Fire Clubs
Runninhunter
Firstly, quick shoutout to the bag lady because her props are amazing
and you should check her out.
The main point:
I have bought some fire clubs and I have practiced with them unlit and
I feel very comfortable to juggle them lit. However, I do not know:
1. What is a good fuel to use
2. The Proper Way to light them
and 3. The proper way to extinguish them
So I was wondering if any of you guys, could help me out on this.
Thanks,
Daniel Krenz
Runninace on youtube, check me out!
Trevor Lewis
It smokes less than lighter fuel and doesn't evaporate so quickly.
Put enough oil in a metal container so that it covers the wicks of the
fire torches.
Hold each torch in the oil until they stop bubbling.
Shake them out well until they stop spraying oil.
Light them with a lighter.
Juggle them for 5 minutes and you can just blow them out, or you could
prepare a wet cotton towel and just smother them.
When you're done pour a little oil on each torch so that the wicks don't
dry out and you'll give them a longer life.
Have fun and have respect for fire.
--
----== posted via www.jugglingdb.com ==----
Little Paul
Blahblahblah safety advice, always have someone responsible around, only
juggle fire when sober, have some sort of fire extinguisher near by, wear
sensible clothes (no baggy nylon) tie back loose hair, watch what the wind
is doing etc etc.
Oh, and juggling fire at night sucks. The best time is early evening just
after the sun goes down - that way you can still see what you're doing.
> 1. What is a good fuel to use
parrafin (uk)
kerosene (us)
lamp oil (most places)
> 2. The Proper Way to light them
With a lighter, matches suck.
You missed out "how to fuel them" which is possibly quite a useful
step as well.
There are two options, which one is "best" seems to be a matter of
taste and/or debate - but they're both safe and effective.
1 - Get an old food tin (clean it out first) and pour enough fuel into
it to cover the head of a torch. Dunk the wick in the fuel until it
stops bubbling. Lift it out and let some of the excess drain back into
the tin. Repeat for each torch, then shake them all vigorously (away
from the juggling area) to get rid of the rest of the excess. Return
any excess fuel to the fuel can.
2 - Get an old food tin (clean it out first) put the head of the torch
in it, and then slowly pour fuel onto the wick. Stop before it starts
to drip. Return any excess fuel to the fuel can.
Note, all fuel should be kept in a sealed container, well away from
where you plan to juggle.
Spilt fuel can be a fire risk (although if you use the fuels listed
above it's a pretty small one) but more important it can kill grass,
stain concrete, and make tarmac really slippery.
Oh, and when you light them, it's easier to light one first, then
light the others from the first torch.
When you first light them, make sure to hold them away from you, with
the heads pointing upwards. Heat rises, and if you hold them head
down you'll probably drop them from shock.
> and 3. The proper way to extinguish them
I think my prefered way is to wrap them in a damp towel.
On no account should you allow the flames to burn out as this can lead
to the wick smouldering which can shorten the life of it.
ProTip! Ever wondered why street performers light their torches and
then blather on for a couple of minutes before they start to juggle?
It burns off any excess fuel so you don't get blobs of hot fuel in
your eyes when you start to juggle - and that stings.
Have fun, play safe, and then give up fire juggling because it's
really smelly and dirty.
-Paul
--
http://paulseward.com
Ewano
>
> So I was wondering if any of you guys, could help me out on this.
LP and Trevor both give good advice - however there is one tip to this
advice I would like to offer.
I was talking recently[1] to a chap[2] about fire performance safety and
good practice. He gave me a good tip that I'll never use myself[4] - but
is used a lot by fire spinney types.
Using two cleaned out food tins you can save fuel and lessen the
contamination of your surroundings[5]. Use the first as directed by LP and
Trevor as a dunking container to get fuel onto your wicks. The second is
used as a fuel recapture container.
Cut two holes drilled/cut into the sides round the rim of the second tin,
and then attach it to a bit of cord/chain. The club[6] is put in the tin
and the cord pulled up tight and gripped in the same hand holding the club
- holding the tin on the end of the club head. You can now swing the
club(s) around in a big circle and all the excess fuel will drain into the
collection tin. Pour this reclaimed fuel back into your fuel bottle.
It will save you money and also keep the area you or your prospective
audience are in free from fuel and pollution - which is nice if you are a
guest somewhere.
Use two differing sizes of tin and they will stack inside each other to
save space.
Ewano - who thought Petey was possibly the tallest man he's ever seen..
[1] Well, at the number 1[3] juggling convention.
[2] Capt. Petey - dragon fly squad leader for those in the know..
[3] Bristol....
[4] Not being that bothered about fire I'm not likely to use fire any more
and own no fire equipment, unless you count my stove - but then again
that's not a toy, more an incendiary device.
[5] Paraffin is slippery as hell on pavements, and not so great for flora
and fauna
[6] If you are clever and use commercial sized tins you can get all three
clubs in the tin at the same time..
Little Paul
>
> a good tip
That is a clever bit of thinking! I like that.
> [4] Not being that bothered about fire I'm not likely to use fire any more
> and own no fire equipment, unless you count my stove - but then again
> that's not a toy, more an incendiary device.
I seem to remember your stove being, erm, "entertaining" - for
OMGIT'SGOINGTOKILLUSALL! values of "entertaining"
-Paul
--
http://paulseward.com
Ewano
That reminds me, I should really service it this year before I use it.
Perhaps now that I'm not survival motorbiking I could run it on paraffin -
rather than petrol...
Ewano - who started his bike for the first time this year at the weekend.
nick ~-_-~
There is some good sensible advice here already. But mostly reading your
post I would say just have some fun! really fire juggling is not so
dangerous as it looks.
Nylon cloths bad
Parafin good (will try lamp oil one day)
dip wikes untill submerged, shake out a little and light with fag lighter.
They go out by them selves after a couple of minutes
Ewano
>
> There is some good sensible advice here already. But mostly reading your
> post I would say just have some fun! really fire juggling is not so
> dangerous as it looks.
Hmmm. I think you'll find that fire juggling "appears" to be less
dangerous than it is. The assumption that playing with fire is not very
dangerous is the very thing that causes accidents to happen.
Respect fire. It kills. It can get out of control in a split second. Do a
search for juggling fire accident and you will find multiple videos of
people playing with fire and getting burned. Just cause it's on youtube
doesn't make it any less serious. Take it seriously, take precautions to
minimise the risk. Remember that you have only minimised the risk - but
it's still a risk.
Learn lessons from the mistakes of others - or you might find yourself in
a fireball someday.
Ewano - who is not often serious, but who has been in a fireball before
and it wasn't very funny....
Little Paul
>
> The assumption that playing with fire is not very dangerous is the very
> thing that causes accidents to happen.
Fire juggling is not very dangerous, when it's done by an experienced
person who is aware of the risks and has made plans for what happens
when things go wrong.
Fire juggling can be very dangerous, when it's done by an inexperienced
person who thinks they're perfectly safe, hasn't taken precautions or
made plans for how to handle things getting out of control.
Even if you've been doing it for years and have taken every precaution
under the sun, fire has a nasty habit of throwing you a curveball and
if you're not on your game you can get very hurt.
Or worse, someone near you can get hurt.
> Ewano - who is not often serious, but who has been in a fireball before
> and it wasn't very funny....
I've had clothing catch fire and it's scary as shit. Luckilly I had
an exit plan which worked (drop and roll ftw!) and was wearing cotton
under the item which caught fire - so no lasting damage done, but it
was enough to give me a healthy respect for flame.
-Paul
--
http://paulseward.com
Jay Linn
<snip>
> I've had clothing catch fire and it's scary as shit. Luckilly I had
> an exit plan which worked (drop and roll ftw!) and was wearing cotton
> under the item which caught fire - so no lasting damage done, but it
> was enough to give me a healthy respect for flame.
This is what happens when a single stray drop of burning fuel falls on
synthetic fabric, in this case fun fur -
http://jay-linn.co.uk/temp/burnt-hat.jpg
That's a hat, that is. It was on my head at the time, and I was just
beginning to wonder what the strange sort of sizzling sound was that I
could feel through the top of my head.
It was when the random punter on the street told me the second time "Er,
your hat's on fire mate" that I realised that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't
merely taking the piss out of the fire juggler. I remain grateful that
that particular brand of fun fur contains a great deal of fire retardant.
--
Jay Linn
Semper eadem.
Guy G
>
> (drop and roll ftw!)
This cracked me up completely, and I'm not really sure why.
Guy