2022 Consumer Fuse

[porcelmc]

So I guess I picked the wrong year to run out of fuse. I bought a few hundred feet years ago and that supply has finally dwindled.

Screenshot from 2 years ago:


And now everywhere today is about:


So in 2 years the price has gone up 5 times more than it was. I know everything has gone up in price but 500% (or whatever percent increase that actually is) increase is kinda insane.

Anyways, happy firing!

 

[Scotty Rockets]

One of the huge problems is that fuse has an export problem shipping out of China. We’ve experienced several shortages recently.

 

[rbarbourbis]

We are trying to keep ours at 2x what it was. But, have to limit to 5pk per customer per visit to keep it in stock.
But, shipping on fireworks has also increased 400-500% as well. Wholesale prices are at least 2X. Pick your item you think is insane then figure who to blame. Doesn't matter, you still have to pay.

 

[wrtiii]

sFor decades, pyro importers considered visco and similar fuse to be unregulated by the ATF. This was tied to the claims that the small arms exemptions extended to pyrotechnic uses (same as the erroneous claims that anyone could have 50 lb. of black powder with no magazine storage requirement). In person, I heard long-time professionals say that fuse was a "gray area" because the regulations specified use in small arms ammunition, and how would the ATF determine your intent?

Beginning in 2012, ATF began warning people that there is no "gray area" and fuse was regulated like other explosives. In 2014 they made it very explicit in their Dec. 2014 Explosives Industry Newsletter that fuse is regulated, it requires EX and UN numbers, etc.

https://www.atf.gov/explosives/docs/newsletter/explosives-industry-newsletter-december-2014/download

Everything else notwithstanding, this was a huge change for people who were importing fuse in bulk with no EX number, no UN number, no labeling as explosives, and shipping it through the USPS mail with no labeling as hazardous material and without requiring any paperwork or license from the customers. Their business model was to completely ignore all regulations.

Not very surprisingly, if one actually follows all the regulations, it turns out to be vastly more expensive to import and sell hazardous materials including explosives, especially if the process begins at the factory in China with labelling the produce as a 1.4G or 1.4S explosive and getting an EX product number for it.

 

[porcelmc]

Actually got lucky and found some of my old fuse. This should hold me over for a bit:

 

[Rocket Man]

I thought "American Visco" was made in the U.S.. Why would importing be an issue here?