# How not to check your stolen gas

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-check-your-stolen-gas/447925>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [May 3, 2008, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-check-your-stolen-gas/447925 "2008-05-03T20:36:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-check-your-stolen-gas/447925/1 "2008-05-03T20:36:34Z")

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[Gas thieves use cigarette lighter](http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=91078)

> [@](#):
>
> “They were looking inside the gas can to see how much room, or how full the gas can was of gas,” said Heather Benjamin, spokesperson for the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office. “They looked into it with a cigarette lighter and the fumes caught on fire.”

The stupid! It burns!

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**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-check-your-stolen-gas/447925/2 "2008-05-03T20:40:01Z")

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Hmmm… I wonder how long the fuse on that stick of dynamite would burn if I lit it?

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-check-your-stolen-gas/447925/3 "2008-05-03T20:42:14Z")

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[QUOTE=Boyo Jim]  
Hmmm… I wonder how long the fuse on that stick of dynamite would burn if I lit it?  
[/QUOTE]

Oh, that’s easy to find out! Light the fuse and hold the stick in one hand. Count on the fingers of your other hand. One, two, three, four, five. If there’s still time left, hold the stick between your legs and you can count on the other fingers.

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**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-check-your-stolen-gas/447925/4 "2008-05-03T21:09:25Z")

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[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.]  
Oh, that’s easy to find out! Light the fuse and hold the stick in one hand. Count on the fingers of your other hand. One, two, three, four, five. If there’s still time left, hold the stick between your legs and you can count on the other fingers.  
[/QUOTE]

Bad idea – you could lose seconds while you transfer the dynamite. Better just to start by holding it in your mouth so you have all 10 fingers immediately available.

Well, actually, YOU might have ten fingers available. But me, well, I was trying to answer a similar question about firecrackers a while back, so now I can only count to 4. Which makes it all the more important for me to start with the stick in my mouth, 'cause I don’t want to lose any more fingers. 😉