News Items:

http://flammaaeterna.ning.com/forum/topics/fire-mecca-backtoschool-sale

http://www.firemecca.com/news.aspx?showarticle=65



Hi All,



We are having a back-to-school sale at Fire Mecca for a limited time, so stock up now on the gear you need for your juggling jams, poi practices, and stilt strolls!



To take advantage of our sale, simply enter the following coupon code when viewing your shopping cart:



FAFB10



Fire Mecca: http://www.firemecca.com

For over a decade, customers who wanted size 15 ball chain, the most common size of ball chain for poi leashes, had to settle for size 20 connectors, which were meant for the next-larger production chain. Fire Mecca now brings you a size 15 nickel-plated steel (not brass) connector that has been unavailable in the United States. It is less expensive, more durable, and also suitable for size 13 chain. Available in retail and bulk quantities starting today!

Hi Julz,

Here are a couple of cheap solutions that you could try depending on whether you wanted an instantaneous lighting effect or if you are willing to deal with a time delay between between when you push the button and when everything goes up in flames and incorporate that into your routine.



You can get a piezoelectric lighter. The push-button kind of thing that a person might use to light a camping stove or a potato gun is probably the best. Hardware stores and online stores carry them. If you can't find one, you can disassemble one of those long butane grill lighters (make sure it's out of fuel first). However you get your hands on a piezoelectric lighter, you get one, and solder two 24-gauge wires to it - one to the tip, and one to the body of the lighter. You can then twist the two lengths of wire together and secure the un-soldered ends very close together near your fuel-soaked wick where they will make a spark when you push the button, and the spark should light your wick. Some quick research online found instructions for a DIY piezo sparker here: here, and some instructions on how to disassemble a grill lighter here. While they don't specify a maximum length of wire, I would imagine that you could at least get it long enough to conceal the lighter button somewhere in or near your helmet where your audience would not notice it.



If you didn't mind delayed ignition, you could use a bit of nichrome wire attached to a battery pack concealed on your person (it's the heating element they use in toasters & electric matches, so you have the option of scavenging materials if you don't want to go out and buy nichrome wire). It'll take some time between when you push the button and when the wire gets hot enough to light things. If you are at all worried about the unlikely event that the fuel in the kevlar won't catch from the heat alone, you can pack a little bit of flash cotton around the nichrome wire element, and that will definitely produce the flame required to catch your kevlar wick. The one thing you really need to be careful about when using nichrome wire is that it can get hot enough to damage your kevlar wick and your helmet.



This is a neat design challenge - I hope you find a good solution for what you're trying to do!