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Post by wvengineer on Jan 7, 2020 2:47:02 GMT
Common trope in westerns and action movies.
Person goes to light the fuse on a bunch of dynamite, and uses a smoldering cigarette/cigar to light it.
We know it is burning, but cigarettes tend to burn much cooler you would think. So is it hot enough to light a fuse?
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Post by GTCGreg on Jan 7, 2020 3:30:52 GMT
I've seen people light fire cracker and M-80 fuses with a cigarette, so I'd say it's possible.
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Post by the light works on Jan 7, 2020 4:38:44 GMT
I agree, people lighting fuses with cigarettes is pretty common - and while a cigarette doesn't burn THAT hot - it also doesn't take that much heat to light a traditional powder train fuse.
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Post by rmc on Jan 7, 2020 11:40:41 GMT
Common trope in westerns and action movies. Person goes to light the fuse on a bunch of dynamite, and uses a smoldering cigarette/cigar to light it. We know it is burning, but cigarettes tend to burn much cooler you would think. So is it hot enough to light a fuse? You know, as often as some of my friends struggle to keep their cigarette lit, I think it would be hilarious if, in a movie, the person goes to light the fuse but the cigarette goes out, and, of course, there is now no way to light either the cigarette nor the fuse. (anyway, seemed funny to me when it popped into my head just now... mornings, maybe). |
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Post by the light works on Jan 7, 2020 15:01:21 GMT
Common trope in westerns and action movies. Person goes to light the fuse on a bunch of dynamite, and uses a smoldering cigarette/cigar to light it. We know it is burning, but cigarettes tend to burn much cooler you would think. So is it hot enough to light a fuse? You know, as often as some of my friends struggle to keep their cigarette lit, I think it would be hilarious if, in a movie, the person goes to light the fuse but the cigarette goes out, and, of course, there is now no way to light either the cigarette nor the fuse. (anyway, seemed funny to me when it popped into my head just now... mornings, maybe). and of course, cigarettes tend to go out, nowadays, because too many people fell asleep with a lit cigarette and it caught their house on fire. but yes, that would be a funny bit in a "modern western" type of show. |
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Post by Cybermortis on Jan 8, 2020 22:11:39 GMT
Common trope in westerns and action movies. Person goes to light the fuse on a bunch of dynamite, and uses a smoldering cigarette/cigar to light it. We know it is burning, but cigarettes tend to burn much cooler you would think. So is it hot enough to light a fuse? In the historical context yes. Matchlocks used burning lengths of slowmatch, and before firing the user would blow on the end to heat up the end and remove ash. You do the same with a cigar, and I do recall seeing a few westerns where you see someone doing just this. Cigars had the added advantage of being easier to check to see if they were still burning, and *seem* to have been used by some gunners as a backup ignition system should a match go out or a flint fail to spark. |
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Post by the light works on Jan 8, 2020 22:47:26 GMT
to put numbers on it, black powder can ignite between 200 and 400C (by which I mean minimum ignition temperature). a cigarette smolders at around 400C and peaks at around 900C.
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