So Marty McFly sported an awesome nylon vest in one of my favorite movies "Back to the Future".  I used to have a nylon tri-colored vest/jacket with snaps similar to his.  It had zippered pockets and zippered sleeves.  You could zip off the sleeves and keep the pits aired out.  I never had the sleeves on because I grew up in Florida, but it was a great way to keep partially warm during that walk to the school bus on those cool mornings.  Cool mornings in Florida were about 50 degrees Farenheit.  The bottom snap did not work.  It was broke the first day I had it.  I hated that snap.  Many attempts to fix that snap failed.  I even tried to put candlewax on it to make it snap.  Not sure where I heard that stupid remedy, but was willing to try.

Here is a great example of a Puffy Orange Nylon Vest with Snaps:

Man, that one is in perfect condition.  I think I may have to find one on eBay soon for nostalgic purposes.

Random side note: The Back to the Future picture above has FLAMES in it!  I love it.

The fourth of July is a great time to blow up stuff or play with fire.  It's easy to get distracted by the big expensive fireworks in public displays.  But if you get past the ooh's and ahh's of the bright explodey fireworks, and pay attention to the small ones, you may be surprised how much fun you can have.  I'm talking about the variety of things you might find in the "Grocery Store Special" package of fireworks.

Here are a few of my favorite overlooked 4th of July goodies and what I like to do with them: 

• Snap n' Pops (throw them at your friend's bare arms and start a battle)
• Pull n' Pop string things (tie them to door knobs and wait for someone to open the door, haha it's hilarious)
• Plastic Bottle string pull n' pop things (put them by your butt and pull the string so it looks like confetti shoots out)
• Snakes (put a ton of them together and light them all at once to grow dreadlocks)
• Sparklers (bend the end of the wire, light it, and spin it really really really fast on your finger)
• and TANKS! (get a buddy, face the tanks at each other, light them at the same time, and see who wins!)

Those are some of the childish things I like to do on the 4th of July.  I'm easily entertained.

Here is the end result of my TANK BATTLE OF JULY 4th 2009: 

Yes!  I POWNED YOUR TANK!!!  There was a lot of cheering going on.  Then it ended in FLAMES.  Sweet victory.

To see the aftermath in video, click the link below to download and watch the videoclip from my phone.

Video Clip:
iPownedYourTank.3GP (168.93 kb)

So on the next 4th of July, stock up on the overlooked and often ignored firework items.  It can make you feel like a kid again!