Would you also stuff cotton down one’s mouth to prevent the fumes from getting into one’s lungs?
Ev’rywhere I hear the sound of hackin’, choking lungs
'Cause IceQube’s got his acetone a’pressed against my gums.
But what can a poor boy do…
You think that in a street brawl against an opponent that you’re going to wrap you hands in an acetone saturated cloth and that
1: You’re going to get close enough to your opponent that you can press your hands against his face for several seconds
2: That he will not be holding his breath while you do this
3: That he will not be stabbing, striking or kicking you in the balls while you attempt this up close and personal extended contact
4: That he will not be large and strong enough that he will grab your hands, pull you to the ground and stomp you when you try the face attack
5: A whiff of acetone will utterly disable and disorient him even with his adrenaline levels surging
If appears as if you are setting yourself up for an epic ass licking.
It’s acetone, chiefly, that accounts for that god-awful nail-salon odor, isn’ it? That smell alone would get me to concede you the fight 
lets say your opponent is really near sighted and can’t see more than a few inches away without glasses and they use plastic lenses. the acetone would cloud the lenses to make them unusable.
just to be extra safe your opponent is hard of hearing so they can’t hear your movements and position.
For some reason nobody has mentioned that…
…in a fight one first tends to hold his fists up to his chest in preparation for defense against blows or to prepare to punch.
…that would be the perfect position in which to get a a heavy self-dose of the evaporate fumes that you have planned for your opponent
…as such you may have some difficulty in maintaining your orientation enough to put your acetone soaked hands up against* his face*
…the good news is the acetone fumes you inhale may provide you with a bit of an anesthetic to dull the deserved pain he will inflict upon you for trying such a stupid stunt.
Street fight must have changed since I was out on the streets.
The Hind-Lick Maneuver has evolved from a life saving skill into a martial arts weapon.
Stick a couple of a few lengths of duct tape together to make a rectangle about 4"x8", maybe even smaller. Stick this over the other guys eyes and then pummel him while he can’t see. It’s as likely to work as some kind of anesthetic soaked hand wrap. You could just crazy glue something over his face, but you’ll have to hold it there longer. It’s way easier to use a gun or a knife or a club.
Methyl acrylate is a solvent used in nail polishes and some nail glues. That stuff is far, far worse smelling than acetone (and more dangerous: LD[sub]50[/sub] of 300 mg/kg vs 1.159 g/kg). It’s a big problem for nail salon workers who breath it rather than ingest it.
That means you have a sensitivity to it: most people do not get that kind of reaction at all. I had a student with your same problem, but that’s 1 person of several hundreds I’ve seen using liquid acetone daily (it’s often used in labs: as a solvent, as part of an acetone/dry ice bath or to speed up the drying of washed glassware); nobody else had a problem.
His description is 100% accurate to my last real fight (I have training) where I was trying to restrain someone who was smaller than me and very high on a cocktail of drugs. While I was trying to restrain him I got hit multiple times and scratched all over my face and attempted to get kicked in the balls, and I was using actual martial arts grappling techniques, not holding my arms straight out with cloth wrapped hands to smother like an idiot.
OP is this a real question or something for a short story? I could maybe think of ways to help you work it into your story, but if you’re actually thinking this idea is remotely plausible, don’t, you will get beat worse trying this unrealistic technique than if you just threw hands and took your chances.
You attempted to get kicked in the balls? I can help if you need it.
In all seriousness are you in a situation where you have to fight this guy? Any weapon will make your situation worse. Have you thought of ways you could avoid the fight? None of my business why he wants to fight you but I get this weird feeling you pissed him off some how.
If I’m in a situation where I can keep my hands pressed against the other guy’s face for several seconds straight, then I’ve already won the fight, even without chemical assistance. Just gouge out his eyes, or press on the blood vessels in the neck, or whatever. Winning the fight once you’ve got your hands in his face for several seconds isn’t the hard part; getting your hands there in the first place is.
His statement was in reference to Astro saying ass licking instead of ass kicking.
Or were you implying that you licked the guys ass after you attempted to have him kick you in the balls?
Are you thinking of chloroform? Acetone doesn’t daze people.
So chloroform, methyl acrylate, and turpentine are all better alternatives.
Duly noted.
Edit: I’ll probably just use turpentine since it appears to be readily available.
:dubious:
You underestimate me.
The consequences of adults fighting can be pretty serious if their is injury. You may get a criminal conviction, or a judfgement against you. If you wind up in jail you might get beat up by gang bangers. If your ploy does work will this settle the problem or will he want to retaliate? Best option is to try and come to a quick conclusion, even if it means you might loose a fair fight.
Moderator Note
From this, it appears that you are not merely asking a hypothetical question or planning on self defense, but possibly considering a premeditated assault. At best, you are proposing to use unethical tactics to win a fight. This isn’t an appropriate use of GQ. This is closed. Do not do this again.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator