5 Minute Stomp Rocket (It will take you longer to read this instructable than to complete the project).

"Daaaaad, we're bored!"
Ever heard this coming from the back yard? Instructables to the rescue.

I had seen stomp rockets on the site before, and had them in the back of my mind for a while as a project for the kids. When I decided to actually make some rockets and a launcher, I realised that I had the stuff on hand to do a quick 5 minute build while the kids watched. Watch Dad make stuff, and play with rockets! Double the entertainment!

Step 1: Gather tools and materials.

1. Ordinary garden hose, 12mm.
2. I've found the 1.5 litre plastic bottle to work the best, but any size bottle of this type seems to work OK.
3. I used two types of tape because I had them, the wide tape on the rocket and the smaller stuff on the hose, but the wide stuff will do both jobs.
4. Scissors.
5. And the secret ingredient? An empty aluminium cigar tube. This is where time has been saved on this project. Using a pre-made tube for the rocket eliminates construction time.

Comments

[mikolynn]

Jejeje! Very fun project! I will do. Sure!

[caarntedd]

Have fun!

[Goodhart]

Some of us have been "smokeless" for a decade or so and don't want to return to the habit.....is there anything else similar that you can come up with that could make a suitable substitute? (I haven't come across any yet)

[caarntedd]

The closest thing I have seen, although not readily available to the public, are the (for want of a better word) "blanks" that are used to make the plastic bottles I use to launch my rockets. They look just like a plastic test tube albeit somewhat heavier, and are heated and inflated to make the bottle.

Can you get plastic test tubes? Do pens, pencils and other writing implements come in tubes? Maybe kids toys? I think my kids have had bubble blowing mixture in thin plastic tubes. Drill bits? Lollies like mints or M&Ms?
There may be some i'bles that use paper or cardboard rockets here somewhere.

Unfortunately cigar tubes are also not readily available these days, but are the ideal combination of weight and sturdy construction. I wonder if a tobacconist may have some empties lying around?

[Goodhart]

Well, if they do have some lying about, maybe they have some old cigar boxes too....I could use a few of them for projects :-)

[caarntedd]

They often sell loose cigars, but they would still be in the tube. The boxes however, would most likely end up in the garbage.

[Goodhart]

Well, I'm not buying cigars just for tubes :-) I'll find another way: thanks !

[caarntedd]

I reckon you should try the sweets section at your local supermarket. Don't tell me you wouldn't buy lollies just for the tube! ;)

[Goodhart]

Lollies come in a tube?

I have found a smaller tube though that might work....I have to test it first to know. Those Crazy Glue outer tubes that the glue tube comes in....they're about 2-3 times the width of a pen.

[Goodhart]

And yes, I like this idea.....so many things one can do with it....for instance one could firm up the fins with card stock between two pieces of tape, or one could take each fin and instead of making them as vertical as possible, tilt each fin very slightly in the same direction all the way around the tube and the rocket will "spin" on take off :-)

[iceng]

Fun toy, a stomp away from the paper straw.

A