Watch: Making Rockets From Sugar & Kitty Litter

So this guy, the King of Random on YouTube, was playing around with model rocket engines. Unfortunately, they cost about $17 a pop! So he did some research and next thing you know, he’s making his own little thrusters at the rate of two for a dollar, which take his rockets almost 1/2 a mile up.

I enjoyed this line: “We’re gonna need a small blender that we’re not afraid to damage.”

It’s pretty simple, really. You use some clay (kitty litter) as plugs for each end of a short section of PVC pipe, with a mixture of stump remover and powdered sugar between the plugs. Drill a hole, add a fuse, and you are ready to fly.

This seems like it could be pretty handy for signaling, and maybe even for passing ropes over long distances or impassable spans. Connect a light messenger line, fly it across with a rocket engine, and use the messenger to pull over a heavier rope to span the gap.

On the other hand, that idea might suck. Can you think of any better uses for these sweet homemade rocket engines?

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.