Thinking Ahead - Nevada - BUMP!!!

[mark.f]

Alrighty. I've copied this from over on SpudCom. Seeing as that site doesn't get all the traffic I'm trying to target. Here's an entire transcript of the thread on the potential upcoming Nevada meet, which is found <a HREF="http://www.spudcom.com/forums/showthrea ... 7">here</A>.

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I'm pretty sure most of you remember the earlier 2006 Nevada meet. If not from going there, from sitting at your boring ol' house like me and watching with envy while the others had all the fun.

Anyways, if you don't recall, here is a link to the thread on the spudtech archives. <a HREF="http://www.spudfiles.com/spudtech_archi ... 0945">long link</A>.

This is my last year of high school. I'm running out of time to have fun. So, if one of these meets were to occur this coming summer, (somewhere around June-July 2008), I would actually most probably make it this time. I know I sort of balked on the last two, but this time I'll have the money, the transportation, and the permission.

If I went, I would probably be bringing my friend Geoffrey. He's built a few cannons and he's been my best friend since Kindergarten, and he'll be going to Texas A&M a year from now, so I probably won't see him that much again.

I'd being all the cannons I have on me at the moment. No cannons are in the works now because I'm in some strict financial straits trying to drive to school without working for the first semester. On top of that, my ICM went south on my truck so that's in the shop racking up a rather impressive bill made up of reprogramming and installation fees, (only part of the truck I can't fix).



So anyways, who all else would be going? I think Benstern said he was in college now, so I don't know whether he can. Anybody else who would be going?

It may be a possibility for me to make it out to Vegas, but I'm really not sure. It's a prime example of "so close but so far." It's only one state over but it's still an 11 hour drive.

I feel really bad about pulling a "no-show" last year, but if a meet is organized I will try my best to make it. So long as it is scheduled in the summer break as I plan to attend a local college.

Considering how well the last two meets went, if I am lucky enough, I'll be able to convince my dad to haul me out there again. I probably won't have much more in the way of cannonry than the last 2, but I'll still try.

I might bring my truck and try to find an old camper shell in the junkyard for a Ranger to clean up and stay in overnight. I could bring:

• 10 gallon air compressor, (cheapo Husky oiled model).

• Unknown wattage generator that I'll probably have to Seafoam before bringing.

• A 10' golfball barrel that can be both used on the half-finished hybrid in my closet and my piston-valved T-shirt launcher.

• The pneumatic and the hybrid(s).

• All of my various smaller launchers, including the "Denali marble rifle" in planning for when I go to work again.

Muchas varias cosas. Food, water, Mountain Dew, coffee and a percolator, and my specially designed cowboy manikins made of 3/4" ply for targets. Also, much red food-coloring and gelatin for "special effects", and a cooler.

Will it be in the desert again? If so, I'll need more water and I don't have to worry about fires getting out of hand.

You bet your sweet bippy it'll be in the desert. The management of the Bellagio does not like spuds in their casino. My list will be about the same as last time. I haven;t asked my folks yet, and probably won't do so until 2008, as I don't want to tip my hand so soon.

However, I will have luckythirteen's hybrid at the meet, and hopefully a repaired and operational piston-valve gun.

And everyone, SAVE YOUR 12 GRAM CO2 CARTRIDGES! Right Brian?

Hmm... I don't seem to have any 12-grams, because I own an MR-I. I've got a 20-ounce I don't use anymore, though. Think ya'll could use that? 8)

I think I may be able to convince my parents to let me come to this one, seeing as the discussion has come up and there's actually time for planning. Last year, I saw the topic about the meet about 2 weeks before it happened.

If I manage to get out there, you guys can't call me a wuss from standing 20+ feet away from the PVC hybrids. Having one blow up on me was enough to convince me that PVC isn't a suitable material for that kind of pressure spike.

Make no mistake, I've got the willies about the hybrid as well. I'm considering rigging a pull-string to fire it.

haha i also got a pull string on mine.....i wouldent feel safe aroung pvc hybrids over a 3x mix....

6x in a steel hybrid from less than a foot away is fine by me, but PVC is a whole different matter.

I'm in! I got like 30 empty co2 cartages to contribute.

If I let my friend and his dad come they have some of the most sensitive and concussive flash composition you'll ever see in your life.

The CO2 cartridge would be way overkill. You only need an open straw to get it to DDT properly. 8)

Whadda you mean IF you let them come? You have piqued our curiosity (mine anyway). I must see this intriguing phlogisticated element.

Heh... if I tell them about this thing, that is.

Nothing amazing, just some skilled and experienced pyrotechnicians. One retired geologist and one kid who's been watching the retired geologist blow things up since he was 5.

They're starting to get into rockets now, so they'll probably bring plenty of those as well.

*BUMP*

So I guess it looks like we're still on? I've got this little trip worked into my employment schedule for this summer. I've also got my truck running good again and I'm still working on the camper shell. The generator is also still sitting on the porch. I doubt anybody will miss it, since it hasn't moved since the 10th grade, (when it was put there during the hurricane).

Yeah, looks like we're still on. What dates have you got worked in for the trip?

I'm pretty flexible there. I would just have to say sometime a little ways into the summer. That way, I can work a few more hours to make a little extra money to cover the trip before we go.

Okay. I'm booked the second, third, and fourth weekends in june. Maybe the first weekend? How does that work for everyone else?

Hmm.... I'd have to say OK to that. I'll talk to my parents about it sometime soon to see if the timing's okay.

Okay, we have a problem... I may not be able to go. Long story short, there is a trip planned for the third weekend in June to go to the Sacramento area, and I'm not at all sure if I'll be able to con my folks into taking me out on another excursion to vegas two weeks prior.....

Aww... do your parents have to be there for you to go? If they want to be there too, that's understandable, since we are playing with spudguns. But, if they were okay with somebody giving you a ride to the meet... I have no clue where you live. Which state? It might be conveniently "on the way" for another member who is going.

Okay, we need to tally who else is going to make it then.

I'm still going if we've got two or more other people making it. No offense to whoever the last man out might be, but if there's only one other person going, I'm not coming. Not only would that be creepy, it'd kind of be a waste of time.

So, we have me, noname, Swisha House, Benstern, and possibly my friend Geoff having a tentative inclination to show up. Of course, everybody is invited, so other people could come if they wanted. I don't think DR wants to come. I thinks he's bound to have read this thread by now, (it's his site!), so if he wanted to come he would have said so.

So, that's four people possibly going. Does that sound like a good number, or do we need to boost attendance? If somebody could give a little input, I NEED an answer as to how many people will show up before I go, (preferably about a month in advance), because this trip just gets more expensive every day. I have a leaky front tire and I need my front end aligned before I drive out to Nevada, and that will cost quite a bit, (four new tires plus installation, balancing, centering, and alignment).

True, I could bum a ride off someone, but the Imperial Fucktonne of things I bring, along with the fact that I have three barrels at least 10 feet long, makes it nearly imperative for me to haul it in the Suburban I have used before. Perhaps I'll just have to wait until my dad is in a damn good mood and drop it on him. Along with me doing all the prep possible and leaving my attendance in the air indefinitely.

DAMNIT, I WISH I HAD MY LICENSE ALREADY!

Ninja edit:

DR never seems to reply to these threads. You have to track him down and badger him into showing up. He reads them, just doesn't reply to 'em. But I haven't seen him around lately at all, so I don't know what the hell he's up to.

You couldn't load the barrels strapped into the back of a truck? They might stick out a little but I've hauled much worse lengthy loads safely.

Do you really want to get your license? The logical next move is owning a vehicle. Thus, the outcome is being raped by gasoline prices and insurance. Therefore, the logical outcome to that would be getting a job you don't like and hate showing up to. Such is the vicious cycle of teenage driving...

If I get my friend Geoff to go, (holy crap I forgot to put him in the above list... ninja up!), we could split the gas prices and take his suburban. '94 1500 V8 and gets better gas mileage than his Tacoma. Your barrels would probably fit either on the top or across the back with the seats folded down and touching the radio, (who needs it anyway?).

Just some stuff to think about. Of course, this matters how far out of the way you are now, since I would be asking him to put miles on his suburban, (which they keep in great mechanical shape). How many extra miles would one have to travel coming from Louisiana to swing by and pick you up? I haven't looked at a map yet so I don't know which roads etc. we would take.

EDIT: and I need replies from the rest of you prospective attendants as to your current situation. Don't make me have to track you down on Spudfiles and drag you over here!!!

I'd start another thread on SpudFiles if I were you. When I was planning a meet in California, there were six or seven people who lived in different parts of California who could possibly make it. Talk to BC Pneumatics as well.

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And that's where we leave off.

Anybody who said you were coming, you need to confirm it. Also, anybody else interested needs to share their thoughts here. It'd be good to get a list of people going in advance, that way nobody shows up and there's only one other person there.

[benstern]

I AM SOOO IN!!!!

[frankrede]

I'm in!
With my new cannons too!
Sadly, I don't have much of an arsenal at this time.
Maybe I can repair my propane combustion with xmas money or something
or perhaps just build a newer, better, lighter one.

Edit: and maybe I'll finish my LAW by then:)

[BC Pneumatics]

I am in. I have a car, I have money saved, and my work hours are 100% flexible. As long as it isn't scheduled during class I will be there.

For anyone that hasn't been before, it is a load of fun. It costs me about $300 or so to come out from CA (about 400mi from Las Vegas, 1000mi on the speedo when I got home.) but it is always worth it, and a hell of a trip.

Don't worry if you don't have much to bring. I don't think I brought a single (potato) cannon to the first meet, and almost didn't go because I had nothing to bring... Bah, rubbish, come anyway.

I don't see any need to make a list of stuff I will bring at this point, but it will basically be whatever I can fit into my car. If I ever sort though my "misc" bins, I may pull a DR and try to unload all my clutter onto people that will actually use it.

[mark.f]

Alright, we're starting to get there...

Now we need a tentative date. I'm guessing the location is already taken care of. I'm pretty much flexible as long as it's during the summer. I'd say a few weeks or so into it, as well, to get some cash saved up.

EDIT - hmm... by my calculations, I'm getting a total fuel expenditure of around the same as you, BC. You live far away too, I take it. I think I'm being a bit too pessimistic on my gas prices, though. Maybe they won't be $3.00 a gallon by then...

Good thing I've saved up already!

[benstern]

I might be able to take someone if they meet me up in the phoenix area or along the way.

[ammosmoke]

Gas cost's 3.50 a gallon here......

[BC Pneumatics]

Yeah, I calculated my gas at $3.15.
I am just glad I get pretty good mileage. If I didn't, I would hardly be able to afford the drive.

I could probably pick someone up along the way as well, but you will have to sit in a small car for a couple hundred miles with a complete stranger...

[mark.f]

Hmm... guess there are advantages to living in petroleum capitol of the U.S.A. Gas is around $2.70-something right now, if I recall correctly.

[mark.f]

*BUMP*

(Boo booom boom beesh, boom boom boom beesh...)

Alright, it's pretty much down to the wire here gentlemen/ladies. Still no tentative date and schools starting to end around the country.

So far I have a few people who said they were going (back in Winter). I don't know about you guys but now is the absolute crunch-time for me to decide whether or not I'm going to this thing.

So, post here NOW if you think you are going, and we'll go from there. Even if you've posted before in this thread saying you were, post again reaffirming that.

After all of this, we need to plan a date. We've kind of waited until the last minute for planning so it'll probably be later in the summer, if I'm guessing correctly. Sort of be one good ol' bash before school starts up again for those of us going to high-school/college or work?

I don't know if the rest of you have seen my new truck or not on theopia, but it's probably not best to drive that over there with gas $3.40 a gallon. I'll probably wind up taking the old Ranger or maybe carpooling with my friend if he wants to go.

So... POST NOW!

[BC Pneumatics]

I do not think it will be happening this summer. I do not think Eric can make it, and gas here is $4.30/gal. The meet is ~1200mi for me by the time it is done, making it quite an expense even in my civic.

[mark.f]

This is what I was thinking as well. Gas prices looked good in the winter when we were planning this ($2.70 a gallon here), but now it's pretty hefty to make a long trip. I still see our fuel prices are still lower than yours, though ($3.40 here right now). Still bearable, though, although I'm glad I only have one more summer of private transportation until I move to Baton Rouge for college. (The party school... Noooo!!!)

All the rest of you still speak up. If we can get a set of members within a reasonable distance of each other, we can optimize the shoot location to make less distance per each member.

[trae08]

unfortunately wont be able to make it... i only just started a new job and haven't only got 2 days of vacation time.. which is being used first week of july for a family reunion in illinois, maybe if there was a meet in fl or georgia i could go on the weekend.....

[BC Pneumatics]

Out of curiosity, where in IL?

[trae08]

well i am flying into milwaukee for a day or two then driving to illinois... ill be going to barrington