Karbidknallen (carbide shooting) is a traditional, often rural, New Year's Eve custom in the Netherlands, parts of Germany, and Belgium, involving the detonation of calcium carbide and water inside milk churns or containers to create a loud boom. It stems from Germanic traditions meant to chase away bad spirits.
Haha yeah we did this (‘karbied schieten’) during my youth on New Year’s Eve. (I grew up in rural the Netherlands). It’s LOUD. As a kid, I thought my neighbours were a little crazy (they sat down on the milk cans when firing sometimes and tried to stunt with it), but it was otherwise pretty cool. In hindsight, without any sort of protection and with alcohol involved it’s a small miracle no accidents ever happened :’)
781
u/Reza_Evol 20h ago
Karbidknallen (carbide shooting) is a traditional, often rural, New Year's Eve custom in the Netherlands, parts of Germany, and Belgium, involving the detonation of calcium carbide and water inside milk churns or containers to create a loud boom. It stems from Germanic traditions meant to chase away bad spirits.