This is a cool concept. Build a rocket from a matchstick. All you need is a match, some foil, another match to ignite the matchstick rocket, and some sort of aiming device; perhaps a nice big paperclip. Denny Cronin has a great how-to as well as some amusing photos - one of which indicates the result of a bad design. I thought the catapult watch was the best personal weapon to date but matchstick rockets promise to be slightly more dangerous and certainly more exciting. Wear goggles.

This is great example of the true value of the web. If not for the web and fellow blogger Jeremy Zawodny’s linkblog, I would not have been aware of this very simple and inexpensive personal weapon. While Estes rockets will go farther faster, matchstick rockets sit squarely in that sweet spot of price performance. My calculations show a cost per rocket of approximately $.03. Call the U.S. Army…

Get the instructions to build you own matchstick rockets here.