A single ignition box ("SIB")  is essentially just a very large cake but with a wider variety of effects. The outer tubes in some are also angled slightly, so the box provides coverage to the left and right of the display area too.

This type of firework proved popular over the millennium because it allowed quite powerful and pretty displays to be conducted "instantly" with very little setting up, and very little effort. As a result of their popularity, manufacturers have brought out increasing numbers and varieties of SIBS over the last few years.

There is no "official" specification of a SIB so it is down to an individual manufacturer to decide when a firework is too big to be called a cake. This does mean some brands have SIBS which just perform like a large cake, and some brands have big cakes which behave more like a SIB!

It's important then when browsing our reviews to look at both the cakes and SIBS section. We often go by the retailer's description when deciding if an item is a cake or SIB, but sometimes we might put a SIB in the cake section if all it does is behave like a big cake!

The best SIBS are those which combine and rotate different types of effects such as mines, colour, aerial effects and various noises. Most SIBS last around one minute or more.