Lesson for kids: How to Make Flaming Torches

[Son of a Beach]

Last week I taught my kids an important lesson that everyone should know: How to Make Flaming Torches.

Have fun storming the castle!

Then we walked up the road with them. No pitchforks, though.

(No orcs were harmed.)

[Moondog55]

Zombie apocalypse training??

[ribuck]

Very good. Allkidsshoulddothis.

Is it a rag soaked in kerosene? Around here, people seem to have switched to wrapping beeswax around the stick. I have also seen it done with firelighters plus a piece of foil to catch the drops, but the smell is awful.

[Son of a Beach]

First time I tried this (~30 years ago) I used engine oil. I was camping on the east coast with some mates and one bloke decided that he would change the oil in his car while we were there. Afterwards there was a tub of used oil and a pile of rags. I asked how he planned to dispose of it. I can’t remember what his plan was, but I came up with a better one. Worked a treat.

Second time (~3 weeks ago) was a complete flop. Tried to use linseed oil because that’s what I had available. I could not get it to ignite.

This last time, I bought some citronella oil from the supermarket. Of course that worked perfectly. Just wound some cotton fabric around the end of a fresh green stick (folded the fabric so that no edges were on the outside) and nailed it to the stick to be on the safe side. Soaked the ends in the oil for a while. Then left them upside down out of the oil for a while to avoid having flaming oil dripping towards our hands. These torches ignited easily, produced an impressive amount of light, and even smelled nice. Kept the mozzies away too.

Our OH&S department has not been informed of these activities.

This afternoon my kids were sword fighting on the deck. Next door neighbours’ daughter came over to see what was going on. Good thing we had a spare sword for her in the back room.

Makes a nice change from them being buried in their books all the time.