# What's your favorite way of (literally) playing with fire? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 15, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211 "2010-04-15T14:21:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![uncle\_squeegee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b5e925/32.png) [@uncle\_squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uncle_squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/21 "2010-04-15T21:18:07Z")
Can of lysol + lighter. Anyway, that was my favorite way 30 years ago when I was in college. I still have fond memories (and miraculously, all of my fingers) of roommates and I doing this. I’ve grown up a bit since then. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/22 "2010-04-15T21:25:12Z")
When I was a kid, I used to peel off my nail polish, put the scraps in an ashtray, and light it on fire. It’s really cool- big puff of smoke- ooh aaah. ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/23 "2010-04-15T21:37:28Z")
You’re kidding me. 21 replies and nobody’s mentioned cooking things on the outdoor grill yet? don’t we have any other suburbanites here? Now please excuse me while I throw some steaks on the grill… ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/24 "2010-04-15T21:54:03Z")
Campfire. We go about once a month. My husband and I each have our own cast iron pokers. I like to throw one glass beer bottle in the fire once it’s really got a nice bed of embers at the bottom and just watch it melt, squish it around, see it eventually disappear, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/25 "2010-04-15T21:59:16Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > When I was a kid, I used to peel off my nail polish, put the scraps in an ashtray, and light it on fire. It’s really cool- big puff of smoke- ooh aaah. Ooh! You just reminded me of another one. When I’m done picking my 'fro (or coming my daughter’s hair), I collect the puffy, kinky cloud of hair from the comb or brush and burn it. I love the crackling, hissing sound. I like the smell, too. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/26 "2010-04-15T22:07:32Z")
I like mixing diesel and Styrofoam taking the mixture and coating the back of a Goodwill suit jacket, lighting it and running around for a couple of seconds, very cool fire trail. Of course it’s horribly unsafe and I don’t get to do it any more now that I’ve matured so now I just build huge bonfires at the beach. ---
**Author:** ![figure9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@figure9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figure9)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/27 "2010-04-15T22:16:57Z")
I like to fill a tall narrow glass with butane from a lighter, then drop a lit match in. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/28 "2010-04-15T22:20:14Z")
> [@PatriotGrrrl](#): > > Do spud guns count? Fired at night, so you can see the long flame erupting from the barrel? HellYa. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/29 "2010-04-15T22:31:07Z")
Thus said my mother: “If you play with matches, you will wet the bed.” That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/30 "2010-04-15T22:46:01Z")
Sigh. I see my last post should have said ‘combing’ my daughter’s hair. Combing. While I’m back, I will add that I am excited to try the garbage bag tied in knots thing. Sounds interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/31 "2010-04-15T23:05:39Z")
I read the other day that all little boys are pyromaniacs, and as the mother of three (not so little) boys, I can attest. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/32 "2010-04-15T23:07:14Z")
I discovered something awesome last winter: in our town they only give out burn permits if there’s snow on the ground so we waited until January to burn some brush. There was about 2.5’ of fairly hard-packed snow at that point, so we didn’t bother digging down because the branches didn’t sink into the snow. And guess what? Lighter fluid doesn’t sink into the dense snow either! It just pooled on the surface and lit up like snakes of fire. Reminded me of that scene in The Crow. ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Kapowzler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Super\_Kapowzler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Kapowzler)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/33 "2010-04-15T23:44:50Z")
Used to take Lawn-Boy lawnmower decks, which were an alloy of aluminum and magnesium, break them up with a BFH and throw the chunks into a fire at night. They would burn white-hot and be so bright you had to turn your back to the campfire or go blind. Chicks hated it, it was like turning on the lights. Smelled bad too. Agree with the milk-carton-veeep deal, walking around with it on the end of a stick. Fun. Used to play a game called “hot-foot” where you’d pull a hot coal out of the fire with your firestick and slip it under your buddies foot while he was talking to the chick sitting next to him. Good fun. Used to gather all the pinecones we could and throw them all on the fire, called them “Indian Firecrackers.” (No dis on the Native Ams and shit, 'Powz don’t fly that way.) Bottle rocket wars, no rules, no safety shit. I have a scar on my lip the size of a dime. If it hit my eye, I’da lost it and be going by “Patch” and shit. Started mixing…well mixing shit, and making homemade explosives. Coffee-can sized shit that would flip a '75 station wagon on its ass. I am lucky to be in one piece, too. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/34 "2010-04-15T23:49:13Z")
Cooking marshmallows over a campfire. I like them ashy, so I wait for it to catch fire, let it burn for a while, then blow it out before it starts dripping. Perfect on a s’more. ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Kapowzler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Super\_Kapowzler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Kapowzler)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/35 "2010-04-15T23:56:10Z")
That reminds me. A guy I know in Redwing, MN has a video on youtube called like “burning my lawn” or some shit. He piles the leaves up in a continuous maze in like a 2acre deal around his house, soaks the f-ers with gas one night and lights it. COOL AS HELL!! Has a big party and shit when he does it. Flame splits, does designs and shit. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/36 "2010-04-16T01:09:37Z")
Campfires, for sure. Used to be smoking,…damn, I miss that. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/37 "2010-04-16T01:28:33Z")
I like poking the campfire with a stick, then making the end of the stick all black, and writing with it on a stray rock. We also burned pine branches occasionally. On a particularly big pile, the flame shot up a good six feet. My siblings and I used to call 'em “pop-a-lots,” because of the crackling noise they’d make. And while I don’t do this myself, [fire poi](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMgOMFuaClM) is pretty awesome. (You’ll have to watch a bit before she really gets going, about a minute or so in.) ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/38 "2010-04-16T02:13:03Z")
Amateures. :rolleyes: **Method 1** : Go on week-long camping/rafting trip. Cook lots of fried foods, save grease in a coffee can. On last night of trip, place can of congealed grease in fire. Get long sick and attach a cup to the end. Drink beer until the grease in the can boils. Take a plastic trash bag and fill it with propane from the stove; attach it to a second long stick. Hold bag of propane about ten feet above can of boiling grease. Take first stick, fill it with water and pour it into can of boiling grease so that the resultant flash fire engulfs the bag of propane. The result? 35 foot pillar of fire. **Method 2** : Buy a disposable, aluminum turkey-baster pan. Fill with gas and drop in one of those blue, propane camp stove cartridges. Light on fire and get behind cover at a safe distance. (about 100 yards) **Method 3** : Drop a tennis ball into a container of gasoline, soak well. Light the ball and play soccer in the street at night. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/39 "2010-04-16T02:19:42Z")
Making some thermite and lighting it with either sparklers or a magnesium strip. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211/40 "2010-04-16T02:46:58Z")
Was sitting around the campfire one evening, and a buddy threw a 7.62 X 39 cartridge into it. That was cool. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-way-of-literally-playing-with-fire/536211.md?page=3)