From: John De Armond
Newsgroups: misc.rural
Subject: Re: Fire Starting hint;
Date: Wed, 07 Dec 2005 01:35:18 -0500
Message-ID: <fnucp1176l77fgphlpfb8kmrq3njdc0jvq@4ax.com>

On 6 Dec 2005 11:39:00 -0800, "Larry Caldwell" <larryc@teleport.com>
wrote:

>Neon John wrote:
>
>> heh.  I still recall my dad's brother who used to light his charcoal
>> grill with methanol (he had an unlimited stock of the stuff).  I
>> particularly recall the grill lid tumbling through the air after the
>> explosion :-)
>
>Your uncle narrowly missed a life of fame and fortune.  The 1996
>Ignobel prize for Chemistry was awarded for lighting a BBQ grill with
>liquid oxygen.
>
>http://web.archive.org/web/20010602161147/http://ghg.ecn.purdue.edu/%7Eghg/

Oh kewl, glad to see George's page available on the net.  I have it
webstripped but I never thought to look on the wayback machine :-)

Yes, George and I are good friends.  We've both done many stupid human
tricks with LOX.  For example, did you know that you can create an
instant pothole and a lot of smoke and noise and gravel shrapnel by
soaking a section of pavement with LOX and then shooting it with
something hot like a flaregun?  From a safe distance, of course.  Or
that you can bore a hole in the side of a charcoal briquette, insert
some cannon fuse, soak the briquette in LOX and make a dandy
explosive? :-)  Or that if you heat a small hunk of aluminum to just
below its melting point and then toss it in a puddle of LOX, some
spectacular fireworks result?

Oh wait, this isn't rec.pyro...

Seriously, Unc was doing this in the 60s long before the internet was
even a gleam in anyone's eye.  he just had to remember the sequence
"light charcoal BEFORE closing lid"....

Back to lighting a charcoal grill, George's method is certainly
spectacular but I light my grill almost as fast using one of those
half million BTU high pressure propane weed burners you can buy at
harbor freight.  About 30 seconds' worth of jet engine roar and the
deed's done.  And there's even charcoal left to cook on! That's how I
light the charcoal grill at my restaurant.  Gives customers something
to think about while they're waiting on their steaks :-)

John

From: John De Armond
Newsgroups: misc.rural
Subject: Re: Fire Starting hint;
Date: Wed, 07 Dec 2005 12:53:31 -0500
Message-ID: <n48ep1ppa5tjgtguhg69rra0kvn4qmv8oa@4ax.com>

On 7 Dec 2005 09:00:08 -0800, "Harry K" <turnkey4099@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>
>Neon John wrote:
>
>> Back to lighting a charcoal grill, George's method is certainly
>> spectacular but I light my grill almost as fast using one of those
>> half million BTU high pressure propane weed burners you can buy at
>> harbor freight.  About 30 seconds' worth of jet engine roar and the
>> deed's done.  And there's even charcoal left to cook on! That's how I
>> light the charcoal grill at my restaurant.  Gives customers something
>> to think about while they're waiting on their steaks :-)
>
>AFter my fiasco trying to light some brush piles on fire yesterday, I
>am going looking for a weedburner. It took me an hour and a full 5 gal
>of diesel to get just two piles going.  Combination of very wet Nov,
>cold temp (14 degree), 6 inch snow on top of piles and slight breeze
>from wrong direction.  Only managed to get one lit in one spot on one
>edge so took forever to burn that pile (about 20'x10' by 12' high.  Had
>to keep adding more diesel to a small fire (yes dangerous).  Still have
>3 more huge piles to go and I don't want that misery again.

I don't particularly like the propane weed burner for lighting outdoor
fires.  It blasts way too much heat in a concentrated area.  The
target of the heat chars while the flame is on it but doesn't catch up
when the flame is removed.  A "lazy" orange propane flame from a fire
stick will work much better.

If you do go the weed burner route, figure out how to block most of
the air intake.  Aluminum foil or whatnot.  A big bushy oxygen starved
flame will do a much better job than that blue jet engine flame the
burner makes.

I REALLY don't like hauling propane tanks around so I tend to resort
to the diesel or kerosene trick.  Try my plastic bucket full of diesel
or kero method.  Optionally with some sand or dirt to thicken it.  A
few gallons of oil will burn for a long time and will dry out even the
worst brush.

John