Flaming Neckerchief Ceremony

[toddgodfrey]

Does anyone remember the flaming neckerchief ceremony where the neckerchief is dipped into a liquid, lit on fire, and burns off the liquid unburned? I saw it done years ago, but don't know what the flamable liquid was. I could use the ceremony dialogue also. Please reply and email to toddgodfrey@hotmail.com. Thanks in advance.

 

Todd

[Fuzzy Bear]

I know this is not what you requested and not what you are wanting but nonetheless.

 

There are always disclaimers about, "don't try this at home" but that is just what kids will do.

 

Please consider any of the other hundreds of ceremonies that are inspirational and exciting but much less tempting to imitate and much less dangerous.

 

FB

[FScouter]

With the proliferation of clandestine meth labs, those chemicals are hard to come by.

[River2K]

I believe the flammable liquid is acetone. See the following page:

 

http://www.macscouter.com/Ceremony/Bridging.html

 

Ken

[Fuzzy Bear]

After reading that piece, I have to comment that is one dangerous little ceremony.

Don't try it at home folks or any other place.

[mschwartz]

I've done that as part of a chemistry magic show, way back in college. The liquid is a mix of ethanol and water; the ethanol burns relatively "cool" and the trick is to be sure there's enough water in the mix that the handkerchief (or whatever) is wet enough that it doesn't catch on fire before the ethanol has burned off.

 

We were given exact proportions, and wore safety goggles. This is definitely NOT something that you want to play around with at home.

[Eamonn]

I seen this ceremony done at the very first Pow Wow I ever attended.

The Flaming was very impressive. Sad to report the extinguishing needed work.The neckerchief caught fire!!

I have used chemicals (Mainly chlorine and brake fluid) to start camp fires. Normally at adult only events and even then it is something that just happens, we don't go out of our way to share who it works.

Eamonn

[Hunt]

I can describe something that was done in my son's pack for an AOL ceremony. It was impressive and not really dangerous--but whether it's a good idea, I'm now not so sure. The boys receiving AOL were each given a regular arrow (purchased at a hunting store) with a small amount of magician's flash paper wrapped around the business end. At the appropriate point in the ceremony, they extended the end of the arrow into the campfire, and the flash paper flared up impressively (but briefly). Flash paper burns brightly but with little heat (supposedly you can hold it in your hand, but I haven't tried it, nor would I). Again, I'm not sure I'd do this again, but it's a lot better than using a flammable liquid, and it was very memorable.

[danisheagle]

I found this fun story about this ceremony here.

 

He was supposed to use equal parts alcohol and water but something got lost in the translation.

 

http://www.scoutingdigest.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=66&Itemid=79

[Gold Winger]

"We were given exact proportions, and wore safety goggles. This is definitely NOT something that you want to play around with at home."

 

Boooooooring! Back in my youth we had chemistry sets at home and burnt all sorts of cool stuff. We also made explosives and then went into the woods to test them. I suppose today we'd be branded terrorists but we also wandered around unsupervised, swung from rope swings and stole baby coach wheels to make go-kart.

 

 

[ghermanno]

Danish Eagle,

 

Thanks for the link. I enjoyed it thouroughly.

 

Rick

[msnowman]

I did this ceremony at my last ever Pack Bridging over in June. I used Acetone nail polish remover. First ingrediant is acetone, second is water. It had a lovely blue color to match my cover story of "magic water from a spring hidden deep with in Camp Roosevelt". I practiced for about 2 weeks to get it "just right". And it was great, the boys and parents all loved it. If anybody is interested in more specifics to do it yourself, feel free to PM me.

[shortridge]

GW - not only terrorists, but aimless daredevil delinquent thieves!

 

I'm surprised there's still talk about this type of thing after the deadly "ring of fire" incident at the New Jersey Boy Scout camp earlier this summer.

 

Playing with fire - even when it's just adults - goes against everything Scouting teaches. When it gets out of control, you can't call it back.

 

At my AOL ceremony, the OA rep (in full regalia) bent down too close to a candle and caught his feather headdress on fire. That was exciting enough.

[Pack212Scouter]

Well, I can see where this is going...

 

NOOO!!! IT'S DANGEROUS!!!

 

Well, potentially, yes. Is it a good idea in front of young boys? Maybe not. But it's purpose is ceremony.

 

If you are so concerned about fire that you immediately jump on this without asking yourself purpose and how it might or might NOT be safe, then you should be cancelling any candles and your campfire at camp. After all, fire is part of ceremony, in these situations it serves no purpose other than ceremony. It is how it's used and what safety is taught that is important.

[shortridge]

There's a big difference between wood fires or candles and those using chemicals of some sort. And just because something is for a ceremony doesn't mean we throw out all our common sense.

 

Does this sound like a good idea? Not to me. The stories posted and linked here about how the neckerchief can catch fire, how it stuck to one guy's boot - those show how this particular stunt can easily get out of control.

 

Compare that to a campfire. We know how the average wood fire is going to behave under general circumstances. You don't have to worry about mixing wood types incorrectly, unlike with the chemicals described in this thread. Yes, accidents cam happen with campfires or candles - no one is saying they're any less dangerous. But unless you haven't followed safety precautions - no fire circle, no extinguishing source - or a storm or wind gust blows through, it's pretty predictable. Not so for this type of ceremony.

 

And remember your audience. No matter the number of times you caution boys - especially younger ones - NOT to do something, there's always a percentage that'll try it. Yeah, everyone here played with that type of stuff as a kid and no one was hurt, right? But from a practical perspective, why tempt the issue when you don't have to? There are plenty of alternatives.

 

For starters, try inspiring awe with Scouting skills, not a fancy stunt - fire by friction or flint & steel come to mind!