stupid? Yes. Was there a possibility of being crushed to death? Yes. Would I let my son do it? No. But am I glad I did it? Yes, that was a great summer!
One summer holiday about 8 of us had watched The Great Escape and decided that it would be a genius idea to copy it. We would tell my mum we were going out then sneak into the back garden through the waste ground and start digging our hole behind the shed. We dug about 2 metres down and the hole was about 1mx1m, all of the spoil could be easily disposed of into the waste ground. Once we had our hole we needed out tunnel, we were experts, we had watched The Great Escape, some of us had watched it twice, we knew that we would need structural support, and because of The Great Escape, we knew that the best support for a tunnel was bed slats. Harry (see, it was meant to be!) had a bunk bed, so very quickly we cycled to his house whilst his parents were out, and liberated as many slats as we could without completely ruining the bed.
So we had a big hole, we had steps dug into the side, we had a pulley system hung from a tree for removing the spoil, and we had the timber to sure up the roof of the tunnel, it was time to start digging.
The tunnel was about 2 ft tall and 2 ft wide and we probably made it about 10ft deep before the guards found us! (actually, Harry's dad found out that his bed was a wobbly mess and made Harry tell him why) He turned up at my mums house and they made their way up the garden. We heard them coming so dragged the piece of board that was covered in sticks and dirt over the top and hid in the waste ground thinking we would never be found. Shockingly this didn't work and we were all grounded and forced to fill the hole, and the tunnel back in.
Stupid? Yes. Was there a possibility of being crushed to death? Yes. Would I let my son do it? No. But am I glad I did it? Yes, that was a great summer!
Edited by Rebew on Thursday 12th July 15:55
Threw a hairspray can on a bonfire , said can starts to expand rapidly for some reason explodes and departs in a horizontal trajectory at some speed towards me who is stupidly standing about 20 feet away, said shrapnel rocket nicks my pullover and continues on it's merry way. Look down to arm expecting it to be detached but just a tear in pullover. Not a graze to skin
Another one, hit a 2 part epoxy araldite glue syringe with a hammer to try and unclog the gummed up end. In reality said glue syringe explodes and it's contents land all over my face, hands and clothes. Queue running around like a nutter with little vision trying to somehow wash this st off. Ahhh those were the days
Another one, hit a 2 part epoxy araldite glue syringe with a hammer to try and unclog the gummed up end. In reality said glue syringe explodes and it's contents land all over my face, hands and clothes. Queue running around like a nutter with little vision trying to somehow wash this s
t off. Ahhh those were the daysAhhh the old weed killer and sugar mix. One of the lads ( now a well known musician, No.1 hit, played with Everyone from Gene Vincent to the Beatles, found out this magic mix would burn if just put in and old Swan Vesta matchbox and a long Jetex fuse to give us time to disperse. Te London Smog of the 50's had nothing on the dense white cloud it produced.
One day we ventured forth armed with a 1ft sq piece of plywood and dropped the package into the drain, covering it up with the plywood. The drains had overflow connector pipes between them and the smoke this travelled along t the next drain, where one of the neighbours from hell had parked over it. Cue lots of smoke, his pride and joy in the middle of it and frantic phone calls to plod and fire brigade with lots of water and foam to put it out, only they didnt due to the source being 40ft away!.We had just merged into the crowd of kids who always appeared from miles around whenever there was a fire engine ( cheap and free entertainment back then!!)
Nobody could figure out what happened as when the foam had been washed away, underneath there was a very clean and soggy car, with nairy a trace of fire damage.
How he survived i do not know as when bombing down Stamford HIll towards South Tottenham one day on his bike, his bottom bracket broke and he was all over the road trying to ride this machine that the front and rea wheels were only connected by the crossbar. BUT he got hone, down the tip for a spare frame and next day back out on the road
AND as an aside does anyone remember the old rubber traffic 'counters' that were sited before traffic lights. We used to jump up and down on the minor road ones and once we had got the green light kept on jumping, as the sytem thought there was a stack of traffic coming down the road. Meanwhile the traffic on the main road just backed up waiting for the green on the main to come on.
One day we ventured forth armed with a 1ft sq piece of plywood and dropped the package into the drain, covering it up with the plywood. The drains had overflow connector pipes between them and the smoke this travelled along t the next drain, where one of the neighbours from hell had parked over it. Cue lots of smoke, his pride and joy in the middle of it and frantic phone calls to plod and fire brigade with lots of water and foam to put it out, only they didnt due to the source being 40ft away!.We had just merged into the crowd of kids who always appeared from miles around whenever there was a fire engine ( cheap and free entertainment back then!!)
Nobody could figure out what happened as when the foam had been washed away, underneath there was a very clean and soggy car, with nairy a trace of fire damage.
How he survived i do not know as when bombing down Stamford HIll towards South Tottenham one day on his bike, his bottom bracket broke and he was all over the road trying to ride this machine that the front and rea wheels were only connected by the crossbar. BUT he got hone, down the tip for a spare frame and next day back out on the road
AND as an aside does anyone remember the old rubber traffic 'counters' that were sited before traffic lights. We used to jump up and down on the minor road ones and once we had got the green light kept on jumping, as the sytem thought there was a stack of traffic coming down the road. Meanwhile the traffic on the main road just backed up waiting for the green on the main to come on.
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