How to Create a Bamboo Cannon

Now I am going to share a little bit about a traditional “fire weapon” called Bamboo Cannon as well as a simple tutorial of how to create it. Basically this bamboo cannon is a traditional plaything comes from Malay, and most of Malay communities know the game, especially those living in the rural areas. These days, the game is usually played in celebrations such as national independence day and Heroes’ Day celebrations. Its emergence was inspired by the weapon used by Portuguese some time ago in the colonial era. The natives at that time were amazed by a modern weapon owned by the Portuguese, the weapon that could throw a lethal fire with a booming sound from such a distance, which now is called a fire cannon. That situation bred a manifestation in the form of a clone cannon which is made from a bamboo (bambuseae). This bamboo cannon does not cast a deadly fire as a real cannon does. It is just an imitation cannon with the sound blaring out from the mouth of the bamboo as an effect of the pressure resulted by the burnt carbide gas. Nevertheless, for children and those who have heart attack symptoms, a bamboo canon is not something to play with.  The steps to create and fire the “weapon” are in these ways:

Before making a bamboo cannon, first you have to prepare the items you need, those are: a sturdy bamboo, a saw, a machete, rugs, a carbide, a glass of water, 1 meter of a small wooden rod, and a match.

1. At first, cut the bamboo (the fresh one is better) using the saw and make it 1 to 2 m long, it is better to choose a bamboo with the hole about 10 cm or more in diameter, the larger the diameter and the older the age of the bamboo, the bigger the sound produced by the cannon and the bamboo will not be easily broken or split. Then clean the outer coating of the bamboo.

The bamboo which has been cut

2. Remove the inner shell membranes inside the bamboo using the machete or a crowbar. Remove only the membranes near the front edge and the one(s) in the middle, the rear membrane should not be removed, because this will be functioned to retain the generated explosion and buffer the fuel so that it does not spill out of the bamboo. 

Cut only the two shell membranes

3. Make a hole about 2 cm in diameter on the surface of a bamboo with a spacing about 10 cm from the rear membrane, this hole serves later as the trigger. You already now have your own cannon. You may want to modify the cannon by any kind of ways so that it resembles a real one.

 

Make the trigger hole

4. Place the cannon in a diagonal position by putting the base/rear of the bamboo on the ground using stones or a wood as a buttress. This consequentially makes the front part face  diagonally above. After that, put the fuel which is in the form of small pieces of a carbide plus a bit of kerosene into the front hole, add a little water so that the carbide gas quickly fills the space inside the cannon. Adding a little salt is fine to add the voice bang. For an optimum effect, close the front and the trigger hole of the cannon with rugs for a while, until the fuel gas fills the cannon. Next, remove all of the rugs from the holes and your cannon is now ready to rumble.

5. Fire the cannon using the wooden rod whose one of its tips wrapped by an oiled rug then burn the wrapped part with fire. Slowly put on the fire into the hole and... Boom!!

The triggered bamboo cannon

That is every part of how to make your own home “fire cannon” made from a bamboo. I hope anyone find it useful, especially those who are not on familiar terms with traditional Malay games. Every feedback is greatly appreciated.  Happy Firing ! :)