How to Make a Propane-Powered Potato Cannon

1. How to Make aPropane-PoweredPotato Cannon Derek Nelson Naval Safety Center

2. Parts List • One (1) 5-gallon propane tank • Electric starter mechanism (standard propane grill type) • Two (2) globe valves • One (1) Y-fitting • Six linear feet of 3” steel pipe • One bushel of potatoes (baking)

3. Summer 2009 A Survival Guide Derek Nelson Naval Safety Center Norfolk, Virginia

4. Fishing • They were going after rockfish • Good excuse for being late: had to wait for the tide to come in

5. Not a fake photo

6. Going on a trip or moving • OK as long as you don’t have to get out of the car in a hurry • Duct tape a good indicator of an unsolved problem

7. Moving, part 2 • Part of our “Human Tie-Down” series

8. Getting a new grill

9. Doing some home repairs • Never heard of rope, either • Leads to auto repairs, too

10. Baby-sitting • Why the kids have been so quiet • Didn’t want to watch television, anyway

11. Videotaping Yourself on a Mountain Bike • Hit a pothole that he didn’t see while looking through the camera • Broken collarbone • Probably was a pretty good video, actually

12. Pop Quiz • I’ll set the stage. • You figure out what the people involved did. • I’ll show you the result. • Ready?

13. #1: Fourth of July • You want to sell fireworks from a roadside stand. • You have a location all picked out. • You aren’t too sure about the neighboring business.

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16. #2: On vacation • You are sightseeing at a glacier. • You want a piece of ice as a souvenir (assuming it would look different or better than a regular piece of ice available at your motel) • A warning sign says, “Do not enter” and some other stuff that you may or may not bother to read.

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18. #3: Drilling holes in a wall • You have to drill holes at the 8’ level in a compartment. • You don’t have a stepladder, or you are too lazy to move it around with you while you climb up and down. • You have some plastic, 5-gallon buckets and some tape.

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20. #4: Commuting home • You’re on a toll road, approaching the toll booth. • So is another guy. • You are neck-and-neck. • You are in a hurry. • You figure he will probably yield the right-of-way to you.

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22. #5: Talk the talk, walk the walk • You have a motorcycle. • You have a t-shirt with an excellent slogan printed on it. • You ride to a store. • What is the quickest way to show people that safety is not on your mind as you ride your motorcycle?

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24. Summer Resolution #1 • I won’t be the only unbuckled passenger in a car when it has a blowout and ejects someone toward a barbwire fence.

25. Summer Resolution #2 • I won’t swing a sharp hatchet at a bee on my leg.

26. Summer Resolution #3 • I won’t ride across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel at 0230 with a shipmate who is going 80 mph and falling asleep.

27. Summer Resolution #4 • I won't ride to the package store, after running out of beer, with an E-2 who has a suspended license, a BAC of 0.16, and who is doing 45 mph in a 30 mph zone.

28. Summer Resolution #5 • I won’t pour a quart of gas on a brush pile in my backyard, put the gas can 25 feet away to keep it safe, and then stand 4 feet away and toss a lit match at the brush pile.

29. Summer Resolution #6 • I won't do a belly-flop off a 60-foot cliff into a river.

30. Summer Resolution #7 • I will not test the CO2 level in a BB pistol by aiming it at my hand while I'm driving down the road.