h/t WRSA
Look, kids, while our love of unbridled caveat emptor capitalism is exceeded only by P.T. Barnum's (from whom the header quote sprung), anyone who buys "fuel thickener" for nearly $250/jug might as well take the family cow along too, to get some Magic Beans..
The traditional recipe for homemade napalm is 50/50 gasoline (any octane will do) and ordinary liquid dish washing soap. Palmolive retails for about $25/gallon, a savings of about $220 over the Magic Goo pictured above. You can substitute styrofoam for the soap in a pinch, but more stirring is required, it works better with diesel or fuel oil, and the quantity is arrived at by getting to the right consistency during the process. Every several gallons, dump in a jar of metallic (aluminum will do fine) ordinary craft glitter, which particles serve as condensation nucleii for the flammable glop. (If we have to explain condensation nucleii to you, you're already not tall enough to work at this lab bench station).
As the XL-18 flammenwerfer Throwflame sells (and don't get me wrong: mad props to them for making that beauty) boasts a capacity of 3.3 gallons, that's about $5 worth of regular unleaded, and about $35 worth of dish soap, and a few bucks for some glitter jars at the craft store. Which would only leave you with $200 still in your pocket by not buying the Magic Glop, above. But you do you.
We understand Throwflame's desire to part you from 245 bucks, but if they do so successfully, your 80 IQ is its own reward. And you're probably not bright enough to be playing with flammenwerfers in the first place. (Well, once maybe. But probably not twice.)
Suture self.
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Beware of the glitter additive in all pump based flamethrowers. It WILL clog the built in filter. (Most pumps are off the shelf Walbro or similar high flow rate performance automotive pumps with a nozzle around .075 in diameter).
Pressurized systems that high pressure CO2 and shot through a valved wand have NO problem with the glitter additive (atomized aluminum for the win).
60% gasoline 40% diesel + thickener (liquid soap or polystyrene) + atomized aluminum = destroyed by fire.
Yup. I accidentally discovered the styrofoam recipe when I was a wee lad. Fun stuff.
Thanks for the recipe, I lost my gun show edition of "Anarckist Cookbook" decades ago. I look for it at estate, garage, yard sales. Too woosy to try and order one online...though probably censored
It's easy enough to make semi-professional napalm as well. Dissolve polystyrene packing peanuts in gasoline. Real napalm was essentially a mix of low molecular weight polystyrene.
Forgive me for my math not mathing….
The linked image says $245 worth of gelling agent makes 50 gallons of thickened fuel - figure $200 worth of hi-test and I’m just under $10 a gallon for gelled napalm.
At the advertised 50/50 mix of gas and Palmolive, I’m into the gas for an even hundred (@$4/gal) and 25 gal of dish soap at $20-25 per and my costs appear to be the same, maybe even favoring the commercial mix… which has higher potential energy due to it containing twice the gasoline per gallon.
Am I missing something?
@DWW,
Yes. Common sense.
But if you believe that the contents of that container will make 50 gallons of thickened fuel, to the consistency of napalm, I have some Magic Beans for sale in exchange for your family cow.
My recipe has been in the public domain since the mid-1970s.
You wanna buy a pig in a poke, you go right ahead.
Mix 6% of that jug powder (which is...what...2-3 tablespoons?) with 3 gallons of any octane, and tell us what you've got.
I'm betting no way in hell will it resemble napalm, to any degree.
@MYOB,
I mentioned the polystyrene approach in the OP.
Just pointing out their published numbers…
I will say, in a past life, I ran pumps and blenders in the oilfield and occasionally pumped a diesel frac, where thickened diesel laden with proppant was sent down hole at 3-5000 psi.
I don’t remember the chemical name for the fuel thickener, but 200# would turn 500 barrels (just over 20k gallons) into jello. We’d “break” the gel by introducing a base, in our case, lime, to the mixture as we pumped, causing it to thin out and leave the proppant in the formation down hole. In other words, if it’s the right stuff, it doesn’t take much.
See the link for a slightly more detailed description:
https://www.apchem.com/apchem-hydrocarbon-based-fracturing-fluids
We used a powder version, but same basic chemical process.
Using my formula has worked pretty well.
4 gallons gas
3/4 gallon diesel.
Then I melt in a bunch of styrene cups and add a quart of Palmolive that I get from the dollar store. Then I mix it up, and let it sit for quite a spell to make sure the styrene breaks down completely.
When filling the main tanks I use a wire mesh filter when loading the Werfer as clogs are BAD mmmnkay? Keeps any undissolved lumps out of the napalm mix. There's ALWAYS 5 gallons of flammable fun waiting in the garage for using in extremis. OH almost forgot, I add sta-bil to it to make sure it stays 'spicy' over time.
Just as an FYI
@DWW,
1) Diesel isn't gasoline.
2) That jug is maybe 1# of powder. Your stuff (for diesel) is supposed to be good enough for 2.5 bbls. (about 150 gallons). So the advertised jug of magic beans isn't even that good.
I remain skeptical.
Does it thicken the gasoline somewhat? Probably.
Is it better than less costly attempts? Probably not.
But I heartily encourage anyone who wishes to do so to experiment, within legal limits.
I just hate people buying a pig in a poke, and getting fleeced n the process.
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