It all started during Hurricane Katrina.
During the aftermath of the storm, we had no power, and no real way of entertaining ourselves. After the necessary work had been done (cleaing limbs/trees, fixing damage, etc), I was hanging around doing nothing one day, when my friend called me up on the muhfuggin Tracfone and told me he had something to show me.
In addition to the XBOX running off a generator and playing GTA San Andreas for a long period of time, he eventually pulled out this contraption to show to me.
It was a simple combustion launcher, fueled by Right Guard deodorant, with a grossly oversized 3" combustion chamber and 3/4" barrel.
Even though he never got it firing that day, it piqued my interest, and I resolved to build my own as soon as feasibly possible.
Ever since then, it's been a bit of a hobby of mine. Use the links to explore more.