![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:35 • Filed to: None | ![]() | ![]() |
Here’s an idea that is so fraught with idiocy I am startled that TWO different people - I mean “companies” - have come up with it at the same time. Flame throwers for “consumer” use.
Yes, we all remember the good old-fashioned flamethrowers. Bulky and unweildy, our brave soldiers used them in some of the ugliest fighting in World War II. Remember
Saving Private Ryan
?
I’m not sure that a lot of those returning soldiers came home and said, “Gee, I wish I could get my hands on a flame thrower today.” But some enterprising fellows have built flamethrowers you can buy. Portable and apparently easy to use. Hey, they run on gasoline.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Well, let’s see. Who will ban this first? The EPA, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or just every government body capable of passing laws? Or will they be put out of business by the avalanche of lawsuits which will arise from what is apparently a dangerous product?
I suggest we turn this into a game. I can’t imagine this will take that long.
Follow me on Twitter: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
Hear my podcast on iTunes: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
Steve Lehto has been practicing law for 23 years, almost exclusively in consumer protection and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! He wrote !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
This website may supply general information about the law but it is for informational purposes only. This does not create an attorney-client relationship and is not meant to constitute legal advice, so the good news is we’re not billing you by the hour for reading this. The bad news is that you shouldn’t act upon any of the information without consulting a qualified professional attorney who will, probably, bill you by the hour.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:40 |
|
It’s the perfect device for clearing snow from your driveway.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:42 |
|
I might buy one for making toast in the morning.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:46 |
|
George Carlin’s opinion
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:48 |
|
But think of the practical applications here... Say you’re having a big party, do you want to really stand outside by the grill all day, doing what, 8, 10 burgers at a time? Lay those babies out on the driveway and BAM! 30 seconds and you can cook 100 burgers, 100 hot dogs, 100 brats, the neighbors cat. Then you can get back to socializing and enjoying your party!
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:49 |
|
It’s only a matter of time (hours?) before two idiots get a pair and start jousting with them. It will make great youtube footage but in the end, they both lose.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:51 |
|
Manliest candlelight dinner ever. Show her you’re romantic and dangerous!
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:52 |
|
Now that you mention it, there is something oddly erotic about this device.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:53 |
|
Let’s be honest now don’t you want one. I know i do ! I’d love to see my neighbors face when i clear my snow off the driveway.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:53 |
|
Was about to post this.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:54 |
|
It’s never ME I worry about. It’s the children. THINK OF THE CHILDREN!
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:54 |
|
I’m sure many will end up with a fire in their loins.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:54 |
|
Wow, didn’t think those would ever make it to the market. I’m excited. I want the NRA to get involved and try to support the manufacturers and owners.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:55 |
|
A burning sensation?
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:55 |
|
Well I’ve already got my order in, just trying to find a jousting partner now. And because horses are scared of fire, I’m going to do it off a dirt bike.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:56 |
|
Awesome find! RIP George. The greatest.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:56 |
|
Shit, better buy one now while they’re still available.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:56 |
|
This is prescisely what we used to vanquish the Redcoats. I’m pretty sure.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:56 |
|
Indoors, I hope.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:57 |
|
Seriously. These will not be on the market long.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:57 |
|
I’m a big Shark Tank fan. Finish the joke yourselves.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:58 |
|
“I only regret that I have but one recommendation to give for this comment”
- Chuck (2015)
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:59 |
|
A real weinie roast! I’ll see myself out...
![]() 08/19/2015 at 08:59 |
|
do what the south africans did and attach them to the underneath of your car
;)
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:00 |
|
Meh. Chainsaws are still legal. No biggie
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:01 |
|
“You’re dead to me.”
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:01 |
|
It’s the natural progression of the lowly weed torch . Evolution in action!
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:01 |
|
Here’s a photo of George Washington getting it done.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:02 |
|
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:02 |
|
Chainsaws are precision instruments. They don’t spray their chains 30 feet. At least most of the time.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:02 |
|
Stop drop and roll timmy!
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:05 |
|
I wonder if I can safely use it simultaneously with this:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/140694…
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:06 |
|
Topless women jousting on those with the flamethrowers. It’s TV GOLD!
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:06 |
|
Their being legal is nothing new. In fact, I’ve got a little short-range kerosene flamethrower for weed-burning that dates from the 50s or 60s. Anything that bans a flamethrower would probably by implication ban a lot of industrial devices that are similar, such as weed torches and roofing torches. I truly don’t believe this is an issue - not only is a flamethrower with any range hideously expensive (making it a toy of the wealthy), but it’s outranged in practical terms by almost any handgun. Anybody who gets the vapors over the idea of somebody going on a flamethrower rampage (or burning his house down and getting any kind of claim paid) needs their meds checked.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:09 |
|
Prometheus: I give you the gift of fire. Now don’t be stupid.
Man: No promises.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:10 |
|
If you saw the video, unbburned gas spilled out and it also appeared to be fairly sloppy. Within a few weeks of these things being on sale, users will 1) burn themselves, 2) burn others, 3) burn down things they didn’t set out to and 4) piss off all kinds of neighbors who will be scared that any of the foregoing is going to happen to them or their children.
In the hands of the wrong person, these things are dangerous. More so than the typical weed torch. But hey, I could be wrong. Maybe these things will be the rage by the next 4th of July.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:11 |
|
Man (on fire as he speaks): “Don’t be what now?”
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:13 |
|
They’d make quick work of a wasp nest. Much safer than using an aerosol can too.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:13 |
|
I’m not so sure that I’d describe a chainsaw as a precision instrument...
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:13 |
|
It would make quick work of the tree the nest was in, too. Doesn’t seem like a terribly precision device.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:14 |
|
Well, I was just talking to someone about shooting my pellet gun in my apartment. Seems like a logical progression.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:14 |
|
You need to see one in the hands of a master. My brother works a chainsaw like Hendrix worked his Strat. A real thing of artistry.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:21 |
|
every government body capable of passing laws
The government that has a hard enough time banning bath salts is definitely incapable of banning these.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:21 |
|
Good point, I’ve seen some of those chainsaw carving demos, they are pretty wild.
Maybe there’s hope for precision flame thrower sculpting.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:24 |
|
The kerosene one I have is more of a handheld wand, and spitting excess unburned fuel is an asset to burning weeds/etc. so before the proliferation of propane, it was accepted that in the greatest napalmic traditions you’d fuel whatever you were trying to burn. In other words, before the modern use of propane, we’ve actually been here before. Also, mil-surplus ones have been available (if in limited numbers) for years. Of course, that doesn’t mean that in the modern age, we aren’t risking internet hipsters with no arms discipline getting these for a “cool video” with their trust fund. Still way less dangerous than mil-surplus ones that project 30 feet and operate at multiple thousand psi.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:30 |
|
The tree will grow back, or alternatively, you didn’t really want that tree anyway.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:30 |
|
Haha! I watched a Canadian guy use one with the skill of a surgeon. Made a nice bear statue out of a log.
Watching my friends dad use one, well, it would make leather face run for safety.
Like everything else, its only as safe as the user I guess.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:32 |
|
Want to bet?
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:33 |
|
The tree had it comin’.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:42 |
|
BULLSHIT
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:44 |
|
ATF should be awfully interested.
I think it’s kind of funny because rigging something like that up to run off of propane is pretty common in farming. Burning off crop stubble with a controlled burn is a normal practice and a lot of it is done with homemade flame throwers.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:45 |
|
Which seems a heck of a lot safer than this thing. I’d trust a farmer with a propane burner much more than a teenager with one of these.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:47 |
|
I’ll bet a custom woodburning picture (something I just started doing ) of your choice on “bankruptcy by lawsuit” before government law banning it for a copy of one of your books.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:52 |
|
Sculpting an ice sculpture with the flamethrower.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:53 |
|
Personally, I’m a huge fan of evolution being allowed to run its course. If you were a personal injury attorney, you’d probably like these too.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:53 |
|
True, but that doesn’t mean a teenager can’t get his hands on the appropriate parts to build his own. In fact I think teenage boys spend most of their days devising ways to create destructive devices. I know I did (never got a chance to see what my styrofoam/gasoline puddy would do).
![]() 08/19/2015 at 09:53 |
|
Or a product liability attorney. The lawsuits will be massive and expensive.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 10:16 |
|
This is how we start the camp fires at our big event down in Ohio every summer.
don’t take away our fun!
![]() 08/19/2015 at 10:16 |
|
A jerry can and a lighter can do it just as well.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 10:21 |
|
Yeah but that’s no where near as fun.
And ours are very well controlled and used by volunteer fireman so it’s incredibly safe. Giant water buckets and hoses are always on hand as well.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 10:21 |
|
They both lose, but the gene pool wins. I’m all for it.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 10:21 |
|
Yes you were!
![]() 08/19/2015 at 10:24 |
|
Sadly, they almost always harm innocent third parties before they go.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 10:27 |
|
Here’s a couple in use:
All kinds of fun. (I blurred their faces, they didn’t melt off from the flames lol)
![]() 08/19/2015 at 10:53 |
|
Gotta have someway to kill spiders.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 10:54 |
|
Guy in ND went to jail for doing that.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 10:55 |
|
The gubbbamint might ban it soon? Well that will just increase their sales like crazy!
Obama never wanted to take guns away, yet he became the best gun salesman in recent history.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 10:57 |
|
I’m serious. It was the first thing that popped into my head. Love Carlin, especially the early stuff. I might be 20, but I know the 7 words.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 11:04 |
|
you’re a good man. Keep Carlin in your mind... the man may have been a comedian, but he was a wicked brilliant philosopher
![]() 08/19/2015 at 11:14 |
|
Very true. I find a good number comedians actually getting at important issues. But none do it like Carlin. He kept his eyes open and didn’t hold back.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 11:29 |
|
It just lights up easy and burns with a lot of black smoke, like styrofoam. Nothing too exciting, but it does burn for quite some time.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 11:38 |
|
Kind of anticlimactic after what some of my fellow destructive teenagers had told me about it.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 12:42 |
|
Yeah, I was expecting waaaaay more fire.
![]() 08/19/2015 at 12:42 |
|
Making toast? I didn’t think ND was that strange of a place... :P
![]() 08/19/2015 at 12:43 |
|
Man: Hold my beer and watch this!
![]() 08/20/2015 at 02:19 |
|
I already have one of each on order and will be doing a YouTube comparison to see which one lights my annoying neighbor’s house on fire faster.
![]() 08/20/2015 at 09:57 |
|
Good luck
![]() 08/23/2015 at 11:24 |
|
It’s a Darwin-gasm.
![]() 08/24/2015 at 09:10 |
|
Counterpoint:
![]() 08/24/2015 at 11:25 |
|
It was called “The Blaster” - awesome anti-carjacking tool.