chemical fire

[birch-fire]

Hi,

If You're wanting to try the potassium permangenate / glycerin fire then this website sells them both together for £2.50, i've bought three of them over time and they're a great way to start a fire, fun and a nice change to using a firesteel . They come with simple instructions and are capable of about 15 uses. Personally i take a ball of cotton wool and put a small amount of pp on then add a drop of glycerin, wait 10 seconds and the cotton wool ball bursts into flames to the amazement of the people you're with .

http://www.xtremesurvival.co.uk/ViewItem.php?ItemID=29

Dave

 

[gorilla]

there's the link we all wanted - Tourist - obviously there is a validity to your point, but i for one, as a resposible adult, feel i can handle a fire-lighting experiment without harming others. i'm pretty sure there is no-one under15-16 registered here, and at that age, if their interests lie in bushcraft, i'm sure they are responsible enough not to blow themselves up.
too much nanny state thinking............

 

[gorilla]

3 kits ordered

 

[Porcupine]

to quote someone: i can kill someone with an ashtray, should we now ban ashtrays?

more to the point

i tried the sugar/pp mix but truth to tell i have a fire faster with the normal methods (firesteel/steel and flint) . it sure is fun to have another method on my list though

 

[Aaron]

I did not start the thread and neither did I mention the compositions or make up of combustible mixes, others did that. In my opinion mentioning such 'recipes' on a forum which is read by younger people was a tad inadvisable at the outset and the thread should have been closed then.

I made my observations because in my opinion once mention is made of chemical possibilities there are those who would venture to try their hand, oft the younger less experienced ones and oft with dire consequences. You as a Police Officer would surely have to agree with that. So whilst people were happy to mention 'recipes' it is more than advisible to provide a warning especially as has been mentioned to me, by the Mods, young people read the forum.

Now then, I am saddened that a Police Officer did not read the words of my post. I merely illustrated with an example the causative effects of the use of one of the above mentioned mixes, I did not mention anyone advocating, constructing or using pipe bombs.

I'm afraid I dont agree Tourist. Whilst I am sure that your intentions are good it saddens me that you feel that something should not be attempted, full stop, just because there is an element of risk to it. My thinking is that risk is inherent in life and that you cannot learn anything unless you try something for yourself, having first researched what to do or asked somebody to show you, as we are doing here. By reading the thread anyone looking to try this method can figure out -
a) the precise chemicals involved
b) How they should be mixed and in what quantity
c) That they should be left at a safe distance to combust

My thinking is that anyone who is interested in bushcraft and has the desire to learn different methods will eventually hear about this method and will want to try it, irrespective of your warnings to the contrary - surely it is better that we give this information so that those wishing to know exactly what to do rather than relying on vague and inaccurate hearsay. Anyway, those are my thoughts.

 

[combatblade1]

I did not start the thread and neither did I mention the compositions or make up of combustible mixes, others did that. In my opinion mentioning such 'recipes' on a forum which is read by younger people was a tad inadvisable at the outset and the thread should have been closed then.

I made my observations because in my opinion once mention is made of chemical possibilities there are those who would venture to try their hand, oft the younger less experienced ones and oft with dire consequences. You as a Police Officer would surely have to agree with that. So whilst people were happy to mention 'recipes' it is more than advisible to provide a warning especially as has been mentioned to me, by the Mods, young people read the forum.

Now then, I am saddened that a Police Officer did not read the words of my post. I merely illustrated with an example the causative effects of the use of one of the above mentioned mixes, I did not mention anyone advocating, constructing or using pipe bombs.

Firstly I take your point tourist, i dont however appriciate your need to be everyones father nor references to my occupation which incidently is non of your business as yours is non of mine, i joined BCUK because of like mined people who liked bushcrft. You did have a valid point about warning of the dangers you did not in my opinion have to tell war stories to get the point accross. Im saddened that you are saddened im sure the family of the person in your post is as well and im sure they wouldnt be happy for you to be splashing it across a web site.

Secondly As i mentioned in reply to your PM (which i felt to be quite rude) this is a survival firelighting technique which is explained in Ray Mears and others bushcraft and survival manuals and it was kept at that until your story, and as another of the posts explains you can buy the kit quite legally.

Thirdly As i said in answer to your PM i have left a PM for Tony to see if the thread can be locked before i receive any more rude PMs.

Fourthly In your post you said I did not mention anyone advocating, constructing or using pipe bombs. I didnt at any time suggest you did.

I hope this matter can be now put to bed.

Paul

 

[Celt_Ginger]

Hey Combatblade1, you are not very far from me. We should get together and look at some fire starting methods. In a proper situation, it's unlikely that you would have any PP with you anyhow, but I understand that if you at least know how to use it, then you can. And Tourist, I accept that it IS dangerous, but then, dieing of hypothermia is quite dangerous as well.

 

[Nomad_Of_Soul]

I managed to get everything on ebay, don't go for the fish cleaning stuff, too expensive

 

[Tony]

It's an interesting subject and many of us have experimented with chemical firelighting, if done sensibly and following some basic guidelines it's quite straight forward, I would never advocate making anything other than a little fire with it, some people may see this as an opportunity to go beyond that and more fool you if you do.

I note some comments that take the thread out of context and I think that they haven't helped so please keep it in context, a short warning that such things can be dangerous is quite sufficient. No one that I've read has advocated anything wrong, it was a straight forward question.

 

[Dave Budd]

I bought some PP a while back when I was putting together an order of other bits from the chemical supply company (acids, borax, sal ammoniac. All good wholesome knifemaking kit ) andhad a go with the glycerin from the chemist. It took me a while to get the proprtions to work though.

Now I occasionally use it to light fires in teh wqorkshop (ok, the forge) when I've done something daft like leave my lighters somewhere and I have nothing else around. I tend to mix up a couple of tsps on the anvil and use the fire to light kindling for teh forge.

I wouldn't want to take it out camping with me though. It either works or it doesn't. If it does it can take you by suprise and produce violent reactions (spitting of the boiling/combusting mixture, sudden flare-ups, smoke) and if it doesn't then you have a gooey mess of potentially dangerous chemicals sitting around that need disposing of. Also I would have to carry the two chemicals seperatly and knowing me I would lose one or the other!

Fire is fun, just don't f**k about with it

 

[gregorach]

I've also heard tell of folk who have got similar results from pot. perm. and Kendal Mint cake. Does anyone know how or is this just a rumour?

Well, PP is a powerful oxidising agent and Kendal mint cake contains plenty of simple carbohydrates, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if that works.

I suspect the reason these techniques were originally popularised is that PP used to be a very common ingredient in first aid kits. Nowadays, of course, it's been replaced with much safer (and less interesting) alternatives.