Forums > Technical Discussion > just leave your pants in the garage please

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halfabikemember
55 posts
Location: canastota, ny usa


Posted:
ok...after much anticipation i lit my poi and staff for the first time the other day...my one problem is the kerosene getting everywhere! i dunk the staff and then spinn it between my hands in a bucket and then do the same for the other end...but even then as soon as i start to spin it (whether lit or not) kero goes flying all over the place and all over me...(my pants reek of it) and as far as the poi go i cant think of anything except just shaking them over the bucket and then giving them a quick spin to try to shake it all off...but dammit all the kerosene still gets all over me when i just spin em...ugh this is a stinky messy aspect of this art that i didnt see coming...for some reason i thought it was a lot cleaner...

any suggestions?!?!?!

thanks!

excuse me, santa, have you seen half a bike?


adamricepoo-bah
1,015 posts
Location: Austin TX USA


Posted:
Spinning out is a basic safety (and courtesy) measure. We've been discussing this in other tech threads here--scroll down the topics to "Fire Going Out / Fuel Spraying Off", for starters.

Normally with poi, after soaking them I go somewhere out of the way and spin them off very energetically, to get rid of the excess. With my staff, I soak an end, squeeze out that end (wearing rubber gloves), do the other, and then spin off the staff somewhere.

This is just one approach--the thread I mentioned discusses others.

Laugh while you can, monkey-boy


TwirlyVicnorthern monkey
235 posts

Posted:
Bizarre, everytime i've done it with kerosene its been fine, little bits of sprinkle but do a burnoff with staff and just spin my poi like crazy until its gone. Just stay lateral(?) for a while

vic xx

ex-hop-aholic, now inconsistent lurker...


StoneGOLD Member
Stream Entrant
2,829 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia


Posted:
I don't think it's the kero. I saw this neat way to 'spin-off' fuel from a staff recently, and kinda goes like this.

After dipping, let excess fuel drip back into the bucket as usual. Then hold the staff in your palm, and form a ring around the staff by bringing your thumb and index finger together. The wick should be outside the ring, and the staff should be loosely cupped in your palm, with your palm facing up.

Now, with your other hand and the wick over the bucket, push-pull the staff vigorously back and forward in your cupped hand (a bit like, well I'll leave that to your imagination and shake fuel into the bucket. Repeat for the other end. Also, old worn wicks don't hold fuel as good a new wicks. Hope this helps, cheers

If we as members of the human race practice meditation, we can transcend our fear, despair, and forgetfulness. Meditation is not an escape. It is the courage to look at reality with mindfulness and concentration. Thich Nhat Hanh


SickpuPpyNinja Rockstar!
1,100 posts
Location: Denver, Co. U.S.A.


Posted:
Unfortunatly, I think that getting coverd with kero is just a hazard of staff.

you could try putting bags over the wicks and then spin off. That would keep your kero from getting all over you, but you can only do this with cold wicks, and you need to be careful of how how deal with your bags, lest unintentional fires insue. I don't know if this will actually work well, as I have never tried it, but it should work.

Jesus helps me trick people.


firecastermember
10 posts
Location: Sydney, Australia


Posted:
We do our shakeoffs lit. Try this for example.
1. Let the excess drip off into the bucket
2. Hold the center of the staff on the palm of your hand.
3. Place your other hand on top of the first one.
4. Make sure the wind is at your back if there is any and be at least 5m from the nearest person.
5. Quickly pull your top hand towards your body and at the same time push your bottom hand away, seperating them as the staff leaves your hand.
This causes the kero to come off the staff in a fine mist which ignites and burns up.

It makes a spectacular mushroom cloud like fireball and keeps your staff from spraying all over the place.

Remember, practice this with a dry staff first until you can get the staff to spin in the same spot in the air.

[ 13 April 2002, 14:53: Message edited by: firecaster ]

Dance my children, light up the skies, become one with the music, Thumpatron is with you. -The Thumpatron Clan.


arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
hey. we have chemical gloves which we use to squeeze the bulk of the fuel off with back into the soaking can. then go and stand on the wicks and roll them under your foot, using pressure to squeeze out even more. do this in a sfe place, preferably on a towel, or near sand which you can use to cover the fuel on the ground. and clean the fuel off the bottom of your shoes! if they are still too wet, then blot them with a towel. put the towel in a container when you are done, esp. if using coleman.

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
oh and also i feel like doing the flaming spin off is fine without anyone around, but do you think that it is worth the risk, however slight, of a drop of fuel getting on an audience person who may be wearing flammable clothes? sometimes people get offened by fuel getting on them, and i think it's a bit risky, plus most fire marshalls would go apeshit if they saw that. big mushroom clouds would probably fall into the pyrotechnics category, and you need licenses for that stuff. it sure is fun though, and i do it all the time when left to my own pyromaniacy.

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


halfabikemember
55 posts
Location: canastota, ny usa


Posted:
wow..thnaks for all the replies...i think im most curious and definitely going to try the "huge mushroom cloud" tech.

i guess the poi are going to be the messiest of the two and i guess i can accept that...

i dont really perform for an audience, just my friends and whoever is over at the house so i'm not worried about offending anyone...

oh well my poor pants...i'll have to designate a pair to use...

thanks everybody

excuse me, santa, have you seen half a bike?


adren@linemember
249 posts
Location: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia


Posted:
have you considered an alternative fuel?? i found this awesome stuff from www.juggleart.com called firewater, its pretty cheap and it burns cooler, slower, and doesnt smell as much as kero.

Kinudin (Soul Fyre)veteran
1,325 posts
Location: San Diego, California, USA


Posted:
I don't notice the smell of Kero at all. I'm just mad at the 2-3 minute burn time o well. And I can't buy Firewater =/

Maelstrommember
135 posts
Location: Akron, Ohio


Posted:
IMHO- No matter what you use you get a smell of some sort, it's just par for the course. Kero smells like kero when you use it, and Lamp oil isn't as strong a smell. However I think you smell like burnt sweat when your done. White gas has a litte smell too, but its more of a filmy feeling on you, then it is a smell. Let's face it your burning things, and what your burning isn't going through a pollution filter of any sort...it's just raw stink! Personaly I like it.

[ 15 April 2002, 08:20: Message edited by: Maelstrom ]

Nothing good ever comes from hanging out with normal people.


halfabikemember
55 posts
Location: canastota, ny usa


Posted:
ok thanks again for all the suggestions...ive been using a half and half kerosene and citronella mix...ive gotten burn times that are about 5-6 minutes on average...sometimes i run out of ideas before the flames go out..

as far as the mess goes i think i'll try squeezing the wicks out with gloves...that one sounds easy enough...

thanks.

excuse me, santa, have you seen half a bike?


lluhmasmember
63 posts
Location: Armidale, NSW, Australia


Posted:
Ok. Firstly I reckon that all this chatter about squeezing with gloves and such is total balony.
Our performance troupe spin's off.
Dip your staff, tap the sides of your dipping bucket to rid excess fuel, let any more drip off a bit, make sure your backs to the wind, light up, spin it between your hands up into the air about 2 metres up, you get mushroom clouds, yeah... then catch it and start twirling.

As for the mushroom clouds, they are NOWEHERE NEAR PYROTECHNICS. We do pyrotechnics (yes, we're all trained and qaulified from the national accreditation council) and believe me, spin offs are nothing compared to the stuff we do. a metre and a half/two metre column of wispy weak flame above an experienced twirler's head is nothing compared to a 5 metre high flamethrowing device that lets off mushrooms of a kero/shellite mix every three seconds...

And as for the audience, honestly, they shouldnt be that close to the performers. its unsafe.
The mess? get used to it. designate a pair of pants for twirling only and wash them. easy. you get used to the smell.
cheers,
lluhmas

BAHOOGA! It's the penguin-people!Gertrude, get me my lollypop and we'll lick 'em to death..and?


Maelstrommember
135 posts
Location: Akron, Ohio


Posted:
Hey! I forgot, Pele suggested this a long time ago and I tryed it.....OXY CLEAN! You can't stop the stink, but that stuff will get the smell out of your clothing. It dose a good job on your wash too.

Nothing good ever comes from hanging out with normal people.


firecastermember
10 posts
Location: Sydney, Australia


Posted:
Clap, Clap, Clap, cheer whistle.
lluhmas i couldn't have said it better myself
i just love the flaming spin off.

Dance my children, light up the skies, become one with the music, Thumpatron is with you. -The Thumpatron Clan.



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