Massive wicking materials for 1 night performance

ok so I've got a massive fire show to put on and aside from the usual firey craziness that we all know and love the director wants torchbearers carrying massive flaming torches in a procession, im thinking big long staffs with a wick about a foot or so long and about 6-9inches wide should do it(i know HUGE )
they will only need to be burned a few times and for 1 night only so trying to do it as low budget as possible. Ideas?
so far im thinking constructing a cage structure with chickenwire for the end and loading it with something relativly cheap that will do the job for fuel absorbtion&heat tolerence. fibreglass? (bearing in mind it's not gonna be spun or anything crazy, just set on fire...

Hemp rope. You could do a circle stitch down the pole, it would look like isis and make a huge flame

Thick denim should also do the trick, especially if you put it in a cage.

settled on a design, fireproof the end on the torch with foil/insulation tape, wrap it with a cotton core wick(a couple of old tshirts) to act as a fuel reservoir with a layer of kevlar tape over it to protect it from the flames/heat, held in a cage of wire mesh, works perfectly burn after burn, now to mass produce loads of them for this procession i gotta organise, muahahahaha
 
the heat is so intense that thats about as close as I can hold the torch to me

Nice!

Just make sure you make it *very* clear to the users NOT to touch the metal at the end.

Wouldn't be the first time someones done it....

no fire virgins are gonna be using them so no worries

Now that's got to be a bonus!

That makes it so much easier haha

Nice.... What does it look like at night?

#goes to buy more fuel#

How much does it soak up and how long does it last?

Merely curious here....

about 5mins(and that was just a quick dip) i guess if it was properly soaked it's last 10mins.
haven't worked out how much it drinks yet but i imagine quite a bit, especially with a bunch of them and a load of firespinners. fortunately I've got 30gallons of paraffin, 10gallons of methylated spirits and a couple gallons of petrol for the gig

thank god i don't drive a car cos this is basically gonna punch a hole in the ozone layer by it's self!!!