Lighter Rocket

Step 2 Other more dangerous options

If your feeling more daring then waiting the 30 somewhat seconds for the plastic to melt, there is another choice. You need to open the valve a little more then in the last step, so there is a larger amount of gas escaping. There needs to be more gas escaping so the flame does not go out when you throw it at the ground. Ignite it, and throw the lighter away from you onto hard ground. The impact force will crack the plastic (if you threw it hard enough) allowing all the gas to escape at once and igniting it at the same time. The most common problem is having the flame go out while you throw it, the only solution is to throw it with just enough force to crack the plastic, but not so fast that it extinguishes the flame.

The most important thing to keep in mind is throwing it AWAY from you, meaning don't throw it down at your feet. Ideally you should have it hit the ground 15ft away from you, at that distance it would be almost impossible for anything to ricochet back and hit you. If you want to be super extra safe wear goggles while doing this.

If you are feeling really daring, tape one of the small butane refill cartridges (the ones shown in the photo) to the lighter. Ignite the lighter like in the last step, and throw the entire thing at the ground, making sure you throw it hard enough to crack the plastic butane case. It will give off a large flame and a loud whoosh.

Comments

[jbriano2]

you actually dont have to even light it i just throw the lighter really hard and it blows up

[zytyxx]

seriously? Thats so cool!

[dungeon runner]

Damn, I and thought the "Fireball in the hand" was dangerous. Learned early, never quite mastered it though.

[hp_bierbaumer]

one way to ensure that the butane gas will ignite is to throw it into a existing flame (small amounts of gasoline will do just fine)

[m-arijn]

(removed by author or community request)

[flio191]

lawl, isnt that why parents supervise their kids when they go on the internet? plus, the poster assumes you are of age to be playing with fire... just saying...

[RocketManDave]

Ditto, this all sounds a little too dangerous and encouraging for 10year old Pyro's.

[milamber]

oh cumon guys let the kids have fun if your that woried keep your lighters somewere safe im 14 and in high school and i have trouble geting lighters id be blowing fire by now if not 4 my mom ps i now its just cos u care about kids but loosen up

[cartilige]

I'm also 14 and find it EXTREMELY hard to get lighters here in the UK but when I do get them I empty them so fast this is a complete waste of time for myself. Still a great idea and a one everyone should know.

[fd93]

been doing it since i was 10 and i have never been burned

[manmelvin]

your suposed to be 13 and older to have an account here. i guess some kid could just come on the site but is an 8 year old smart enough to pull this off. also how are they gonna get a lighter/butane refill bottle?

[cdousley]

Well its not that hard
1.walk into dollar store
2.grab lighter
3.get something like candy so you don't seem suspicious
4.grab butane refill
5.check out
6.DONE!

[manmelvin]

acually i must somewhat rivise my opinion as it seems that lighting cans of butaine lighter fluid does seem a little stupid:) (getting 3rd degree burns on your face when your little contraption goes off unexpectadly might hurt lol

[Tetranitrate]

But if the little kids don't burn their eyes then how will they learn not to play with fire?

[MajesticNarwhal]

Well, don't exaggerate that much but truthfully I agree. The easiest way a kid learns something is by experience. If the kid is denied his pyro urges because the parents think it's a phase, and it is not a phase he will try to do even more dangerous things than what he would have done degree when he was smaller and end up blowing off his or her but most likely his hand off. So if the kid gets hurt when he is little doing little and not so dangerous projects, later he will apply that to riskier situations and with some imagination, hopefully see that the injury he received when he was doing a smaller project could be greatly increased with the risks of the larger project. For example in another situation, a kid is standing next to one of his parents when they are making coffee so he wants to try it and put his hand in the hot coffee. As a result he is badly (but not to badly) burned from the incident. Now I hope you would agree that when that kid is older and is making some mac and cheese and needs to cary the boiling pot of water over to the sink, that he is going to be a hell of a lot more careful than he would have been if he was not burned before. Also, when I say injury I don't mean a missing limb, cause that's what it sounds like I mean like a blister or a first degree burn. I mean like come on i got hundreds of burns when i was little that had nothing to do with fire. No pain no gain. By the way I'm 15 years old and throwing butane canisters into fire, next to fire, or anything closely related to heat is the dumbest thing i have ever heard of, and in no way am i supporting your childish and foolish instructable. Although i do believe that you have the right to post whatever you want and i am not trying to deter you or any others from posting their experiences because truthfully if i was not writing this post i would be doing something far less meaningful.

[Jonny Katana]

"...end up blowing off his or her but most likely his hand off." Haha, that made me laugh :)

[DarkTrinity]

Im quite amazed that out of all the dangerous instructables I have read, people decided to complain about safety on this one. I quite firmly believe if a kid blows something off doing this, it is nobody elses fault but there own and their parents. No one made them come here, read an article on playing with lighters and then told them to go do it. They came here, most likely searching for something like this. You will not accidently find these things without searching for it, and furthermore the only people to blame are the parents for allowing their child to 1) Read this 2) Buy the lighter 3) Blow it up. Tetranitrate is merely sharing information with the rest of the world and it is YOUR choice whether you want to read it or not. But you have no right to incriminate him for merely providing this information. The internet is evolving, you cannot stop articles like this from being posted, but you can take control of your children. Get real, please. Good on you Tetranitrate, keep it up.

[milamber]

well said brother im with u on that one tetranitrate is the best pyro iv seen on this site so fare riveld only by ilikecoolstuff and his fireballs sir and tetranitrate should both be knited into the ordor of the exesiv pyro i dub the sir tetranitrate

[m-arijn]

if you make a fire on your holiday with your parents, your parents will teach you how to play with fire in a safe way. exploding gasses aren't a safe way to learn to play with fire.

[manmelvin]

dude my parents didnt teach me to "play" with fire. they told me not to touch matches and stuff like that. now they have finaly given in to my pyro ways:)

[pyrotecnix]

same...

[Tetranitrate]

But this is for people who already know how to play with fire. It should not be attempted unless the former condition is met.

[m-arijn]

then you should make that clear in your instructable...

[xrz0r]

lol, if you put something like that in your tital it provokes kids to do it cuz they think it'll be fun...atleast that was me... if i was 10 agine and someone offered me a lighter and pack of fire crackers OR a bottle of bubbles. which would you choose. see my point? kids will be kids and theres nothing you can do about it...if they don't find it here they'll find it else where.

[Tetranitrate]

The individuals who read these types of things on instructables (and anywhere else on the internet) have read disclaimers before, and they know almost all dangerous projects are attempt at your own risk. That being said, I feel that disclaimers in no way affect a person's final decision on whether or not they should try something like this.

[liambowen]

Kids that blow themselves up attempting this instrutable (which, by the way, is actually pretty safe compared to similar aerosol-based explosions) deserve everything they get. I did this kind of thing when I was 8 and I still have 10 fingers, 10 toes and 2 eyes and I have never received a burn.

[manmelvin]

dude when i was 8 i was still playing with legos and stuff like that. what kind of kid becomes a pyro at 8 years old?

[strmrnnr]

Smart ones.

At 8 I was making fire crackers out of wasted .22 cal shell casings with match heads.

[buster27]

me

[milamber]

me i did been playin wid fire since not ten or 8 but 6

[drummonkey92]

id just like to point out that if a kid is stupid enough to blow themselves up with a lighter darwin says let them die!! do we realy need ppl like that in the gene pool?!

[akumahai]

My brother was a pyro at 12, causing me, at 10, and my brother, 6, to follow his lead...it more fun if you take risk when you know what your doing...in fact, i actually lit my hand on fire at least 10 times in the past week... as long as you know what your doing, and get it out soon, there is absolutly no pain, or burns afterwards

[fd93]

Just shake up an old one that is almost used up and chuck it at a wall.

[Heavenly Hobo]

Just take a lighter as it is and throw it on the ground and it will blow up.

[slayerforhope]

hahahahaha the crack lighter approach