A party popper is an object commonly used at parties. It emits a loud popping noise by means of a small friction-actuated explosive charge that is ignited by pulling a string. The explosion of the charge popping blows out some confetti or streamers. Although they are often sold under fireworks, they are not considered true fireworks and are often legal where fireworks are banned. They are also sometimes listed as novelty items. There are also party popper revolvers on the market which utilise a speed loader style cartridge filled with six party popper charges inserted into a normally colourful plastic device loosely resembling the pistol variant. Its functionality is very much the same as the pistol, the depression of the trigger apparatus rotates the chamber so a live charge is presented to a hammer, which falls onto a regular cap ring embedded in the bottom of the insertable chamber. The chambers are one-use only, although reloading could potentially be done by hand. For technical details of how the charge is constructed, see Takeo Shimizu's book, Fireworks: The Art, Science and Technique. (Austin: Pyrotechnica Publications, 1988).
Exploding Pen
Some people use the explosives from party poppers as a prank. They take out the explosive and load it into a pen with no ink cartridge.
