Forums > Social Chat > GET ME OFF DEATH'S BED

Posted: 8th Mar 2001
I have used Kero and lamp oil for blows and have had no "permananet issues" so far, and I blow with it. I know that if a bit is swallowed lamp oil doesn't make me anywhere ner as ill as kerosene does. My chin does suffer a bit of irritation but that is from the wiping motion and not the fuel.I will say I have heard horror stories but haven't seen or experienced any myself.No matter what fuels we use, they are toxic, even high proof alcohols. It's just one of those realizations of what we do. You need to weigh the pleasure versus the probability of illness in your own life.Hope this helps.------------------Pele Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir...

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: 8th Mar 2001
Does your friend Fire Breathe or is his tummy troubles from just dealing with kero so much while twirling?... Besides the jargon on the MSDS sheets of kero, does anyone have any real idea of the health effects of twirling say 3-4 nights a week (I know it would depend on heaps of variables such as duration, ventilation etc) but how does it compare with, say, smoking cigarettes... I don't really want to take to wearing a gas mask (it wouldn't really go with my new sparkle-costume! but then again it'd make a different kind of statement I guess...) but it'd be great to know what we are really doing to our bodies (are there any med students out there looking for a thesis topic or something?)Once i did look in to finding a less toxic fuel and one called Pegasol (+ a suffix of some letter/number code) had been developed with low toxicity in mind. It's a hydrocarbon like kerosene and was available from Reco-chem here in Brisbane - I remember it being fairly expensive, but particularly if you coming in closer contact with it (like fire breathing) it may be worth the money...[This message has been edited by bec (edited 09 March 2001).]

Posted: 18th Mar 2001
a few friends of mine use normal parrafin to breath with, no troubles with that. In fact i've had no troubles with it at all.the worst thing that has happened to me is after prolonged contact with skin (from parrafin damp handles etc), is quite dry hands.-----------------------------

Posted: 18th Mar 2001
hmm.. ive heard many a horror story about pegasol .. it comes in another 'form' too although while the substance is sold with another name to it, its exactly the same as pegasol. it burns hotter than kerosene i do know that.. and it lights up just a bit easier too.. IMHO, i wouldn't recommend it.

The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.- B.B.King

Posted: 19th Mar 2001
Bec,From what we've been able to find out, Pegasol is just a different brand of Shellsol T. It is also available from Quantum Petroleum (in QLD, Aust) for roughly the same price at Shellsol T (~$3.70/L). I never use anything other than Shellsol T for fire breathing, but when it comes to normal twirling, I don't figure the smoke from kerosene can do that much more damage than walking down a city street in a haze of exhaust. Obviously it has to do more damage than not twirling at all, but that's the same with everything people do.On a side note, the reason we don't use Shellsol T on our staffs is a) the cost ... and b) being a solvent, it makes pretty quick work of destroying staff handles.Ðraevon