Forums > Technical Discussion > Creative ways to refuel fire eating torches during performances
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Location: USA
Member
1 post
Location: USA
Posted:
This might be kind of a silly question because I’m fairly new to Fire Eating, but not fire performances altogether as I’ve been using a Fire Hoop for a long time.
How do you refuel torches while performing? I ask because my torches don’t usually have enough fuel on them for things like fuse transfers, finger/tongue transfers, and especially not things like dragons breath if they’ve been lit even for a few seconds, or have been dipped in fuel but not lit yet for more than 30 seconds since being dipped. While practicing transfers I usually have to keep one torch lit, dip the other again, and only have a very short window of time before too much fuel evaporates from the unlit torch to get enough fuel on whatever body part I need it on do these kinds of tricks.
I use just Coleman’s fuel for the torches, but with my Fire Hoop I use a mixture of Coleman’s and lamp oil, which makes hand transfers with those wicks possible for up to a few minutes after dipping them and spinning off excess fuel. Could a mixture be what I need to prevent fuel evaporating too fast? I’m not sure about the safety of using any amount of lamp oil while Fire Eating, and was under the impression that Coleman’s fuel or high proof alcohol was the only thing I should be using.
It might also be that I’m just not getting enough fuel on the torches to begin with, as I’m aware that too little fuel is better than having too much and dripping/throwing flames and fuel all over the place. But maybe I’m just a little over prepared with the torches because I’m used to the much bigger wicks on my hoop that soak in fuel for much longer and get moved around much faster, so are more likely to spit flames into the ground and audience if I wasn’t so cautious.
I don’t want to stop a performance to go all the way to my dip station, dip the likely already hot torches, and then come back to the performance area just to do a trick and have to do it all over again. However if that’s the reality of fire/fuel safety with this I guess I’ll just have to find a way to work with that.
But I’d like to find a creative way to incorporate refueling them if the issue isn’t that I’m not using enough fuel to begin with.
I’ve considered buying more torches and having them ready to use, then using the help of an assistant to hand me the fresh torches so I don’t have to stop what I’m doing and interrupt the flow of the show. But that’s all I’ve got for now. Any other ideas or advice on how to fuel my torches to prevent the need to refuel so quickly are much appreciated.
This might be kind of a silly question because I’m fairly new to Fire Eating, but not fire performances altogether as I’ve been using a Fire Hoop for a long time.
How do you refuel torches while performing? I ask because my torches don’t usually have enough fuel on them for things like fuse transfers, finger/tongue transfers, and especially not things like dragons breath if they’ve been lit even for a few seconds, or have been dipped in fuel but not lit yet for more than 30 seconds since being dipped. While practicing transfers I usually have to keep one torch lit, dip the other again, and only have a very short window of time before too much fuel evaporates from the unlit torch to get enough fuel on whatever body part I need it on do these kinds of tricks.
I use just Coleman’s fuel for the torches, but with my Fire Hoop I use a mixture of Coleman’s and lamp oil, which makes hand transfers with those wicks possible for up to a few minutes after dipping them and spinning off excess fuel. Could a mixture be what I need to prevent fuel evaporating too fast? I’m not sure about the safety of using any amount of lamp oil while Fire Eating, and was under the impression that Coleman’s fuel or high proof alcohol was the only thing I should be using.
It might also be that I’m just not getting enough fuel on the torches to begin with, as I’m aware that too little fuel is better than having too much and dripping/throwing flames and fuel all over the place. But maybe I’m just a little over prepared with the torches because I’m used to the much bigger wicks on my hoop that soak in fuel for much longer and get moved around much faster, so are more likely to spit flames into the ground and audience if I wasn’t so cautious.
I don’t want to stop a performance to go all the way to my dip station, dip the likely already hot torches, and then come back to the performance area just to do a trick and have to do it all over again. However if that’s the reality of fire/fuel safety with this I guess I’ll just have to find a way to work with that.
But I’d like to find a creative way to incorporate refueling them if the issue isn’t that I’m not using enough fuel to begin with.
I’ve considered buying more torches and having them ready to use, then using the help of an assistant to hand me the fresh torches so I don’t have to stop what I’m doing and interrupt the flow of the show. But that’s all I’ve got for now. Any other ideas or advice on how to fuel my torches to prevent the need to refuel so quickly are much appreciated.
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