Use of oxidizers with fire starters, is it plausible?

T. Erdelyi

T. Erdelyi

Joined
Feb 3, 2001
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I remember when I was younger and involved in all the various safety committees at work I used to do a demonstration with a cotton t-shirt where I'd pre-soak half the shirt in a dilute oxidizer like bleach and let it dry, now the point of the demo was to show how oxidizers reacted with ordinary flammables and would accelerate combustion when combined.

I would lite the side of the shirt that had no bleach on it and while explainin' the fire triangle to everyone I would explain how dangerous common household items could make other items when combined, for example, the bleach and t-shirt.

All the while the shirt is burning, and about a third of the way up I light the side with the dried bleach and it burst into flames roarin', intense flames.

Half the shirt is completely consumed in less than 15 seconds, meanwhile the original half had only burned half way up.

My thought was would the use of oxidizers in firestarters make sense?

There are alot of chemicals available to help accelerate combustion, I don't wanna name 'em you could easily do a search to find out but the idea has some merit don't ya think?
 
well, sounds good to me, i gots a few liters of bleach, lots of cotton dental packings, only one way to find out - soak the cotton balls or dental packings, let em dry, add vaseline and light em up!
 
Not a bad idea, I run swimming pools and I confess I've played around a bit with some sodium hypochlorite (pool chlorine). The tabs for pulsar chlorinators are small and could easily be put into a small plastic bag and into a kit, crumbling a little off when you needed it. Burning it does evolve some nasty gasses though, however I think that there are still other things that would be a better solution. What I'm mainly thinking of is that "fire goop" that comes in the metal tubes.
 
Ya know the next step is 2 component reactants as a fire starter, an A B separately contained when mixed AB, cause spontaneous combustion, kinda like a glow stick where ya snap mix and toss, instant fire.

I'm sure the containment vessels would need to be bullet proof but I'm sure the chemistry and physics could be worked out to make something either safe and reusable or safe and cheap enough to make carryin' one ina PSK or on a key ring a common place thing.
 
T. Erdelyi said:
Ya know the next step is 2 component reactants as a fire starter, an A B separately contained when mixed AB, cause spontaneous combustion, kinda like a glow stick where ya snap mix and toss, instant fire.

I'm sure the containment vessels would need to be bullet proof but I'm sure the chemistry and physics could be worked out to make something either safe and reusable or safe and cheap enough to make carryin' one ina PSK or on a key ring a common place thing.
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Plain old glycerine, which has may uses, can be mixed with Potassium permanganate to start an instant fire. Potassium permanganate is also used as a disinfectant and to purify water. Careful, though: don't let them mix in your pack! This is a very old combination that has been used for years.
 
dawsonbob said:
Plain old glycerine, which has may uses, can be mixed with Potassium permanganate to start an instant fire. Potassium permanganate is also used as a disinfectant and to purify water. Careful, though: don't let them mix in your pack! This is a very old combination that has been used for years.
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Pot-Perm and Glycerin have a big weakness- COLD
the glycerin will form a ball and sit on top of the pot-perm powder if the temp is much below 50' F. Using antifreeze instead of glycerin will work well below freezing.
 
Md 25v said:
Pot-Perm and Glycerin have a big weakness- COLD
the glycerin will form a ball and sit on top of the pot-perm powder if the temp is much below 50' F. Using antifreeze instead of glycerin will work well below freezing.
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Thanks, Md 25v, I didn't know that: good information! :thumbup:
 
I found out the hard way, last winter.
I've been playing with Pot-Perm for more than ten years and never knew that until I tried to pour the glycerin and watched it form a solid little ball that was unable to soak into the powder. 5 minutes on google gave me the idea to use the the anti-freeze for cold weather.
One more thing to keep in mind. You have to use pure anti-freeze, not 50/50 as is commonly sold.
 
You can avoid the problems inherent with Glycerin and use sugar. However, you don't get spontaneous combustion like you do when you put some Condy's and Glycerin in a tampon. Sugar also has more uses than simply carrying Glycerin and it needs friction to ignite so in cases of accidental mixing, it's a bit safer.

You have to use some friction. The perfect use of the fire plough.

You also must keep your face out of the way.

Two parts Condy's and one part sugar, add friction and keep your face out of the way.

A bird nest of jute and other materials works well. Avoid using magnesium as an additive...
 
I think if your going to go through the effort of carrying something soaked in bleach or something similar you might as well just cary wetfire tinder/trioxane tabs or some other comercially available instant fire tab. The comercially avaible tabs may be a bit more expensive than a diy but they would be safer and come individually prepackaged.
 
Was wondering about the possible bad effects of fumes given off by the accelerants?
Would that be an issue at all?

Cheers
 
Flipincanadian said:
I think if your going to go through the effort of carrying something soaked in bleach or something similar you might as well just cary wetfire tinder/trioxane tabs or some other comercially available instant fire tab. The comercially avaible tabs may be a bit more expensive than a diy but they would be safer and come individually prepackaged.
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Yes, the commercially available heat tabs work well, but Potassium permanganate and sugar (or glycerine) are things you can carry with you for other purposes. Take all the fire starting stuff you can. I carry a Bic lighter, but alternate methods are much more challenging, and much more fun.
 
Let's keep this thread as safe as possible. I don't want any references online of chemical mixtures for fires. Some are relatively safe(with caution)but others are really uncontrolable. Just remember, we don't want someone getting hurt out of curiosity.
 
Absolutely. I should have posted more of a disclaimer. The spontaneous firestarting techniques with chemicals are cool, but you really need to take the proper care. I would hate for someone to have this stuff accidentally mix in their pack and cause a fire in it!
 
k_estela said:
Let's keep this thread as safe as possible. I don't want any references online of chemical mixtures for fires. Some are relatively safe(with caution)but others are really uncontrolable. Just remember, we don't want someone getting hurt out of curiosity.
Click to expand...

I didn't start this thread intending for anyone to get hurt so I agree, keep it safe.

Interestin' video BTW.
 
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