Darwin Award contender

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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 7:33 pm

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10758938

Shocked

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 8:02 pm

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.

a great book, if you are not religious

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 8:46 pm

I'll bet, if he survives the medical attention, he will never do that again!

One can mix that book and the other Jim. It's all a means to an end.

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 9:26 pm

^^ I don't think I get what other book you are talking about

Baiting Guru Joined: 10 Oct 2003 Posts: 4747

What would really suck of he siphoned regular gas, but he needed diesel.

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 10:13 pm

Hmm...
When I was a kid and could barely afford fuel, I always kept a gallon in the boot. Just in case.

One night, I ran out of fuel and went for the emergency container. As I was pouring it into the tank, I started to moan about how dark it was off the main road and that I hoped the fuel was going into the tank and not on the road.

The guy with me (who became my best man) didn't hesitate in pulling out his lighter and striking it within an inch of the filler cap. In order to give me more light.

I dropped the container and grabbed him as the flames went into the filler pipe.
We were in a ditch, covered in mud before my mate realised what was happening.

Luckily, the fire seemed to starve itself of oxygen and blew itself out, saving my orange Datsun Sunny from the scrapheap that it was destined for due to rust! Very Happy

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 4:40 am

^^With gasoline, it is the fumes that burn, not the liquid.

Diesel burns with heat (pressure) so no spark plugs are necessary.

You were fortunate and quick thinking though. I know someone who was cleaning car parts with gasoline in a container. The container caught fire and he carried it out of the building. Burned him really badly. Scared for life. Sad

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 11:34 am

Which reminded me of this urban legend.
http://www.snopes.com/autos/theft/siphon.asp

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 11:56 am

Flash point is critical - Petrol's flashpoint is low, diesel's is high so it burns very slowly at ambient temperatures. Petrol is nasty stuff. That's not to say that your diesel car won't go up in flames if you crash it and a pressure line sprays fuel onto a red hot turbo casing.

Re. roast kiwi - dumb, really dumb.

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 12:26 pm

I'd not like to be him when we switch over to cars that run on liquid hydrogen. Mr. Green

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 12:36 pm

^^ have you ever seen the combustion of hydrogen? It's amazing

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 12:37 pm

acetylene is better. It's wonderfully unstable.

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 1:04 pm

small quantities ofhHydrogen are easier to obtain

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 1:05 pm

^^ Back in my youth. Sulphuric acid and zinc to make hydrogen. Fill up a balloon then attach some DT fuse. Light, let go and run for cover.

@Nailgunner. I'm active on a welding forum and they often carry stories about cylinders going off when being transported in a covered van or lorry. Sometimes there is even an accompanying picture of a big hole in the ground.

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 1:14 pm

^^ I was thinking of hydrolisis, the problem is that you need an AC/DC converter

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 5:11 pm

The safety of the liquid H fuel cell is, I am sure, is taking so long to introduce a viable H fueled vehicle. On wrong circumstance... Hindenburg!

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 6:20 pm

^^ not only the safety, hydrogen is very expensive to obtain and storage, due to its low density you need a lot of space for very little quantity and you need special materials so it doesn't get out trough the pores

Elite Baiter Joined: 02 Jul 2006 Posts: 1702

The danger with petrol is the vapours getting into your clothing, so at flashpoint your in serious trouble, the injuries to people around the world are horrific and the pain unthinkable.

People do the most stupid things without thinking, but please once you read this NEVER EVER use a naked flame anywhere near any type of fuel.

And when lighting bbq's try to make the wind behind you, because if you pour on lighting fluid that can catch and cause life threatening injuries too.

If you ever see someone with fuel catch light, get them to roll and throw on either sand or dirt its usually the quickest way to put them out. Dont try to roll them yourself, you will both be engulfed.

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 9:45 pm

Today's lesson: gasoline does not burn; it explodes. And it is not an option for removing stains, as six people in this story found out.

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 9:57 pm

@ windy - I can believe it. it's awful stuff but it works so well ...

@ others - Oxygen cylinders are another terror. The usual way to go to glory on one is to try to fix a leak by greasing up the valve - the result is a violent explosion that will burst a cylinder valve, regulator or torch. The subsequent release of massive volumes of pure oxygen in a hot-work environment only adds to the mayhem.

Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2011 1:09 pm

D11 wrote:

And when lighting bbq's try to make the wind behind you, because if you pour on lighting fluid that can catch and cause life threatening injuries too.

.

Another stupid thing those lighting bbq's will do is after they have lit the coals decide to pour on more lighter fluid from the can ---- and we watch while the flames go from the bbq to the can with the lighter fluid and the idiot who did that get severely burned.

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 10:01 pm

Oxy acetylene torch can go boom too..

Light the cutting torch, nice blue flame, put the fire out..

Press end of torch to an empty pipe, say 6 inch x 4 foot long, sealed on the bottom, for two minutes or so.

Cover end with cardboard, set on it fire..

If the pipe is vertical, your roof will disappear.

Don't forget to hold your ears..

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 10:14 pm

^^ please don't post ideas for homemade terrorism

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 12:01 am

Another Kiwi contender for the Darwin award

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10759682&ref=rss

Quote:

"About an hour after the initial report of shots being fired a car approached a police checkpoint on Golden Cross Rd, as the vehicle came to a stop the front seat passenger got out of the car and appears to have shot himself in the leg as he went to get rid of a .22cal pistol he had concealed down the front of his pants."

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 4:43 am

You beat me to it Gordon Very Happy

So far 2 contenders and it's not even Christmas yet Laughing