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The static build/discharge theory is pure speculation, but a rubber balloon is 100 times more succeptable to creating static than a polyethylene bag.

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I think you have that ass-backward. Without being mixed with oxygen or air, acetylene burns MUCH slower, not faster.

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Torn eardrums, though painful and deafening are not permanently damaged. They heal. The deafness is only temporary.

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Acetylene is provided as a gas dissolved in a solvent such as acetone (rather than compressed to a liquid) because such a cilinder would blow up the entire workshop if it fell over.

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especially when they are handled.

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Realize this though... Pretty much everything you do in life that's exciting and fun involves a certain amount of risk.

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Yes, and I have done my share of extreme activities... technical rock climbing, SCUBA diving, spelunking, etc... but the difference is that I don't try to convince people that these activities are, in your words, "VERY SAFE".  People die all the time doing these activities.  People die all the time working with explosives.  Although I love the art and science of pyrotechnics, I certainly do not lie to myself about the dangers.  I know that every time I mix up a new batch of stars, that I may end up killing myself, no matter how safe I am.

Anyway... I'm done with the warnings... I have been working with explosives and pyrotechnics for more than fifteen years... I have worked in an explosives research lab, testing explosives for the US military... If you can name it, I probably tested it, and there is a good chance that I have manufactured it as well... I still have all my fingers, though many of those that I have worked with do not.  If you think I am over the top, go post your acetylene bag experiences on rec.pyrotechnics and see what the professionals have to say about it...

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You, Wiccan, are not completely correct. You are conflagrating and composing and exaggerating and assuming and simply fabricating.
Stop already.

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way to deal with that!

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The speculation I was referring to was when you said static was the likely cause of that balloon in the car going boom.
Pure speculation there. No one will ever know for sure exactly what caused it to blow.

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static electricity is a major hazard. That likely blew up the car in the news article, static between the balloon and synthetic upholstery of the car seat.

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Many things could've, but static electricity is one of the major dangers of this method so its realistic to assume it was that.

If you can rig your acetylene bags in a way that nobody is near them when they fill and sit until you fire them you've eliminated most hazards. Perhaps you could fill the bag with oxygen first and then supply the required acetylene in the field through a long thin hose from firing distance. That way you are far away all the while and mostly out of harm's way. Its not completely safe but it beats the hands on approach.

If you want to do it the usual way then use goggles & quality earplugs at the very least when you are filling and handling the bag. You're in a shitload of trouble when the bag blows and you're near (its quite a blast) and your eyes and especially ears are most in danger. When you're at a safe distance you can remove em.

I don't know how big your thrashbags are but you said something about it setting off car alarms over a distance and you enjoying the concussion from afar, and that alone says enough about the size of your blasts.

Be careful man, we don't want to come up one Shroomerite short at the evening headcount