Gasoline As An Acclerant?

[sailorman]

I was camping once and the guy next to me was clearly about to make the mistake of pouring gasoline on the fire. I very nicely suggested he not do that and told him why. He got all macho and basically told me he knew what he was doing and to mind my own business. After he nearly lit himself on fire he packed up his camp and moved to another site that wasn't next to me.

[CozInCowtown]

Originally Posted by sailorman

I was camping once and the guy next to me was clearly about to make the mistake of pouring gasoline on the fire. I very nicely suggested he not do that and told him why. He got all macho and basically told me he knew what he was doing and to mind my own business. After he nearly lit himself on fire he packed up his camp and moved to another site that wasn't next to me.

ROFLMAO!!
Gene Pool is self cleaning sometimes, not self cleaning enough other times.
DC

[ChadTower]

Nobody wants to have "watched a man burn to death" in their memory bank. Even if the guy did it to himself you just don't want to remember something like that.

[wvbreamfisherman]

28 years as a volunteer firefighter- trust me, there are few things worse than a badly burned victim. I used gasoline a few times when I was young and stupid. There are ways that are (relatively) safe, but I won't go into them here lest someone try it.

Gasoline is best avoided as a firestarter.

[rockytibby]

Originally Posted by ChadTower

Nobody wants to have "watched a man burn to death" in their memory bank. Even if the guy did it to himself you just don't want to remember something like that.

Amen to that ChadTower. I Believe a sight like that would stay with me for a very long time.

[dinosaur]

I've seen this before but gasoline is not a very effective accelerant for starting a wood fire. The flash point is too low and it burns up too quickly to have much of an affect. A little cooking oil soaked into some paper towels placed with a little more paper and some dry twigs works better because it burns longer and gets the wood hot enough to flash. Gasoline is only good for something like pine needles or dry leaves in which case, a quart is a bit excessive.

[ChadTower]

Originally Posted by dinosaur

A little cooking oil soaked into some paper towels placed with a little more paper and some dry twigs works better because it burns longer and gets the wood hot enough to flash.

My favorite fire starter is paper towels soaked in the leftover bacon grease from breakfast. My family likes a lot of bacon in the morning when camping and it leaves enough grease to saturate several paper towels to use as firestarter later in the day. It catches instantly, burns long, and works great. You can also take the extra grease and pour it right on your gathered twigs for later use.

Of course, this is not the best of ideas if you're in bear country.