So I was perusing a post-RNC arrest document (http://media.houston.indymedia.org/uploads/2008/09/090808_mckay_affidavit.pdf) and an anarchist claims to have produced a molotov cocktail, and "the fuel contained in the devices was made up of one-third gas, one-third motor oil, and one-third tomato juice."

It also mentions that tampons make an effective and cheap wick for a molotov cocktail.

Anyways, Tomato juice. WTF? Gas to get it going, motor oil to stick, but tomato juice? I'm pretty sure said anarchist is an idiot, but did he get this right? (am I missing something?)

Did you know that if you mixed equal parts of gasoline and frozen orange juice concentrate, you can make napalm?

The United States military uses three kinds of thickeners: M1, M2, and M4.


The M1 Thickener (MIL-T-589A), chemically a mixture of 25% wt. aluminium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium) naphthenate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naphthenate), 25% aluminium oleate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleate), and 50% aluminium laurate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurate), (or, according to other sources, aluminium stearate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stearate) soap) is a highly hygroscopic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygroscopic) coarse tan-colored powder. As the water content impairs the quality of napalm, thickener from partially used open containers should not be used later. It is not maintained in the US Army inventory any more as it was replaced with M4.
The M2 Thickener (MIL-T-0903025B) is a whitish powder similar to M1, with added devolatilized silica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silica) and anticaking agent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anticaking_agent).
The M4 flame fuel thickening compound (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=M4_Thickener&action=edit&redlink=1) (MIL-T-50009A), hydroxyl aluminium bis(2-ethylhexanoate) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxyl_aluminium_bis%282-ethylhexanoate%29) with anti-caking agent, is a fine white powder. It is less hygroscopic than M1 and opened containers can be resealed and used within one day. About half the amount of M4 is needed for the same effect as of M1.

A later variant, napalm-B, also called "super napalm", is a mixture of low-octane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating) gasoline (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline) with benzene (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene) and polystyrene (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystyrene). It was used in the Vietnam War. Unlike conventional napalm, which burns for only 15–30 seconds, napalm B burns for up to 10 minutes with fewer fireballs, sticks better to surfaces, and offers improved destruction effects. It is not as easy to ignite, which reduces the number of accidents caused by soldiers smoking. When it burns, it develops a characteristic smell.