How do you make a fire torch?

[maddave]

Not completely sure about this but isn't that NAPALM!!!!

I can almost hear the thwop thwop thwop of hueys flying up the delta... the snap of a stick in the jungle.. is that a wild pig or is charley back?... the Doors playing "Riders on the Storm" from a phillips N3202 cassete player... Adrian Cronauer screaming out the radio...

Sorry flashbacks there for a moment, but that stuff is really dangerous, it catches fire then sticks to you!!!!

Yup basically is is Napalm.........
I love the smell of napalm in the morning... Smells like...........VICTORY :BlueTeamE

 

[Montivagus]

Thats the recipe I was told many years ago, but I bow to your deeper knowledge - I hadn't realised there were many ways of making the nasty stuff.
As for not making it - "too bl**dy right", wouldn't dream of doing so.

ATB

Ogri the trog

:11doh: Sorry Ogri; I didn’t mean it to sound like that - actually I never thought you would be making it; and you can do your bowing to Wikipedia…I got my info from there following a similar conversation a couple of months back.

 

[sharp88]

Best not to mess about with petrol all-in-all.

 

[Montivagus]

Best not to mess about with petrol all-in-all.

Ahh....if only George and Saddam had listened to these wise words.

However I think that Indiana Jones is playing with exactly these sort of petrol gels. Special effects flame torches and even the explosions they film rely on exactly these gels for the colour of flame and slow motion effect.

 

[hanzo]

Saw an episode of Survivorman's Surviving Urban Disasters. In the flood episode, he made a makeshift torch out of stuff scrunged from an office. It looked pretty neat. He rolled up a piece of kleenix (tissue), smeared it with vaseline, and rolled it in a piece of paper from a printer. He rolled each piece up pretty tight.

Let it up and viola, a makeshift torch. Amazingly, he said it will burn for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. I will try an play with one soon. It basically is more candle than torch, but it worked.

I made a torch recently and it worked well and stayed light in pretty high wind. I took a dry branch from the back yard, split one end down about 1-2 inches. I put about 4-6 small splits in it. Wove some cotton soaked with vaseline into the splits and fluffed it up, then shoved a small piece of fatwood into the middle split.

When I was ready to light it, a spark was all it took, even in the wind. I snuffed it out after about 20 minutes. The end of the branch was a little charred but it wasn't burned through at all. I think there was still some fatwood in there too. It was pretty good. A nice flame of decent size and I suspect it would be pretty long burning too. It was made with a multi-tool and a baton. And I didn't have to worry about napalm getting on me.

I just ran out to look for the branch as I brought it back home with me, but alas, my wife threw it out. I will post pictures the next time I make one.

 

[Toddy]

Gregorach is right about the traditional ones; ordinary folks used individual rushes from the big thick loch or riverine (scirpus lacustris now s. schoenoplectus) soaked in animal fat, fish or whale oil. It burns well, but gives out black oily smoke Bundled together they make a good torch.
This topic was discussed a long time ago and if I recall correctly pine tar was considered a goodie for the torch.

****found the link****
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=3995&highlight=flaming

Cheers,
Toddy