Forums > Beginner Poi Moves > Rings of Fire -which fuel? Please Help!

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Fire BunnySILVER Member
veteran
1,260 posts
Location: Now in the land of Oz, Australia


Posted:
Ok so I have a Question.
Does any body out there know what kind of fuel to use if you want to set up a ring of fire to burn in?
Don’t know if I’m explaining that very well but…
I know you a lot of people use the excess fuel at the start of their burn but this is not what I want to do.
I want to find a fuel that I can set up in a ring –maybe 5 or 10mins before a performance- and then start my burn, and maybe halfway thru a spin touch my toys to the ground and have the ring light up around me. Does anyone know of a fuel that I would be able to use to do this?
One of the reasons that don’t want to use the excess fuel of my toy is that I don’t always dance with poi or staff, and if I am performing I would really like to be able to set a ring of fire around me when I’m playing with fire fingers and orb and that sort of jazz. Another is that sometimes we do it on the beach sometimes on grass (although not sure how that would work) and sometimes on concrete.
Would really appreciate anybody’s tips or advice on this smile

this is what i mean

Happy Spinning weavesmiley

What if we think the jokes on them,
But really - the jokes on us....

and also... i wuv Rougie *snuz*


Suibomaddict
577 posts
Location: Oregon, USA


Posted:
One thing to consider is that fuel is a poison, and bad for the environment. Dumping it onto the ground and letting it soak there is not nice to the animals that live in that area. Also, the explosiveness of fuels comes from the gasses.... so you'd definitely not want something that turns to vapor quickly, which rules out white gas and the like. Also, you'd probably not want a trough. it would be nicer (a bit) to the environment, but the chance of the fuel getting out of it's container will likely be too much. Probably the best bet for performance is a gas chamber that you can turn on and off.. not sure what type, due to the fume explosion issue, but it would be the best self contained item you can use..

Just have the controller turn it on right before you touch your flame to it and then turn it off when done.. I've not played with anything like this, so it's just random out-loud thinking...

Definition of poi- A Hawaiian food made from the tuber of the taro that is cooked, pounded to a paste, and fermented.

Ahnold discussing poi - "It is naht a toober!"


[Nx?]BRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,749 posts
Location: Europe,Scotland,Both


Posted:
yo

you could do this with, white gas, but it not very safe as it frasfers easily to anything that touches it.

If i were you Id get some cotton rope and soak it in kerosene (parrafin/lamp oil) and lay it in a circle. to make it light quicker you could have a quick dip of white gas on top, but kero is the safer fuel for the main burning time.

T wave

This is a post by tom, all spelling is deleberate
-><- Kallisti


Fire BunnySILVER Member
veteran
1,260 posts
Location: Now in the land of Oz, Australia


Posted:
ok that is a good point and i did see a thread earlyer that said something about dipping hemp rope in some fuel and lighting that. i just thougt it would look more impressive if as far as veiwers could see there was nothing there and then voompth

thanks guys smile

What if we think the jokes on them,
But really - the jokes on us....

and also... i wuv Rougie *snuz*


Alioshamember
57 posts
Location: Berlin, somewhere


Posted:
I was working on it this summer.
In the end, I was told that the trick is
a) any slowly evaporating fuel (like, liquid wax, kerosene, You Name It™)
and, above all
b) sawdust (uh, is it the right word in English? I mean, what you get when you saw a lot of wood; segatura, in my language).

The possibilities are to pour the sawdust, and THEN the fuel on it, or to mix it beforehand.
You get different results.
Anyway, it's a bit better for the environment (not much, a bit), since you fixate the fuel on the wood. It burns decently long, and can wait a 10 minutes before you burn it.

(And for the Thailand circle of fire, I think they just use A LOT of kerosene on the sand; they were not really worried about pollution, when I was there.)

---
"Angels fly because they don't take themselves too seriously"
G.C. Chesterson


Fire BunnySILVER Member
veteran
1,260 posts
Location: Now in the land of Oz, Australia


Posted:
thats something i hadnt thougth of. just realised i posted thisin the wrong place as well.
at the moment i am kinda going with getting some kevlar rope and dipping it and setting it in a circle.
thanks for your advise tho Aliosha il give it a shot smile hug

What if we think the jokes on them,
But really - the jokes on us....

and also... i wuv Rougie *snuz*


jonathanenthusiast
210 posts
Location: new zealand


Posted:
we used white gas, lots of white gas and kerosene to do that.

try do it on some concrete with sand on it or something, if you can.

but its gross a, it stinks, its smokey in there, it stinks............

Fire BunnySILVER Member
veteran
1,260 posts
Location: Now in the land of Oz, Australia


Posted:
im sure il manage biggrin
ahhh the things we do to look good :lol

What if we think the jokes on them,
But really - the jokes on us....

and also... i wuv Rougie *snuz*


FlamingOberonGOLD Member
ohm mani padme hum
134 posts
Location: Worcester, MA, USA


Posted:
white gas will evaporate more quickly than other fuels, but it will also be easier to light, it wont smell, and it will not smoke.

kerosene or lamp oil has the exact opposite effects. it will evaporate more slowly and burn longer, but it will smoke and it will smell.

both will harm the environment.

if you really wanted you could dig a trench and then lay the rope in it, so it would still not be visible. i dont think this could be any better for the environment, probably worse.

i dont know about the sawdust mixture, but it may work well. also you could diga trench and line it with this sawdust mixture, i suppose, instead of just putting ina circle around you. the up side of that would be that it would smell better, like burning wood, obviously, and depending on the wood from which the saw dust came, some woods smell really good when burning. however these smoke, obviously, so it will increase the amount of smoke.

keep in mind too much smoke will not only stink but will reduce visibility, so your audience will not be able to see you as clearly and more importantly you will not be able to see as clearly, which just makes things a little more dangerous.

Alioshamember
57 posts
Location: Berlin, somewhere


Posted:
 Written by: FlamingOberon


keep in mind too much smoke will not only stink but will reduce visibility, so your audience will not be able to see you as clearly and more importantly you will not be able to see as clearly, which just makes things a little more dangerous.


I really think the main problem is the stink/inability to breathe.
I made some performances with steam (in hotwater spots); and some with smoke (fireworks). The effect is great, sure, people cannot see CLEARLY what you do, but it adds to the atmosphere.
But. The smoke then is not nice in your lungs.

Anyway, using a bit of sawdust (DRY, so that it's not smoky), with fuel in it, should not create almost any smoke.
It did not when I tried, at least...

---
"Angels fly because they don't take themselves too seriously"
G.C. Chesterson


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
 Written by: Suibom


Also, the explosiveness of fuels comes from the gasses.... so you'd definitely not want something that turns to vapor quickly, which rules out white gas and the like.



You would need something that was volitile if you wanted it to burn without a wick. This, by definition, means you must pick something that evaporates quickly.

The real answer from folks that actually do it is 'whitegas'.

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


Fire BunnySILVER Member
veteran
1,260 posts
Location: Now in the land of Oz, Australia


Posted:
yeah i was thinking using whitegas. tryed it on monday with my left over gas -which was bugger all by the way- just in a half circle and it kinda worked. i think i no how i want to do it now.
there is a photo of a half moon circle in my gallery.

What if we think the jokes on them,
But really - the jokes on us....

and also... i wuv Rougie *snuz*


mtbeerGOLD Member
ARRRR!
529 posts
Location: Charlotte, NC, USA


Posted:
Here's what I do. Start by laying down a track of tinfoil in the pattern you want. It's better to set this up well in advance, probably during the day. When you are ready to burn, put on some cleaning gloves and take 20-30ft (depending on circle size) of 1/2" kevlar rope dipped in a kero\white gas mix and lay it over the tinfoil. You can use a cotton\hemp rope but it won't last as long. If you have the cash, 1" kevlar rope will give you a bigger flame and burn longer.

Little to no fuel escapes into the ground, It lights fairly quickly (depending on the amount of white gas) and doesn't give off much smoke (again depending on the amount of white gas). I primarily use the kero\white gas mix to lower the flash point so as said before, you don't get explosive fumes. This also keeps the rope from evaporating too quickly. For added effect you can pin down a few wads of flash paper around the circle.

Keep in mind, your audience may not know the ring ignites so keep them WAY back. I generally rope off my performance area when a crowd is expected.

"My skin is singed but it heals my heart and with glowing pride I'll wear my scars." -Davey Havok



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