I have a very roughly formed idea in my mind, but I have no idea how to do it, or if it is even possible to do safely.

Essentially, the idea is to set my hand a blaze and keep it burning for 30 seconds or so, then extinguish it.

I should mention the difficult part of the effect is, I do not want to burn my hand!!

I had heard of gels that one can cover their hand with that will protect them from the fire. Are they safe? Do they actually exist?

Any practical input would be appreciated.

Thirty seconds is a pretty long time to maintain fire. Even with a fickle fire, or Omega Fire gimmick as I used in my avatar, gets pretty hot after about 15 seconds. And in those cases, the heat is dissipated before it gets to your hands.

And as far as having a big flame, you can see the size of the flames in my avatar, and I have had people ask me to do the flames again, you know - the one where the flames in your hands are a foot high

My personal view of fire, is "FIRE!" and then it is gone. The impact of the fire is in the surprise appearance of real fire, and that is enough. Duration of the flame is really not that important.

BroDavid

I agree with many of your views, and appreciate your input. However, I should indicate the rest of my idea.

I want to use it in a mentalism context. The whole "mind over matter" thing, whereas I keep the flames from bruning my hand using the power of the mind. Granted, the presentation is much more complex than that, but that is it in a nutshell.

Fickle fire will not work. I am not looking to create fire in my hand. I want to use my hand like a torch!

Any other input?

First, gels still burn at 800 degrees F. There is no product that will let you burn safely in the manner you want. (50 years experience) I used to open my act by dipping a gloved finger into a flammable solution and using it like a torch. Duh! Then I would take the glove off, and do the same thing bare-fingered, for as long as it took to light my torches and then put out the finger in my mouth, but this only takes a very few seconds. 30 seconds of any static performance is dull. (Just hold your breath, or a pose or a musical note for that long and see what I mean.

Good point. 30 seconds would be a bit too long. Perhaps 15. I do want it to be long enough that the audience realizes that the fire has been on my hand for too long not to burn.

Anyway, It is appearing that perhaps there is no practical method for the effect.

I once sprayed deodorant on my hand and lit it, it burnt for quite a while......

about 20 secs then you have to put it out, the flame isn't very visible it's like very blue...

Matt

Can you spell B*U*R*N?

The purer the fuel, like alchohol and such, the clearer the flame. It is the impurities in the fuel that give it the pretty colors. It also contributes to a basic instability/variation in the time and intensity of the burn.

But what you are talking about is probably too dangerous to be discussed in a public forum.

BroDavid