WEBVTT - How Flamethrowers Work 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.840 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:07.560 It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff You Should Know 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:16.520 from House Stuff Works dot Com? Hey, and welcome to 0:00:16.560 --> 0:00:20.560 the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:24.320 that makes this Stuff you Should Know, right, Chuck, Yeah, yeah, 0:00:24.600 --> 0:00:26.400 Jerry just I love it when like we get last 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:29.120 second instructions. Yeah, and they don't make any sense. Just 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:31.560 save it for the show, guys, right, or show that 0:00:31.640 --> 0:00:36.239 picture on the podcast the audio podcast. Oh goodness, how 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:40.879 are you sir? I'm fine by all rights Friday, but 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:45.080 it's actually Thursday, but it's almost Memorial Day. Yeah, and 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:47.040 we're not Are you coming in tomorrow at all? No, 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:53.360 I'm not comfortable saying either way. Well, it's all to 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:55.319 be surprised. I don't want to get in trouble. Well 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:57.920 I'm not. I'm still scared of the man. I know 0:00:58.040 --> 0:00:59.760 you're not. But you're all like, hey, look at me. 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:03.960 I'm forty. I make my own decisions, not forty, So Chuck. 0:01:04.600 --> 0:01:08.160 You're George Carlin fan right, Yeah, the late George Carlin. 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:11.160 Just the late alright. We always had the bummer, don't you. 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:14.160 The late George Carlin could be like George Carlin. He's 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:19.479 the greatest stand up comedian ever, the very the worm 0:01:19.560 --> 0:01:26.440 food George Carlin, Yeah, the dearly departed. Yes, I like him. 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:28.920 I have an obscure stand up bit that I'll bet 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:31.560 you haven't heard of that is the appropub of our 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:36.720 topic today. So George Carlin um had a bit about flamethrowers. 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:38.920 I never heard that one. He said that the very 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:43.000 presence of flamethrowers, and I'm paraphrasing, the very presence of 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:48.760 flamethrowers means that at some point sometime someone said to himself, 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:51.320 you know, there's a bunch of people over there that 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:54.200 I'd like to set on fire, but they're too far 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:56.800 away from me to get the job done. I wish 0:01:56.800 --> 0:01:59.920 there was something that I could use to throw flames 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:04.240 on them, And as a result, we now have the flamethrower, 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:06.720 which is kind of crazy when you think about it 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:09.280 that way. It is pretty interesting, it is, And when 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:13.200 you start to really look into flamethrowers, you realize just 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:17.239 how horrific the acts that humans inflict on other humans 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:21.519 can be. Yeah, it's pretty it's pretty awful stuff. Actually, Yeah, 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:24.200 when you, I mean, actually all kinds of modern weapon. Rhenno. 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:26.639 My brother in lawson the Marines, he told me about this. 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:30.200 I think it's called a flachette, some sort of bomb 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:35.800 that like explodes above people and sends thousands of like 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:39.359 razor blades shooting out what. I think it's mainly used 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:45.320 for clearing like jungle, but ya, jungle of enemy combatant exactly. 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:48.360 To some sick I thought that up, we're like, what 0:02:48.520 --> 0:02:51.760 one step away from the alien weapons in District nine 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:55.760 where people just blow up in an almost cartoonish fashion. Yeah, 0:02:55.919 --> 0:03:01.239 it's coming the atomizer or something they'll call it. Um. 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:04.799 What's what's odd is that that person, that first person 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:09.640 that George carlin Um envisions, actually lived a lot longer 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:12.160 ago than you would think. I was shocked. I was 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:17.920 well century BC, fifth century b C. Man right, it 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:21.360 wasn't well, it was a flamethrower. It was very crude, vulgar, 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:25.359 if you will, flamethrower. It was a long tube sort 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:27.480 of like a blowgun, and they filled it with solid 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:33.600 stuff like hot coal and sulfur and went, yeah, ideally 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:35.320 you don't suck in. That would be bad. No. I 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:37.160 was thinking that too, like you have to suck in 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:39.520 the breath before you put the tube. Deer mouth or us, 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:41.600 you're in big trouble. Oh that's the case with any 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:44.480 blow blowgun, right, Sure, did you ever make those in 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:47.080 your kid? No? I never did. That was too busy 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:51.560 burning stuff. You could have done both apparently. So Yeah, 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:55.280 they would shoot I guess um hot coal or sulfur 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:59.840 out at their enemy combatant instead of a flame per se, 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:03.960 which I guess ultimately it would bounce off of their 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:07.040 arm and they'd be like, ah, that burns, and then 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:10.280 they just tussle and leg wrestling, right, and shake hands 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:13.640 afterwards and go eat a bore. That's that's how that 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:17.039 went to Life CENTRYBC with Josh. But leave it to 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:21.680 the Greeks, who were one of the brainiest, most um 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:25.400 thieving cultures of all time. They probably got this idea 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:29.120 from the Chemites. Frankly, but there's this stuff called um 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:33.160 Greek fire, right, And actually I can't say that the 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:35.080 Greeks came up with it. It's called Greek fire, but 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:39.960 the Byzantines that what we know is turks um. We're uh, 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:44.440 we're most notorious for using this stuff. Yeah, and that 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:46.840 they think they're not sure because it was a long 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:50.120 time ago. It was a mixture of liquid petrol and 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:57.120 sulfur and like stuff like quicklime petrol British for gas. Yeah, 0:04:57.240 --> 0:05:00.400 and UM. They would pump it out actually from a 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:04.159 reservoir through little narrow tubes and like anything that goes 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:07.600 from a big reservoir type system to a small, thin one, 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:10.360 it would create pressure to shoot it out and then 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:13.880 some unlucky guy would be the lighter at the end 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:15.960 of it, and that would be like a real flamethrower, 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:18.560 like dozens of feet. Yeah, as we're gonna learn, anybody 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:21.080 whose job it was to deal with any aspect of 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:24.800 flame throwing UM was the unlucky guy. It's one of 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:28.920 the more dangerous weapons you can use, UM, but it 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:32.320 was very effective. Number one, since it's oil based, Uh, 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:35.080 it could this this Greek fire could be used in 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:37.919 naval battles because it would still burn even when it 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:41.760 contacted the water. UM. And so the Byzantines mounted it 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:45.200 on their ships. These flamethrowers UM on their ships and 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:49.960 on the city walls around Constantinople and basically just repelled 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:52.480 people out of fear as much as you know, burning 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:55.920 them alive. Yeah, they were. Their enemies were really freaked out. 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:58.720 I imagine when they first saw like fire shooting at them. Yes, 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:02.640 freaked out and intrigue, especially in the case of the Chinese. 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:06.880 See what the Byzantines had was a single action pump. 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:11.159 You just did the foot pump with literally do you 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:16.479 see that? Jerry them following your command, um. The the 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:19.920 Byzantines had a single action bellows pump to where when 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:24.359 you press down on the down stroke, it would push 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:26.839 the liquid out. Right. Yes, you get like a burst 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:29.640 of fire. And that's it right because on the upstroke 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:32.280 nothing was happening except with the bellows were filling back 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:35.719 up with air to press down compressed right. Um. The 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:38.479 Chinese said, hey, that's that's really funny because we have 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:42.440 a double action bellows to where you are compressing air 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:45.520 um on the up stroke and the downstroke. So instead 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:48.919 of your stupid little short bursts of Greek fire, we 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:52.360 have one long burst that just cuts you in half. 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:56.640 Lead to the Chinese get better the wheelbarrow, the kite, 0:06:56.839 --> 0:07:02.640 the hang glider, the flamethrower, gun pouter, and actually gunpowder 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:07.880 um equaled the demise of flamethrowers for about a thousand years, right, Yeah, 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:10.480 as soon as gunpowder came along, they were like, yeah, 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.240 we're just chumps with fire. When we can actually shoot 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:16.280 a gun, that's that's the way of the future. And 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:20.040 it was. But so is the flamethrower as it turns out. Yeah, 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:22.920 because it lay dormant for about a thousand years. And 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:26.840 then in World War One, actually right before World War One, 0:07:27.240 --> 0:07:32.120 the Germans, a very warlike state at the time, were, um, 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:35.040 they said, you know what, exactly can we and our 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:40.160 arsenal that is just totally scary and wildly destructive. Yes, 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:42.920 let's look back through the annals of of you know, 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:46.040 historic weaponry and find something. And they look through and 0:07:46.080 --> 0:07:50.720 they said the flamethrower. Yeah. Richard Fielder is an engineer 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:53.200 in nineteen o one. They credit him with inventing it, 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:57.440 but he clearly was using old technology as the initial idea. 0:07:57.440 --> 0:08:00.880 At least. It's a clever design, though, isn't it. Yeah, 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:04.600 because this from this original design. Um, there have been 0:08:04.640 --> 0:08:09.520 you know, some polishing moments for the flamethrower over the years, 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:12.800 but from that, from that modern era that the design 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:15.440 has remained relatively the same. Right, It's like a three 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:18.920 tank design. Yeah, the flamin furfur because what it's called 0:08:19.360 --> 0:08:26.280 nice the Germans. That's what the German uh, and it was, um, 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:27.960 well let's yeah, let's go ahead and explain how it 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:31.800 works with thanks, all right. And this is the handheld flamethrower, 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:34.439 which is the one that's I guess was most readily 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:36.600 used in combat. Yeah, and it's the one you see 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:38.680 like a guy's wearing these tanks on his back and 0:08:38.720 --> 0:08:42.240 he's got the rifle. It's just right. So you got 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:46.240 two outer tanks and those are filled with the flammable 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:50.480 fuel oil based petrol if you will, like Greek fire 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:54.000 and um. Then there's a center, smaller tank which holds 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:58.400 a compressed gas like butane and uh it was. It 0:08:58.440 --> 0:09:00.319 would feed the gas through a pressure right you later 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:03.800 connected to the tubes and you can take it from here. Well, 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:06.160 the this is why I think it's very clever. The 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:10.080 bututane served a dual purpose. One that was compressed, so 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:13.640 when you open the valve, it would push the liquid 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:17.199 fuel out of the tanks into the tube and ultimately 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:20.480 in the reservoir and the gun. The pressure regulator, right, 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:23.400 that's what they would but switch on. There is another 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:27.280 tube that came directly out of the third tank that 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:31.160 held the compressed the gas like butuane, and this tube 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:35.280 went directly to the ignition valve right right, so it 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:37.960 served as the igniter later on. Right that it was 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:41.120 because it was the bututane that was actually burning when 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:44.080 you um. When you open the ignition valve, the bu 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:46.360 tane flows to the end. This is with air the 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:49.840 end of the rifle. UM and then there's like there's 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:53.800 two triggers. There's the fuel released trigger, right, and then 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:56.600 there's the ignition trigger. And the ignition trigger is basically 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:59.560 you're operating a battery that operates a spark plug, sends 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:02.600 a current, generates heat right nights the tane. Now you 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:05.240 have that little blue flame on the end. Yeah, that's 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:08.600 what you've seen in movies, like if you see them around. Yeah, exactly, 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:10.719 you see the little like three inch flame coming out 0:10:10.720 --> 0:10:13.520 in the end, right, that's actually beautane burning. The fuel 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:17.080 hasn't been released, the hell fire has not been opened 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:20.440 yet or released yet. That's when you squeeze what's the 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:24.880 fuel released trigger and then well, yeah, then that pulls 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:27.280 back a little valve plug because you obviously want it 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:29.400 plugged or else you're gonna have a big mess on 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:32.800 your hands. You'll be on fire very quickly. So when 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:35.240 you pull the fuel release trigger, it pulls the little 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:39.800 valve plug back and then all the fuel supply suddenly 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:42.080 rushes through to the tip of the gun where the 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:46.040 flame is and boom, there you go. Yeah and um. 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:53.200 In nineteen forty two, the Army Chemical Warfare Service, I 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:55.520 think is what it was called. Um, they came up 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:59.680 with a little something called napalm, which is ultimately a 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:02.439 g asoline or petrol in the case of Chuck and 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:08.160 our British friends, UM, a gasoline thickening agent. So with 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:12.800 a slightly thickened gas you have a longer range, It 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:16.480 carries further because it has more mass or girth or whatever. 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:20.439 There's less there's less friction from the ground coming up right. 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:25.480 Um and uh. It also can be concentrated more easily. 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:29.040 Right right. So basically that was one of those real 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:32.199 big polishing moments. It went from just gas which sprays, 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:37.400 to thick gas which sticks and burns. It evaporates much 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:40.280 less quickly, so it will burn forever and it's really 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:42.440 difficult to put out, and if you get covered in it, 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:45.760 you're entirely in trouble. Yes, you're out of luck. And 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:49.960 they would mount these on well p t boats. For one, 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:52.680 have you ever seen the videos of those things, like 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:56.280 cruising down the river, shooting in napalm into the forest. Well, 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:58.520 I see there's a picture of it in the article. 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:01.840 I've never seen video of It's pretty wicked. Yeah, And 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:06.840 they called them, they called them zippo flamethrowers, right, because 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:10.600 the ignition um system failed so frequently. It's just like 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:14.080 on a gas grill, they have to with a zippo 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:17.640 d And that's the other unlucky dude. I guess he'd 0:12:17.640 --> 0:12:20.160 be like, don't get too close to it in his hand, right, 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:23.720 And so flamethrowers, it wasn't just some guy you know where. 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:25.920 It would be like a bunch of infantry guys and 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:29.120 then some guy on the end happened to grab the 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:31.560 flamethrower that morning when they went out, and it's just 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:34.760 you know, they were part of a tactical strategy. Yeah. 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:38.440 What would happened was rifleman would lay down cover fire. 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:40.800 Let's say you come to the mouth of a cave 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:43.360 and there's a bunch of enemy combatants in there, and 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:45.840 they're shooting you and they have snipers and you're in 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:49.360 big trouble. All your your rifleman lay down fire on 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:51.760 this case, so those guys can't move. Cover fire right 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:55.600 to allow your flamethrower man to get close. He was 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:59.000 highly susceptible at this point because of what he's wearing 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:01.080 on his back. Yes, all it takes is one good 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:03.439 shot to one of those tanks and that guy's gone, 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:06.080 or a bad shot, just a shot, yeah, if you 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:08.760 come in contact with it with the bullet. Yes, um. 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:13.840 But so the flamethrower guy gets close basically cooks everybody, 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:17.920 burns everyone to death in that cave, right, that's his job. 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:21.640 And then after that the munitions guys come in and 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:26.000 explode the cave so it can never be used again. 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:30.760 And that's sinora for cave dwellers. Yes. Uh, you know, 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:34.240 speaking of a quick death, I've always heard when I 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:35.719 was a kid, you know that. You know, if you 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:39.360 were a flamethrower in war, your average lifespan is like 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:42.640 thirty seconds in combat. Well, I always heard that, and 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:45.520 I'd scoured the internets and I could not find anything 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:48.439 to verify that, but um, that's what I always heard. 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:51.280 I thought that was an interesting tidbit. I did read 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:55.040 that most people who were flamethrower operators didn't survive. I 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:58.560 would imagine it's pretty dangerous thing to be toting around. Yeah, 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:01.360 and they also had assistant because the assistance would open 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:03.320 and close the valves on the pack form. That was 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:05.520 the whole job. It was always a two man team, 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:08.480 so both of them would usually not make it. I 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:11.400 would if I was the assistant, I would turn on 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:13.280 his little valve and then run for cover and then 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:15.480 run up and turn it off again. Right, And I'd 0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:18.640 probably pretty unpopular with the flamethrower guy probably, And then 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:20.960 the flamethrower guy was well liked because if you can 0:14:21.080 --> 0:14:24.800 take out an entire gun nest of people, then you 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:28.200 know everybody's going to applaud you and clap, and you know, 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:30.560 probably not get too close though, because you're going to 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:33.320 die eventually. Yeah, I'd rather be a sniper. I think 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:35.480 that'd be like I played Call of Duty. I got 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:37.280 a p S three now that I tell you that. No, 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:41.120 it was given to me by my step step step dad, 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:43.840 now father in law. You did tell me my stepfather 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:47.280 in law, And so I got just a couple of games. 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:49.640 I'm not like a huge gamer at all, Like I 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:52.800 think a nintendol, like the first Nintendo was the last 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:55.360 thing I actually owned. But um, I play Call of 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:58.800 Duty now. I like a shooter games too. It's pretty fun. 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:01.200 But you choose to be a sniper on that. Well, 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:02.960 now there are just certain levels where you can be 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:04.880 a sniper. Like you'll pick up a sniper gun if 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:06.840 you want. And I always usually kind of just hang 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:10.240 back and pick guys off, especially guys with flamethrowers. So 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:13.640 here we go again to liberal peace nicks like us 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:15.720 when it comes to like this war stuff, we just 0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:18.800 get all giddy. Well it is this one. For some reason, 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:22.040 I was reading a passage about a flamethrower operator in 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:25.240 World War Two who you know, um received the Medal 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:29.000 of Honor for um invading a Japanese they think they're 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:31.440 called pillbox. It was a little gun nest and burning 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:33.600 them all and burning them all alive, and like the 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:36.240 the guy wrote um that there were some muffled screams 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:39.480 and then silence. It's like, you know, being burned alive. 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:42.800 It's pretty much everybody's worst death, I would think. So 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:44.880 it's up there. Well, we had worst way to die. 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:47.760 That's right up there, and I think if I remember correctly, 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:52.920 burning to death is consistently the number one, unlike informal polls. Right, 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:56.000 imagine is pretty painful and it happened a lot in 0:15:56.080 --> 0:16:00.280 World War One to vietn M. Yeah, I imagined area. 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:06.680 This is a horrible weapon. But you can find uh, 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:09.760 civilian applications for can't you. Yeah. Well, before we move 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:11.080 on to that, we also need to say that they 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:13.440 were on tanks as well, so it wasn't just boats. 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:16.440 They used them on tanks, and uh, the design was 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:18.400 basically the same. You just had a lot more fuel 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:21.160 and you had like piston rotary pumps to get a 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:25.520 lot more length on your shot girth. And yeah, the 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:30.960 backpack mounted ones had a range of about fifty yards, right, 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:35.480 That's that's a long way though. Yeah, let's have a 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:37.800 football field. You don't have to get that close. Sure. Yeah, 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:40.920 I wonder if the first enemy that was like, he's 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:45.080 got a flamethrower, but we're way too far away. They 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:53.360 were within exactly. Uh yeah, civilian applications um, forced forced 0:16:53.560 --> 0:16:57.920 fire fighters forest firefighters? Is that how you say it? 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:01.440 I don't know they actually use these when they do 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:05.480 like the prescribed burning, like sometimes they'll burn well not 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:08.520 just the firefighters, they do prescribe burns anyway. And then 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:10.919 sometimes the firefighters do that, they'll like burn a section 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.520 to cut it off right there. And that's what they 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:16.280 do it with flamethrowers, which actually kind of made me 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:18.480 want to go get a job with the forestry Service. 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:23.359 She could burn things on purpose. Well, yeah, did you 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:27.040 hear about this car thing in South Africa? Theft deterrent 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:29.639 system that burned you know? Yeah, I don't think it's 0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:33.200 still around. This is like twelve years ago, and um, 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:36.120 a South African man invented it was called the blaster 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:40.520 and basically it would shoot a man high fireball that's 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:43.720 what they called it. What at you if you tried 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:47.720 to break into the car for a mere ran which 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:53.880 is uh and this that was like six or fifty bucks, 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:57.720 and um, it would squirt liquefied gas from a bottle 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:01.840 in the trunk through two nozzles located on the front door. 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:05.240 And the rub is you couldn't turn one on and 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:08.200 turn one off, so if a guy was breaking into 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:10.640 like the driver's side door, it would still shoot fire 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:13.800 out as a passenger side to whomever might be walking 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:17.040 by unluckily on that. So let's say, yeah, that's that's 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:20.680 an invention that wasn't fully thought through. I would think so. 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:22.600 But apparently he sold a bunch of him at the 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:26.200 time and he said it's non lethal, but it would 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:29.440 definitely blind a person, is what he said, and keep 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:32.120 them from stealing your car. Yeah, because they can't see 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:38.359 cars any longer. That's terrible. Yeah, way to go South Africa. Um. Lastly, Chuck. 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:41.840 Fire breathers their form of They follow the basic principles 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:46.760 of flamethrowing by drinking kerostene. There you go. If you 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:49.399 want to learn about fire breathers, we have an article 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:51.960 on them. If you want to learn more about flame throwers. 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:54.760 And before you send us a listener mail, we are 0:18:54.840 --> 0:19:00.000 aware of flamethrower exhaust systems. We've both seen Greece before. Um, 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:04.359 you can type any word you want to into the 0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:07.359 handy search bar how stuff works dot Com. It'll yield 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:11.600 something interesting. I guarantee you that. Uh So, Chuck listening 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:14.480 not quite okay, Well, we got to do our quick plugs. 0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:16.440 We're gonna do a little quicker this time though, because 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:18.640 we take like ten minutes to do our New York 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:20.800 plugs and everything New York. We're gonna be at the 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:24.120 Knitting Factory in Brooklyn on June seven from five thirty 0:19:24.200 --> 0:19:26.120 to seven thirty. We're having a happy hour for stuf 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:28.480 of you should know fans. Come with your elbows prepared 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:32.080 to be rubbed. Stay Wednesday, June ninth for a trivia 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:35.000 night to be determined not t b D my friend. 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:37.080 We have a location at a time and is at 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:40.439 the Bell House in Brooklyn, New York, and show up 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:42.760 at about six thirty and trivia will start at seven. 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:46.520 And this one is eighteen and older eighteen to get 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:49.280 in twenty one to drink and uh. If you're showing 0:19:49.359 --> 0:19:51.600 up alone, that's fine to just join up with some 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:53.919 people when you're there and form a team and make 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:56.800 some new friends. Come to one or both yes, uh. 0:19:56.840 --> 0:20:02.040 And then lastly co ED and Kiva Man, Yeah, Coed 0:20:02.280 --> 0:20:04.680 Cooperative for Education who we went to Guatemala with. If 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:08.000 you like their bag, which is a pretty cool bag, 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:10.720 you can donate and easily five bucks with your little 0:20:10.760 --> 0:20:14.520 cell phone there. Uh, text the words stuff STUF to 0:20:14.720 --> 0:20:19.359 two zero to two two and um texting data rates 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:21.000 may apply and it's gonna be added a little five 0:20:21.000 --> 0:20:23.119 dollar donations gonna added to your bill. Right when you 0:20:23.200 --> 0:20:26.440 text stuff, you'll get a reply text saying are you sure, 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:28.679 and you just text back yes, and there you go. 0:20:28.840 --> 0:20:32.679 Five bucks to help out UM Guatemalan kids learn to 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:36.280 read and Kiva Kiva, Kiva, Kiva. We haven't thrown much 0:20:36.359 --> 0:20:39.960 love to our Kiva team lately, but we should because 0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:43.760 you know, as everyone knows, we hit the hundred thousand 0:20:43.760 --> 0:20:46.800 dollar mark right, I like nothing in March, I believe 0:20:46.880 --> 0:20:51.800 March nineteenth, UM and since then, our moderators on our 0:20:51.880 --> 0:20:55.320 Kiva team, Glenn and Sonja Um threw down the gauntlet 0:20:55.320 --> 0:20:57.440 pretty much immediately and said, let's get to a quarter 0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:00.239 of a million dollars. Yeah, man, that'd I'm awesome. We 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:03.439 are on track right now, by Glenn and Sonya's estimate, 0:21:03.840 --> 0:21:08.560 uh to hit the two thousand dollar mark around August. Well, actually, 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:10.600 we want to hit a quarter of a million dollars 0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:15.560 around August. Is that the deal? Yeah, so we need 0:21:15.600 --> 0:21:17.320 to step it up a little bit. If you want 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:20.000 to join the stuff you should know Kiva dot org team, 0:21:20.359 --> 0:21:24.720 you can go to www dot kiva dot org slash 0:21:24.880 --> 0:21:28.600 team Slash Stuff you should know and sign up and 0:21:28.640 --> 0:21:31.960 get a warm feeling in your heart when you donate. 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:35.119 And remember this is micro lending, so the money actually 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:37.760 comes back to it's repaid. Yeah, and if if you 0:21:38.119 --> 0:21:40.080 have a cold heart, you can actually even pull your 0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:41.920 money back out and get it back if you want. 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:44.879 But it's more fun to read loan it totally. It 0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:47.520 really is, all right, So there you have it. Alright, 0:21:47.560 --> 0:21:52.840 So listener, mail my friend I'm gonna call this I 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:56.919 love this dude. And his name is Guy and not 0:21:57.040 --> 0:21:59.679 as in hey guy, his real name is Guy. I 0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:03.240 got Guy from San Francisco, says, guys, just listen to 0:22:03.320 --> 0:22:05.960 the Art Theft podcast. And by the way, we do 0:22:06.040 --> 0:22:11.040 know about the Paris heist that just went down. Pretty cool, uh, 0:22:12.119 --> 0:22:16.320 very intriguing for future monetarians. And of neither here nor there. However, 0:22:16.359 --> 0:22:18.280 I have a little bit a little habit that I 0:22:18.280 --> 0:22:21.399 thought I might like to share that loosely pertains I 0:22:21.440 --> 0:22:25.679 have never stolen art knowingly. However, I do frequently and 0:22:25.720 --> 0:22:29.119 I'm subjected to I travel frequently, and I'm subjected to 0:22:29.560 --> 0:22:33.840 much distasteful art guilty of being a budget traveler. So 0:22:33.960 --> 0:22:36.240 there's the rub. But to amuse myself, I like to 0:22:36.280 --> 0:22:38.760 take the horrible art off the wall, take it out 0:22:38.760 --> 0:22:41.639 of the glass and frame, and add the ever so 0:22:41.680 --> 0:22:45.480