THE BEST Fire

Wheel rims from a car seem like an odd material for building a wood-burning stove, but that’s exactly what André Göbel of Create Custom Designs did, a set of old steel rims to provide the structure for a cylindrical stove inspired by Bullerjan stoves, which use bent pipes to circulate cold air from the bottom and out of its top.

Filmmakers Hugo Manhes and Madcow collaborated on the short film Trajectoires, which uses a simple concept to produce a dramatic effect. By dangling bright flares from a couple of drones, they created a unique source of illumination for their natural surroundings. Set to an ethereal soundtrack by Linky Larson.

From the “don’t try this at home” file, Brad Russell shows off what happens when a 2000-volt transformer from a microwave oven is applied to wood painted with sodium bicarbonate. The result is beautiful, tree-like patterns known as Lichtenberg figures.

The Q decided that ordinary matches weren’t big enough for him, so he went ahead and made five giant-sized matches out of wood, rope, and a homemade mix of incendiary chemicals like the ones on a real match head. To complete the set, he built a wooden matchbox with a sandpaper striker on its side.

Nature’s fury is on full display in this short film that takes us inside the harrowing 2018 volcanic eruption of Kilauea on Hawaii’s big island. Photographers Lance Page, Michael Lienau, G. Brad Lewis, and Adrian Hein each captured a portion of the spectacular footage, which ranges from massive smoke plumes, to rivers of fire.

Many of us loved to play with our toy fire twucks when we were little kids, but the real fire-fighting machines are much more impressive. Donut Media dropped by the Oxnard Fire Department to learn all about the many features and gear on board their shiny new 2020 Pierce Arrow XT fire truck.

Coolest Thing introduces us to self-proclaimed mad scientist Lance Greathouse. Among his many builds is a motorized wheelchair that packs a flamethrower on its front end. But he doesn’t just build silly stuff, Lance and the folks from the Wheelchair Labs helps refurbish wheelchairs for people in need.

Senko Hanabi fireworks are a traditional Japanese form of pyrotechnics that uses only a tiny bit of combustible powder to get started, then transforms through various stages to produce a sparkler effect. NightHawkInLight scored a rare lesson on how to make them at the Tsutsui Tokimasa fireworks company. Money shot at 14:18.

The tiki candle collection from Fury Bros. tips its sunhat to tropical cocktails. Hand-poured in the USA using soy wax and natural oils, they come in four scents: Mondo Mango Daiquiri, Pele’s Punch, Polynesian Painkiller, and Flamin’ Zombie. After their 70-hour burn, the ceramic tiki mugs are perfect for liquid libations.

(PG-13: Language) Maker Simone Giertz took a page of the old improv handbook, and asked viewers to toss out ideas of things for her to make out of other things. Her first challenge: make a piece of furniture out of 20,000 matches. Since she built it out of metal, the table still remains after setting it ablaze.

Invented by Nikola Tesla, this ingenious type of valve uses a series of teardrop-shaped channels to restrict the flow of gases going one direction, by allowing smooth flow the other direction. NightHawkInLight built one such valve and demonstrates how it works by igniting propane gas flowing through it.

To celebrate the holiday season and the end of the year, the folks over at FullMag and Black Rifle Coffee headed to the firing range to blow some stuff up with det cord. They starts out with a beautifully-timed, but less than explosive “2020” sign, and then made up for it with a truly fiery Christmas tree.

Juggler Dan Foley recently posted a video of himself tossing about three metal lawn chairs, each with its legs set ablaze. The clip caught the attention of the Ellen show, and they asked him to put together an “audition” clip before his appearance on the talk show. He did the stunt even better this time around.

YouTuber The S loves to make stuff from cardboard, and often incorporates matchsticks into his designs. In this clip, he compiles four builds which incorporate jet engines powered by numerous lit matches. While they don’t travel that fast, the fiery launches are quite the spectacle.

The image of fire that most of us have is the tip of a candle or a fireplace flickering, buy there are many other types of flame. Enjoy some variety in this clip from Yan Liang’s Envisioning Chemistry and Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s awesomely named Combustion Lab.

Add a touch of warmth to any space with this tabletop fireplace. The 5″ wide vessel is made from special heat-resistant cement, and uses rubbing alcohol to burn for up to 50 minutes at a time. Adjustable feet protect your furniture from its heat, and it’s even safe to cook over. (Must be 18+ to purchase)

The Slow Mo Guys performed a dangerous experiment, in which they tossed a flaming bucket of gasoline onto a sheet of glass to see how it spread. The resulting 4K visuals are spectacular, but under no circumstances should you try to replicate this at home.

Getting rid of weeds is a pain. Pluck them, and they come back. Kill them with chemicals, and the ground is poisoned for other plants. These organic corn farmers demonstrate a much more reliable, chemical-free, and downright spectacular method to clear the ground – FIRE!

Aerogel has some amazing properties. It’s insanely lightweight, and is an incredible insulator. Recently, Derek Muller of Veritasium put this to the test, by standing behind a blanket infused with silica aerogel being hit by a Boring Company Not a Flamethrower. Now we’d like to see the same test with a serious flamethrower.

Always be prepared with Überleben’s survival tool that can help you quickly start a fire. Its comprised of a mini ferrocerium (fire steel) rod and serrated ring scraper which can make flaming hot sparks in any weather or at any altitude. Comes with a 34″ paracord lanyard.

Radiate is a campfire in a tin. It’s fuel source is recycled paper briquettes coated in recycled soy wax. It lights up easily and can be snuffed out just by placing the lid over it. You can even light it up again if it’s not all used up. Each tin lasts 3 to 5 hours.

These firestarter rods include a few bonus features which could come in handy in an emergency. In addition to a magnesium rod and striker tool, they’ve got a built-in compass and whistle, and hang on a length of 450lb. paracord. Comes two to a pack, so you’ll always have a spare. Available in several colors, including glow-in-the-dark.

Ohio artist Melissa Crisp creates these incredibly cool steel fire pits which feature intricately cut scenes of nature. Each one creates a dramatic silhouette when a fire is lit. They’re built for wood, but can be converted to burn gas. We especially love the Phoenix Rising design.

Woodworker Lignum has made some pretty cool furniture over the years, and this build is definitely among his coolest. He created this table by laminating together blocks of wood then scorching it with a torch to give it the look that a fire burnt its insides out. We imagine it smells like a campfire too.