People in bad ideas told me to come look for you for advice on this. I don't do it real often, and right now I use 190 everclear. People say to get kerosene instead. Is there a certain company you'd recomend buying thats the closest thing to suitable for being in one's mouth?
whenever I do it, I get a huge burst of flame, but I saw soemone do it the other day and it was more drawn out and elegant. lasted a good 2.5 seconds of continuous fireball. do you have any tips on how i can get more of this instead of the big burst? i practiced a lot with water and the best I could get was using my jaw muscle to do a more controlled spray, but it wasn't very misted, so it didn't burn well when I did it with fuel.

thanks for any help
-Jon

Dude use paraffin oil.

I would love to do fire breathing but I already do too much dangerous shit.

Dude use paraffin oil.
Paraffin Oil is kero.

Also, to jonogt - Nice to see you over here!
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I would love to get into firebreathing more. So far, strawberry vodka. Not that impressive. I guess kero is the next step, right? Ok. This year, I'm actually gonna do it this summer, along with fire poi.

Using ethanol is VERY dangerous and can lead to some quite nasty burns, as well as an increased risk of blow back. You want fuels with high vapor points. The higher the temp that it starts to create vapors, the better, because remember, it is the vapors mixed with ambient air that actually burn, NOT the liquid itself.

With ethanol, it has a very low vapor point, and thus puts off vapors in large amounts at room temp, meaning that a pool of it, or a sheen of it on skin will continue to burn, because it keeps putting out those fumes, meaning you will burn the shit out of your face, neck, chest, and possibly down to your waist.

With paraffin oil (the terms are different depending on country) the vapor point is much higher, making it much safer. Also, paraffin oil gets much much larger fireballs since it doesn't all burn up at once, and it also has a higher density, meaning more total potential energy.

In america, paraffin oil is a very thick oil used in lamps, but kerosene is thinner, and ALSO used in lamps, just a different kind, also some machinery (old shit like heaters) can run on it. I am not sure what the terms are in other countries, and I'm pretty sure it varies quite a bit.


I've got tons more to say on the subject, but this has gotten long enough. Point is, don't fuck with ethanol EVAR. It is THE dead give away of a noob amateur. I get people telling me all the time, I CAN DO THAT WITH 151!

And I just laugh at them. Those jackasses couldn't hope to get my height in a million years using ethanol. Physically impossible.

You obviously want to use hydrazine for fire breathing

Paraffin Oil all the way for me! Need a better torch though.

thanx for the input guys. I'm in the US so no issues with varrying terminology. I tried it with paraffin oil the other night and definately got a much smoother flame. It was easier to get a blowing action over the pool of it in your mouth instead of just spitting it all out in a huge wad. It's also nice that it doesn't chemically rape the inside of your mouth. It was just the clear stuff in plastic bottle from walmart in the candles and shit section.

What is a good brand name to look for kerosene under? Is it just white gas or camp fuel from a sporting goods store? Does it feel about the same as paraffin oil to the inside of your mouth? Is it more or less poisonous than paraffin?
What about mess? Not having perfect form (to say the least), I ended up with a film of paraffin oil down my chin, neck, front of my shirt and even on the top of my pants. That shit is a pain to get off.

Do you ever use corn starch? I found a couple sites with videos of people using that. Doesn't look like you can get much height/distance from it though.


and regarding ethanol use... that's what got me interested in this to begin with. being the brave wasted guy at a party who stands up when someone has a bottle of 75%< liquor and a bic lighter. Not sure how I've never fucked it up and burned myself.

Also, what do you use for a torch? Right now I have this scrapped together deal from a piece of threaded rod with 2 washers at the end that I sandwich a paraffin oil soaked piece of tissue in and light it.

and can you link me to the photos you have of yourself doing it stupid noob? I had one bookmarked but lost it, and it's one of the coolest photos on the internet imo.

http://www.totse.com/community/showthread.php?t=1993928&highlight=%2Ahoto%2A

Agreed. He is the best I know. Anyways, gas stations.

And with ethanol, you aren't worried about it setting your face on fire (well that too) but if you don't blow forcefully enough, the flame can suck into your lungs / use all the O2 / collapse a lung (or maybe even both.). Same as gasoline. Diesel is better.. but the benzene will give you cancer pretty quick... for either of those.

Torch - Like yours, only try to get cloth, preferably kevlar instead of tissues.

Diesel are you kidding me? NO. And NO american kerosene either. Citronella oil works, and is a tad more volatile than just paraffin, but anything past that, and you are pushing your luck. Low vapor point fuels should only be used when they HAVE to be, such as ethyl borate.

And for my torches, I use kevlar cloth. Actually, the link he posted shows all my torches, the two eating torches are hand made by yours truly, the black handled fire breathing torch is a prefab dealy from some website, and the staff is hand made by yours truly. For the home made torches, kevlar was used, for eating, thick rope kevlar, and for staff spinning, 4 inch wide kevlar "tape".

Don't use towels and shit, if you are gonna do this, be serious and get real equipment, and do it right. There is no substitute for kevlar. Also, the kevlar must be mounted on the torch handle with a number of bolts straight through one side and out the other, so as to secure it tightly. Wrapping wire around it, tying it around it, or anything else is not acceptable, except in the case of the fire eating torch, where staples are deeply embedded into the kevlar, and handle, securing it tightly, and dimpled in so as to avoid metal contact with the mouth upon eating.

Go read everything on www.homeofpoi.com it is all useful in one way or another. Go read every last bit of it.

Diesel are you kidding me? NO.

I agree with you. I was just reporting what I've seen done. But i guess I should point out that they were Mexicans. On the streets of Mexico... trying to earn enough to survive....

And re: HomeOfPoi - great stuff. When I was starting off with poi I learned a number of tricks from there, it's a really well done resource.

I would really like to get in to this. But, the inherent risk is just appealing. Ive never had any problems with previous pyro (BP, KNO3/Sugar, small FAEs, stupid kiddie shit) but i like having a face. Is citronella oil something that you can just start out with? Should i practice before ever going near a flame?

SN, i have a good deal of respect and awe for fire spitters, and i would love to learn. But alas, i have the burden of skin on my face.

The pro's recommend that you do a few blows with water first. Learn to just take a little, to pull back as you blow, to get it not running down your face, and then go for it with something not-overly-volatile.

Scars are sexy!

first time I ever tried it I was completely wasted on ouzo, so naturally the absinth came along with my friend carrying a flaming tourch naturally I walked away with a big smile and him with a very singed frock of hair

Scars are sexy!

Gross burns are not.

I read that home of poi fire breathing thing and it says to keep a cloth in the off-hand for excess fuel on your chin.

Can you get pro enough to not really get any on your chin? I have kinda minimized it with the water i've been practicing with. I mean, the idea of insurance to prevent the danger of blowback is always okay I don't really need anything else in my other hand anyway, but you still create that danger by getting fuel on your chin, no? That is what would be nice to stop.

Or is it just kinda inevitable to get some on your chin, even after experience?

I haven't tried with a fuel yet, I'd rather find out if I should try to get it without the drip.

Also, are you blowing when you breathe fire out of your cheeks or actually exhaling?

Well everyone I successfully tried it and I gotta admit it's pretty fun ^_^

Sponsored Link, since I'm first to respond I'd say it's more of an exhale than blow. if you read the homeofpoi website it insists the most proper term will be "aspirate."

Overall I'm kind of sticking out my lower lip and buzzing the fuel out so as to get as much vapor and as little droplets as possible

I just did it with some lamp oil here at my house with a homemade torch and I scared the hell out of my dogs :P I practiced with water yesterday and a couple times today.

The oil does taste weird and leaves an odd coat on your mouth, so, try it with water, then try it with fuel, and then add fire into the mix. That would be your safest path and would show you how you would do it if you were holding fire directly in front of you.




A problem I made note of for myself was inhaling after aspirating, which obviously can be kinda dangerous. Make sure you don't do anything like lean into the flame or inhale after breathing.

Im going to try this small scale this coming weekend, possibly. Would be a cool trick at a party, eh?

Or is it too dangerous? This would be the last thing id wanna fuck up on

SN, those pictures are pretty insane.

/jealousy

Dude, there is absolutely no reason for you to want advice on firebreathing. Go read a book and save your facial features.

Shut the fuck up moron.