Fire

Primitive Technology lulled us into thinking that making fire from scratch is easy. But as Mike Boyd quickly learns, it can be a frustrating and nearly impossible task if you don’t do your research beforehand. But with the right wood – and 8 hours of practice! – it can be done.

Peter Sripol and his buddy Sam spent a couple of days building a huge barbecue lighter, complete with a red body and black switch. Inside is a weed torch modified to fit a butane bottle. Watch them set off their leftover Fourth of July fireworks with it.

32 stunt performers put on an incredible show of courage, as each of them donned a firesuit, slathered on fire gel, and were lit ablaze to set a new Guinness World Record for the most simultaneous full-body burns. Each person had to remain on fire for at least 30 seconds.

(Loud) Engineers from Japan’s Tohoku University and National Institute of Technology are developing a truly unusual firefighting. The device self-balances on its water stream and can snake its way into difficult to reach locations as it sprays water on flames.

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!

Engineer Allison Murray from the Purdue University Mechanical Engineering department shows us how their team used a customized inkjet printer to lay down a thin sheet of thermite, resulting in designs which explode into shapes when ignited. Learn more here.

A gruesome replacement for the logs in your gas fireplace or fire pit. Each skull is made from heat-tolerant ceramic and lava, layered over a steel structure. They’re not cheap, but they are certainly awesome. Also available in white, or with hollow eyes, or a demon’s head,

If there was ever a build that required a “don’t try this at home” disclaimer, it has to be this insane portable fire vortex generator built by Jairus of All. It uses a series of powerful fans and ductwork to spew forth a giant swirling column of fire.

Is that little lighter in your pocket not doing a very good job getting the fire started? Check out the jumbo-sized 500,000 BTU lighter that BrainfooTV made. Since it’s more flamethrower than Bic lighter, we don’t recommend trying to light your cigarettes with it.

Inspired by The Boring Company’s flamethrower, maker Peter Sripol decided to build his own version – though this one is smaller – and much more dangerous than the one Elon Musk was peddling. We love how he calls it a “Temperature Enhancement Device.”

After creating a mix of chilled acetone and water that was both slushy and flammable, The King of Random tried to make fiery snowballs using a similar technique. After a few false starts, he succeeded with gasoline-soaked snowballs. Kids, don’t try this at home.

It must have taken Ben Ahles an ungodly amount of time to glue together 42,000 matches into a sphere, yet it took only seconds for the ball to burst into flames, and about a minute to come to rest as a blackened hull. Still, his efforts were well worth the visual payoff.

The PyroLance allows firefighters to spray water into a burning structure without having to break down doors, walls, or ceilings. It uses extremely high pressure to drill a hole into an adjacent space, then sprays a fine mist on the other side to reduce the temperature.

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.

Grant “The King of Random” Thompson shows us how to build a cool looking light-up fountain that not only spins water around in an endless whirlpool, it has a bubbler that he rigged up with propane gas so the surface of the water lights on fire.

BrainfooTV shows us how to make nifty little rockets using ordinary household items like aluminum foil and strike-anywhere matches. They fire as far as 60 feet, and are surprisingly stable and accurate. The tailfins aren’t required, but they do make them look cooler.

While working on the great Science Channel series Street Science, Darren Dyk of BeyondSlowMotion and Kuma Films teamed up to capture some amazing high-speed visuals of a fire tornado, including some fun footage of a toy car being flung through the blaze.

Warped Perception aimed his high-speed camera at a bottle lined with alcohol, then lit it so we could enjoy the fire inside in glorious slow motion. Then, he stepped things up to nitromethane – the same highly-explosive stuff used in dragsters. Kids, don’t try this at home.

A group of friends finds out that the old “the floor is lava” saying has actually come true in their apartment, and they must navigate the fiery floor to try and escape from certain doom. A fun and well-executed VFX romp from our old pals at RocketJump. Making of here.

We’ve always heard that it’s important to keep your Christmas tree watered, as it’s a safety risk. If you had any doubt why, just watch this brief video from the NIST to see exactly why watering could save your life. A watered tree also drops fewer needles for you to step on.

Daredevil Antony Britton set the Guinness World Record for longest distance full body burn w/o oxygen, running 670 feet before the Stannage International Stunt Team put him out. He also ran the fastest 100m fire sprint, which is something most of us would do if set ablaze.

Keep your space toasty this holiday season with Old Spice’s very special video yule log, which features over 3500 explosions, Terry Crews bringing the heat, a shout-out to moms, and the OTHER Old Spice guy. Take it mobile and watch the full vid to find every holiday Easter egg.

Duel with your friends while you roast up some tasty treats with RoastyzToastyz whimsical stainless steel tools that look like swords. Each one includes a marshmallow tip, with hot dog and tart roasting tips sold separately. A lightsaber hilt is also available.

A truly unique candle, which is filled with channels that direct its flame towards additional wicks, gradually setting off numerous blazes, and burning the whole thing down. Sadly, the Bravit XL candle appears to have been discontinued, but it’s still cool to watch.

“Of all the stupid things I’ve made… it’s actually quite useful.” Mad inventor Colin Furze has become more and more ambitious, but his latest invention is a curio suggested by one of his fans. It’s a portable fireplace that has a hilariously Furzian way of stoking its flames.