Camp Watchitalgoblooie

July 3, 2007 9:59 AM

Summer Explosives Camp at UMR!
posted by fandango_matt (14 comments total)

There's a reason it is in Rolla. Ft. Leonard Wood, where they practice blowing up things all day as part of the combat engineer basic officer course is 20 miles away. I'm certain it is no coincidence.
posted by Ironmouth at 10:10 AM on July 3, 2007

Jeez, where was this when I was a kid? We had to make our explosives all on our own.
posted by caddis at 10:11 AM on July 3, 2007

Summer camp is the bomb!

Sorry.
posted by miss lynnster at 10:40 AM on July 3, 2007

So... so is there an upper age limit for this?

*shaves*
*ties shoes to knees and kneels*
posted by brundlefly at 10:53 AM on July 3, 2007

Hopefully some of the UK's nutjobs can attend, so that they can learn that gasoline in cans does not a good explosive make.
posted by jellicle at 10:54 AM on July 3, 2007

Hello Muddah
Hello Faddah
Here I am at
Camp Grenadae
posted by Horace Rumpole at 10:54 AM on July 3, 2007

Why stop at just summer camp? They have an explosives program available through their mining department too. You might just want to claw your eyes out with how boring the town itself can get though...

At least they have a big St. Patrick's Day celebration. The centennial next year should be a blast.
posted by chipb at 11:13 AM on July 3, 2007

Only 14 years until my daughter is old enough to go! I guess I'd better start now to convince my wife it is a good idea.
posted by TedW at 11:20 AM on July 3, 2007

It would be at Rolla... a bunch of lonely men....nothing good can come of this!
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 11:38 AM on July 3, 2007

I heard this story on NPR. I thought it was pretty interesting that they recruit the "troubled" kids in school that like to blow things up and experiment with fireworks, explosives and fire starting. At camps like this they learn under supervision to respect the craft, learn the physics behind it in controlled settings. They also career pathed toward mining careers where there is a great demand for new blood since so many of the current explosive and mining experts are on the verge or retirement. That sure beats the kid getting suspended, and setting his parents garage on fire by accident.
posted by brinkzilla at 12:05 PM on July 3, 2007

These mining engineering programs need some way to get people to enroll. Besides, where else where our future explosives researchers come from?
posted by yohko at 1:02 PM on July 3, 2007

Yeah, we blew some things up when I was at UMR. Not under supervision though.
posted by jeffamaphone at 2:02 PM on July 3, 2007

Jeez, where was this when I was a kid? We had to make our explosives all on our own.

Hell yeah! I blame the pernicious effect of television for my own childish exploits. In particular, the Star Trek episode "Arena". Most conveniently, the drug store where we purchased our potassium nitrate carried sulfur on the same shelf...
posted by Tube at 7:42 PM on July 3, 2007

I've already got my wife on board for our kids to go to this. It'll be at least 10 years before the oldest one is able to, but we can start making plans now. Perhaps they need some counselors to come along.
posted by ericales at 1:04 AM on July 4, 2007