mormanman Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 I know its only in movies but I think it would be cool to be able to hold fire. I've done it, and so has everyone else, put the Axe or the I. alcohol on my hands and lit it. I just would like to hold it longer with less pain. When I say hold it I mean so it looks like there is nothing on my hands. I can pick up embers from fires, thats fun. I guys showed me that at a Civil War reenactment, and you no the saying, "monkey see, monkey do." You just have to be careful with those. I've tried Petro Jelly and it doesn't help to much. Any ideas?
TheSidewinder Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 There is a gel of some sort that is used to protect hands, clothing, hair, ets. It's gross-looking, but effective, and is used by the professionals who do the Hollywood stunts involving fire. No idea what the formula is, but perhaps someone else knows.
AprenticeChemist Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 I don't know what the gel is called but I know what you are talking about. See mormanman you were asking in random thread how to seem MORE responsible and less stupid this would be one of those irresponsible things. Granted like you said almost everyone has done the whole rubbing alcohol on their hand trick but I mean thats shit you do when your young dumb and full of dumb. I mean if you're planning on trying it safely and reading up on it then thats differnt. If you're going to do the whole dumb ass "hey I think this is how it might work lets try this HEY GUYS WATCH THIS". Fire isn't a toy you can have fun with it but read about that kind of shit first. Before I ever tried firebreathing I did some research on what type of fuels to use and safety.
psyco_1322 Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 Yah there is a guy that was on or might well still be on totse in backyard ballistics that did a lot of firebreathing. Not just for fun but as a side job. If you could find the thread over there you might be able to pick up a few things out of it. I thinks its called "New firebreathing Pics" or something along them lines.
AprenticeChemist Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 Yah there is a guy that was on or might well still be on totse in backyard ballistics that did a lot of firebreathing. Not just for fun but as a side job. If you could find the thread over there you might be able to pick up a few things out of it. I thinks its called "New firebreathing Pics" or something along them lines. Yea his usernames stupid noob. He does all kinds of cool shit besides firebreathing, like fire poi or what ever its called using the sticks and shit. Hes in Backyardballistics on TOTSE.com He'd probably know what the shit is called and good safety tips.
Swede Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 Please don't play with fire. This thread reminds me of the 10,000+ dumbasses you can see on youtube. "OK dood! Pour the alcohol on me!" (drunken chuckles) "Whoa, dooood, that's a shitload!" "hahaha!" "Yah Dood, light me!" "Hehehe!" (WHUMP!) "Whoa, dude! YOU'RE ON FIRE! Awesome!" (Guy on fire poses for 2 seconds, then begins to feel it.) "Oh S--T!! Oh S--T!!!! Put it out! Put it out!!!! AAHHHHHHH! S--T! YAAAAAH" (Much running around, flailing, panic, injury, pain, stupidity)
TheSidewinder Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 Yup. And remember, you might be a redneck if any of your relatives have died right after saying, "Hey y'all! Watch this!!!"......
Senz Posted August 3, 2008 Posted August 3, 2008 Its called "stunt jell" i saw it on an episode of Mythbusters
DeepOvertone Posted August 3, 2008 Posted August 3, 2008 I "held fire" for a picture once. I took some aluminum foil and folded it in half. I put some fiberglass insulation between the layers of aluminum foil and formed it into a little bowl that I could conceal by cupping my hand. I then took a piece of papertowel and put that on top as a wick. The papertowel was soaked in lighter fluid (zippo fluid not charcoal lighter fluid) then I lit the paper. I was able to hold it for as long as it took to take the pictuer without feeling any heat. But thats just "holding fire" not setting your whole hand on fire. And it worked well for the picture but if you want to do it in real life it might be kind of cheesy once you have to get rid of the aluminum foil thingy. Magicians shops sell a device that fits in your hand also but I dont know what its called. Be careful to read the descriptions carefully because some of them are made to shoot fireballs not just burn in your hand.
mormanman Posted August 4, 2008 Author Posted August 4, 2008 Oh I know its dangerous to "play with" but I always try to be as safe as possible. As unlikely as it would seem. My mom won't let me fire breathe even if I do research on it. It still looks cool.
LGM Posted August 4, 2008 Posted August 4, 2008 Sodium polyacrylate is used in fire proofing gels by dissolving it in water, it holds something like 200-300 times it's own weight. It's also the stuff used in baby diapers, so if you really want some you could try cutting some open. You would probably be better off ordering the pure stuff though, teachersource.com has it for pretty cheap. I'm betting a few minutes on google could have told you that.
asilentbob Posted August 4, 2008 Posted August 4, 2008 Been wanting to do that for a while... I think I originally found it posted in totsebb... but dunno. You should be able to use a few other fuels... but your still pretty limited... I wonder about boric acid / EtOH... or copper chloride / EtOH... i don't think I would use straight methanol... but EtOH or IPrOH probably...
Miech Posted August 4, 2008 Posted August 4, 2008 Ethanol has a too low ignition point to be used safely. Lighter fuel needs some kind of wick to burn properly, so the flame actually doesn't touch your hand. You could also use lamp oil (liquid paraffin) or similar fuels, but getting a colored flame would probably be hard. I would suggest to use kevlar cloth, since this doesn't burn away as quick as cotton. This should provide a nicer colored flame, since cotton tends to color it yellow. Sodium polyacrylate (super absorbing polymer, SAP) won't help when you set yourself on fire without protecting clothes. Usually it is applied on bare skin, and the stunt man is using a heat reflecting suit over it. Even if you see bare skin burning in a movie, it is actually covered with fire proof rubber to prevent people from burning themselves. I've never used SAP, but I don't even think about setting myself on fire. I do firebreathing, but I had a professional training for it.
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