Fire apparatus The various tools used by the fire performance community borrow from a variety of sources many have martial sources like swords staves poi and whips where some seem specifically designed for the fire community The use of these tools are limited only by the imaginations of their users Some tools lend themselves to rhythmic swinging and twirling others to martial kata and others to more subtle use Some common tools are Poi A pair of roughly arm length chains with handles attached to one end and bundle of wicking materia l on the other Staff A rod of wood or metal with wicking material applied to one or both ends Staves are generally used in pairs or individually though many performers are now experimenting with three or more staves Fire hoop hoop with spokes and wicking material attached Fans A large metal fan with one or more wicks attached to the edges Fire umbrella an umbrella that has the cloth removed with kevlar tips Fire meteor A long length of chain or rope with wicks or small bowls of liquid fuel attached to both ends Nunchaku Nunchaku with wicking material usually at either end Batons Diabolo Fire stick Like a traditional devil stick with wicks on both ends of the center stick Torch A short club or torch with a wick on one end and swung like Indian clubs or tossed end over end like juggling clubs Fire knives Short staves with blades attached to the ends and wicking material applied to the blade Fireknives are the traditional Polynesian fire implement and have been in use since the 1940s Fire rope dart A wick sometimes wrapped around a steel spike at the end of a rope or chain ranging from 6 15 feet long with a ring or other handle on the opposite end Fire sword either a real sword modified for fire or one specifically built for the purpose of fire shows Chi ball 2 rings or handles with a wick attached between them by a thin wire Finger wands Short torches attached to individual fingers Palm torches Small torches with a flat base meant to be held upright in the palm of the hand Fire whips Lengths of braided aramid fiber tapered to make a bullwhip usually with a metal handle about 12 inches long Jumblymambas a triple ended fire object for juggling twirling and manipulation Fire poofer a propane flame effect device The variety of available tools took a sharp swing upwards in 2000 and as the numbers of dedicated fire tool makers increase many makers add their own ingenuity to the art and expand the performance potential even more Frequently new tools app ear from home tinkering and enter the public domain after a few performances Materials and construction The typical construction of fire performance tools involves a metallic structure with wicking material made from fiberglass cotton or Kevlar blended with fiberglass Nomex and other poly aramids Kevlar blend wicks are the most common and are considered standard equipment in modern fire performance Though most wick suppliers refer to their wick simply as Kevlar almost no suppliers sell a 100 Kevlar wick which is both expensive and not particularly absorbent Most serious contemporary performers avoid cotton and other natural materials because such wicks disintegrate after relatively few uses and can come apart during use showering the performer and audience with flaming debris A typical poi construction would consist of a single or double looped handle made of webbing Kevlar fabric or leather This is connected to a swivel and a length of chain or cable This chain or cable the n connects to another swivel and then to the wick which is made out of tape wick a wide flat webbing made of wick material or rope wick The wick material is typically folded or tied to a central core in either a knot or lanyard type fold The chain or cable can be anything from stainless steel wire rope preferred by some for its low cost light weight high strength and almost invisible profile but not by others because it tangles easily to dog chain preferred by some for its heft and low cost to industrial ball chain which is the most common chain for fire performance equipment Made out of nickel plated steel stainless steel or black oxide brass ball chain in the 13 to 20 size ranges provides excellent strength a fluid feel and great tangle prevention Since every link on the chain swivels one can eliminate dedicated swivels from a design and body wrapping and chain wrapping moves become much easier Extra cost and a higher weight to durability ratio are the biggest downsides to ball chain A fire staff typically consists of a long cylindrical section of either aluminium tube lighter more suitable for fast spinning tricks or wood heavier more suited to contact moves in which the staff retains contact with the performer throughout the trick see contact juggling with a length of wick secured at either end usually with screws Wooden cored staves often have thin sheet metal wrapped around the ends to prevent charring of the wood from the heat this will have holes drilled through it to allow the wick to be screwed securely into the core Metal staves generally have a length of wooden dowel inserted into each end holes are drilled through the metal to allow the wicks screws to gain firm purchase on the wooden core A grip of some sort is usually fashioned in the centre of the staff to provide a comfortable hand hold most commonly leather or a soft self adhesive grip of a type designed for hockey sticks or tennis rackets Important factors in equipment constr uction Building high quality fire performance equipment involves the balancing of a number of factors to achieve performance suited for the specific intended use by the performer Even if you are planning on buying prefabricated equipment understanding the following factors and how they interrelate will allow you to best purchase the right implement Balance Balance is how the weight is distributed in the implement It is critical when making staffs torches hula hoops clubs and swords as balance will determine the axis around which the implement rotates This consideration is irrelevant with poi and ropedarts as all the weight is naturally concentrated at one end Weight Making implements heavier will up to a certain point allow you to spin them faster However weight will also make the implement increasingly unwieldy Also heavy implements are more likely to lead to repetitive stress disorder and cause injuries if you make mistakes Heavier implements make certain types of contact juggling much easier and certain high speed manipulation more difficult Drag Generally the more exposed surface area of wick you have the bigger flame you will have The more total wick as in thicker rolls the more fuel your implement will hold and the longer it will burn and the heavier and more expensive it will be The more fuel your tool holds the more the apparent drag based on the added weight of the fuel after dipping Cost The fourth factor is cost Frequently new prop development and sometimes even building standard designs require extra materials and tools that are not readily available Even dedicated home tinkerers find themselves weighing the cost of purchasing versus the cost and time of build at home Fuels Nearly all modern fire dancing apparatus rely on a liquid fuel held in the wick There are many choices for fuels each differing in properties Individuals select a fuel or a blend of fuels based on safety cost availability and the desirability of various character istics like color of flame heat of flame and solubility There are also geographic variances in fuels used based on local availability pricing and community perception For example American firespinners commonly use coleman gas or 50 50 mixes whilst British firespinners almost exclusively use paraffin oil which the Americans call kerosene or jet fuel Frequently particularly in areas not fully industrialized the fuel available is the residue from productions of more refined fuels Traveling performers can find themselves spinning highly toxic smokey or carcinogenic fuels Iso paraffin oil also known as Pegasol 3440 special is an iso paraffin Its MSDS lists it as Naphtha petroleum heavy alkylate This is the Australian version of white gas Note Shellsol T is listed as an equivalent replacement by both Mobil and Shell tech support however while the combustible characteristics of Shellsol T and Pegasol 3440 are very similar the toxic properties are very different Shellsol features th e following hazards either not present in 3440 or present to a lesser degree acute toxicity oral eye irritation organ damage through inhalation or ingestion reproductive toxicity respiratory irritation skin corrosion irritation suspected of damaging the unborn child White gas also known as Coleman fuel naphtha or petroleum ether This hot volatile fuel is popular because it is easy to ignite burns brightly evaporates cleanly and does not leave smoke or residues on wicks and bodies However it burns hot and quick limiting the burn time and potentially increasing the risk of burns This is the preferred fuel for most indoor venues and thus a must for performers who do indoor shows Becoming increasingly more difficult to obtain in the US due to its alternate use in Meth amphetamine production Kerosene paraffin oil This is a popular fuel due to its low cost and long burn times Kerosene is a generic term that covers a broad range of fuels ranging from gasoline to diesel fuel It is n ormally a mixture of hydrocarbons Almost every maker of kerosene has different purity standards and different flash points Some home fuel oils are nearly pure paraffins alkanes and iso alkanes whereas others are almost completely benzene and refinery residue Lamp oil Lamp oil is an oily non volatile fuel Typically sporting the highest flash point of all the petrol distillates in liquid form lamp oils are the most difficult to light and longest burning fuels Many products sold as lamp oil contain a limited amount of non alkane petrol distillates benzene et al and many have colorings and scent additives that have some toxic potential Even the purest grades of lamp oil burn quite smoky though less irritating and toxic and thus make it preferred for outdoor use The soot from burned lamp oil can be difficult to wash out of clothing Alcohol fuels are usually ethanol methanol or isopropyl Industrial or lab alcohol is usually ethanol with methanol acetone or other denaturing agents added Denatured alcohols can be up to 95 ethanol or as little as 50 An MSDS sheet of the mixture will indicate the exact contents Note The flame is blue to orange depending on methanol content and fairly dim However when mixed with chemicals such as lithium chloride copper chloride and boric acid various colors of flame can be created Lithium compounds produce pinks copper compounds produce greens and blues and boric acid produces green Other chemicals may produce other colors and performers often experiment with various choices Use of chemicals like these may produce some toxic vapors and have a tendency to destroy wicks Due to the weak flame price and toxicity of methanol it is usually only used for coloured flame production and in mixes Biodiesel Biodiesel is a fuel produced by refinement or transesterification of vegetable oil used or virgin using methoxide composed of methanol and lye Both KOH potassium hydroxide and NaOH sodium hydroxide can be used in the process but only one or the other never both in the same batch This produces glycerin and methyl esters aka Biodiesel The fuel is designed for use in diesel vehicles but is a fairly safe and practical fuel for fire performance Like kerosene it is difficult to ignite by itself and produces a dim long lasting flame that may smell a bit like french fries depending on the source It is often mixed with white gas to produce an easy to ignite long burning fuel Modern developments in fire performance A San Francisco performance During the period from the mid 1990s to the early 2000s fire dancing grew from a relatively obscure and marginalized native tradition and a talent and skill of the baton twirler or circus artist to a widespread and almost commonplace occurrence at raves rock concerts night clubs beach parties camping festivals cabarets and hotel shows Many attribute the discipline s rapid growth in popularity to the Burning Man festival where many thousands were exposed to fire dancing w ho had never seen or heard of it before Another powerful force was the rise of internet chat and bulletin board cultures which allowed aspiring dancers in isolated areas to communicate with the then limited pool of skilled performers far outside of their geographic confines As the number of fire dancers multiplied exponentially individual performers and troupes began to experiment with new equipment concepts i e beyond the traditional staff fireknives and poi and with hybrid performance art concepts The following is an incomplete list of such show varieties whose categories are general and tend to overlap Traditional fire shows Traditional shows often incorporate Polynesian costuming and other cultural elements Many conform to the guidelines or are inspired by the annual World Fireknife Competition and Samoa Festival Standard modern shows These usually include performers in tight and perhaps even risqu costumes with elaborate face paint performing with poi staffs and other s tandard implements Such shows often include fire breathing techniques as well Most people think of this type of performance when they think of fire dancing Fire theatre Such shows are theatrical shows which include fire and fire performance as elements of staged dramatic presentations Often the fire performance is a small element of the larger show These shows tend to use more elaborate props and costuming and focus less on technical skill Fire fetish show Such shows are recognizable by more overt sexuality in the performance and often extremely risqu costuming nudity and implied or actual sexual c
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