Forums > Other Toys > fire tracing/body burning

Posted: 3rd Jan 2008
It is aka pooling, trailing and body burning and there is actually alot of information on it here.

[Old link]

[Old link]

Those should get you started.

There is some very sage advice in them. There is also some you should be wary of.
Brian Bushwick's (sp?) book is mentioned and is a *horrible* resource. It is very incomplete and should never be used as a definative guide.

Homemade torches, as long as you know how to make them properly, are invaluable. While I've reconditioned/rewicked mine over the years, I still use the same torches I started with over 10 years ago.

White gas/Naptha fuels are the best for this however, they are also extremely dangerous and explosive and require extra caution.

Barrier creams are not something I subscribe to. I have seen far more burns with use of "barrier creams" than without. Oil heats up and will magnify heat, again, I caution against it.

Remove all the body hair on the portion of the body you wish to trail on, a day in advance. Fuel applied to freshly shaved skin causes extreme irritation often, including small blisters that center around the hair follicles, pores. I can also say from experience, that sunlight can cause further irritation...I had a horrible rash/blister from repeated trailing in direct sunlight. If you don't shave not only do you get to experience the joyful aroma of burnt hair, but sometimes the hair will singe below the skin line and cause blisters (yup..had this happen too).

Be aware of the dangers.
You *WILL* get burned. Make sure you have a burn specific first aide kit on hand.
Shake off your torch, too much extra fuel causes a stream of flaming fuel to run down your body...*not pretty*.
You're dealing with fuel. Chemical burns and rashes aren't uncommon, especially if you have sensitive skin.
Rinse off your skin asap after you are done trailing, or at very least wipe it off with a cool cloth.
Practice unlit to make sure you have control over the fuel and the torch.
Find someone who knows how to do this to work with you on it, if you can.


Beyond that, check those threads, the link to Mephisto (fyretr) and if you have more questions, I'm happy to answer them!

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK

Posted: 3rd Jan 2008
Ah, thanks Pele. I must have been searching for information using the wrong terms. This art has many variations in the name. I'll have a read, not neccessarily thinking of starting it up but would be interested in learning more.

Posted: 4th Jan 2008

 Written by: Pele


Oil heats up and will magnify heat, again, I caution against it.

I have to be a pedant here.. "Magnify heat"? Erm, that would be in a world with different laws of physics...

Though you're quite right about oil based things being bad, oils trap heat really quite effectively, thus preventing a burn from cooling as fast as it might. Which means that the burn is worse as it's hotter for longer.

What I don't get is that all the treatments sold for burns that I've found here in the UK are oil-based.. I have a water-based burn treatment in my fire kit that comes from the US. Given that low-fat margarine has been around for years it can't be that hard to make a burn treatment based on emulsified water, so how come we don't got them here?

A wise man once said: "You have two ears and one mouth, therefore you should shut the up and listen" (though, to be fair, he might not've put it _quite_ like that..)

Posted: 28th Feb 2008
i do a bit of trailing, its quite addictive to be honest easy to incorporate for shows with fire magic (liiiike flash paper etc) transfers, palm fires and fire fetish ..and ofcourse fire eating/breathing (not that i condone fire breathing!)

i use shellite and 2 eating torches
i started off small, basically taught myself, found my pain threshold and practiced indoors (away from wind etc)

like i said, quite addictive really

'FREE HUGGIES!!'

Posted: 2nd Apr 2008
I do alot of fire manipulations, trailings and transfers during my shows. Pele is right, you are better off without a protective cream IF you take precautions! (if taking some precaution and being safe isnt your cup of tea, dont do this..you will scar) I started manipulations and such even before I actually juggled, so I could get used to the feel of fire so close to my skin and lose what little nerves I had with it. look..hand on fire, not a big deal, I plan it..ok..all is well..put hand out, no panic, yay..next step.


I use home made torches as well, nothin but pure cotton on the wicks for anything going in my mouth!

Keyarghah has it right, start small, in a sheltered area, not necessarily indoors, but you can, its not a big thing, just dont be silly about where inside. And yeah, its addictive. I've set some very strange parts of me on fire...

If you do it right, you wont have any pain to begin with anyway. I have taught my grandma (she's almost 70) to do it to show her that its not as scary as it looks, nor does it hurt. She now no longer worries *quite* so much about me when I do the tricks now.

Posted: 11th May 2008
your grandma!? thats rad..!

and yeah same same, i started playing with fire manipulation/fire fetish so i could find my "comfort zone" or pain threshold - it made me a lot more comfortable with the flame when doing contact, because i found with a lot of moves if i hestitated... thats when you get burnt!

also, cotton? wouldnt cotton deteriorate quickly, and youd get little bits of burning cotton on your face?

'FREE HUGGIES!!'

Posted: 11th May 2008
That's what I meant about the oil Pink Nigel, but "magnify" was the only word in my head at the time. I should have said "amplify burn time" or some such.

As for oil based burn creams...I don't know. Can't answer that. I have a water based one here.

keyarghah, white pvc glue hardens and cures in heat. I make all of my torches from cotton balls around the torch, then wrapped tightly in cotton cheesecloth, held together with stitching and being soaked in glue layer by layer. Takes about a day to dry, doesn't fly off of the torch pole and I can get tonnes of burn time out of it, without bits flying off. It eventually does burn down, into just glue being left, and I have to break that off the pole with a hammer before I can rewick.

Did that make sense?

I'm just not comfy with kevlar in my mouth. I agree with Raven_Lockwood there.

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK