Finally got to launch rockets after 33 years. Some SNAFUs...

Well...We launched several Estes rockets. There seemed to be issues when we used the Estes recovery wadding...but not the home-made paper towel + borax wadding.

EX-200 failed to deploy parachute but recovered intact on grass field (estes wadding)
Summit beautiful flight, it arrived missing a streamer so I used a piece of ripstop nylon from a kite sacrified for another project. Scorched streamer (estes wadding)
Taser failed to deploy, broke on impact, fins popped off and body tube bent. (estes wadding)
Flying Colors flew twice, once on a b4-4 and on a c6-5...both times recovery deployed after apogee and scared us, but it worked great...LOL (HOME MADE WADDING WORKED GREAT)
Helios, B4-4, deployed parachute after apogee but landed fine.

My son says the EX-200 is his favorite out of the ones we flew.

Try using dog barf (blowing insulation) next time. It's a whole lot cheaper than wadding and a $6.25 bale will last you literally a lifetime. Just make sure you use at least a caliber or two to be sure you have enough. That might help you out some. And I'm glad you guys had a good time!

The borax paper towels worked great, we live in a tiny 2 bedroom duplex so there's not really storage here for a big ol' bag of cellulose insluation.

I would REALLY like to know why our rockets were veering off to the west when they left the rod. The last few did that.

The most likely cause for veering off in one direction is the rocket "weathercocking" into the wind. Was there a west wind blowing when you launched? Before I knew what I was doing, I would actually aim my rod into the wind hoping to cancel out a long walk for recovery. It worked occasionally, but also made for really stressful ejections as they would occur way after apogee.

That sounds like that, they definitely went INTO the wind...it wasn't a strong breeze. How do I prevent that? I'm glad it was the Tazer that broke on impact...but I'm really bummed 'cause it feels like I wasted money.
We left the Flutter-bys at home on accident and didn't want to waste a minute before his mom came to pick him up, they're on the agenda (with A8-3 engines from a bulk pack...) for next time!

Overstable rockets do fly into the wind on the way up.
I wonder if your wadding wasnt packed too tight. Needs to be loosely put in, and far enough for the chute to be put in, as well as the nose cone.
Ejection after apogee is a good sign the delay is too long.

There is no cure for weathercocking--it is a law of physics. But you can minimize it by using a motor with a higher initial thrust. Of course, with Estes motors, your options are very limited.

And the local hobby stores and Wal-mart don't even carry the full line of Estes motors, so my options are even more limited there. I wonder if the Flutter-Bys will be less likely to do that weather-cocking.

The Flutter-Bys are all fins! And with the nose weight it's probably over stable.
If there is wind an over stable model can weather cock.
It will fall fairly fast so there won't be much drift.
Just be sure you have two sets of eyes, one to follow the right half, one to follow the left half.
An A8-3 is a good engine for it. You'll loose at least half of it with a C6.

I packed the wadding loose and followed the guidelines, the paper towel wadding, seemed to work better than the Estes wadding. When I used the paper towel wadding, I was a little more liberal with the use than the Estes guidelines suggested I be with their tissue type wadding.