Chinese lanterns

[sooey]

Last year in amongst all the fireworks there were many chinese lanterns floating overhead at the stroke of midnight.
This year I only noticed the odd one, pity because I thought they looked great when there were a lot going across the sky together.
Has the Chinese lantern "novelty" burnt itself out already?

 

[imamartian]

i took one outside last night to see what the wind was like and a gust turned it upside down and ripped a hole in it. So i don't think conditions were quite right around here.

Plus if you read the instructions on the side of the packet, it says do not use if you had any alcohol... some hope then on New Years eve !!

 

[themiddleagedun]

Well they might look great, but where do they all end up?
Last year the countryside was littered with the damn things

 

[sooey]

Same thing happens with fireworks, plus you have to put up with all the noise and they frighten the crap out of all the wildlife.

 

[sooey]

i took one outside last night to see what the wind was like and a gust turned it upside down and ripped a hole in it. So i don't think conditions were quite right around here.

I must admit the ones I saw were being whipped across the sky by the wind, so you're probably right.

 

[Inky Pete]

Well they might look great, but where do they all end up?
Last year the countryside was littered with the damn things

The paper parts aren't so much of a problem, they'll break down pretty quickly.

But I've got a dairy farmer friend who's had to humanely destroy over £20,000 worth of livestock over the past few years due to them having eaten the wire bits and punctured their stomachs.

 

[Susiejb]

Well they might look great, but where do they all end up?
Last year the countryside was littered with the damn things

The paper parts aren't so much of a problem, they'll break down pretty quickly.

But I've got a dairy farmer friend who's had to humanely destroy over £20,000 worth of livestock over the past few years due to them having eaten the wire bits and punctured their stomachs.

That sounds awful....I am surprised they aren't banned.

 

[fmck]

In Scotland they had a lot of bad press over being mistaken for flares.
If you launch one you are supposed to notify the police. If not and someone reports one as maybe a flare (even if suspect) the rescue services have to cover the whole area of coast and sea the flare could of come from.
Its happened a lot where I live until the guys started getting p###ed off and made a lot of noise over it. Dont see them to often now.

 

[imamartian]

These are 3 of the 19 instructions for safe use...

1. do not release within a 5 mile radius of an airport
2. if you're launching from a beach site, always inform the coast guard of your intentions before you do so.
3. do not launch lanterns if they could be interpreted as a distress signal


it also says it's made from biodegradable, non-flammable material !! and no steel wire used...


My feeling is that they look great, but they're not great for the environment... i mean if a copper can do you for dropping a cigarette butt in town... these are illegal by definition aren't they??

Quick burn 'em..... oh shoot they won't burn... they just float off into the sky !!!

 

[Inky Pete]

I know that some of them now are fully biodegradable but a lot of the cheap chinese imports and e-bay ones still have wire parts for hanging the fuel block on.

I've also seen one get hung up on the street lighting above the M6 on the Thelwall Viaduct. It promply burst into flames and then fell, burning, onto the carriageway.

 

[EddieM]

Well they might look great, but where do they all end up?
Last year the countryside was littered with the damn things

The paper parts aren't so much of a problem, they'll break down pretty quickly.

But I've got a dairy farmer friend who's had to humanely destroy over £20,000 worth of livestock over the past few years due to them having eaten the wire bits and punctured their stomachs.

Indeed, they are unwelcome round my neck of the woods, Unless they are made from non harmful materials, i.e. no wire

 

[imamartian]

isn't animals eating wire just evolution rooting out foolish animals?








(ok, only a joke... no need to call the RSPCA )

 

[raebhoop]

I had one land on an aviary roof, the hot wire melted it's way into the roofing felt and I had to cut it out and repair the felt with a patch.
There are a thousand places they could land and cause damage or worse.The thought of one landing on moorland or Forestry Commission after a dry spell doesn't bear thinking about ...they should be banned.

 

[Trazor]

More than one flew over Birmingham Int airport.

 

[imamartian]

I had one land on an aviary roof, the hot wire melted it's way into the roofing felt and I had to cut it out and repair the felt with a patch.
There are a thousand places they could land and cause damage or worse.The thought of one landing on moorland or Forestry Commission after a dry spell doesn't bear thinking about ...they should be banned.

oh that was in the other 16 guidelines !!lol

but agreed, it isn't well thought out !!!