Calcium carbide lamp. Old miners were tough!

[@patrickhorvath2684]

I have one from my spelunking days decades ago. Tough to find carbide for it.

[@the_retag]

online has it available usually

[@prte100]

I get in Germany 1kg for 15euro

[@AquaTech225]

I have one also. eBay you can find it for a decent price normally. That’s where I bought from anyway

[@RiyasPunnakkadan]

Price

[@Zeldafan1009]

Carbide is actually relatively easy to make! Just need a source of pure carbon and calcium carbonate (convert it to calcium oxide)

[@ChannelSho]

Imagine the sales pitch on this one: "add some mineral chips, water, and viola, fire!"

[@goldfieldgary]

@@ChannelSho I would never set anyone's viola on fire! 😂

[@Projecktmercury]

I love this so much. Those old mining lamps are amazing. Thank you for sharing.

[@vheckthordrey13]

CaC2, Calcium Carbide used in Oxy-Acetylene flames for cutting metals

[@devonstoomuch]

so you're telling me? that head lamp could potentially melt steel?

[@vheckthordrey13]

@@devonstoomuch 💯

[@goldfieldgary]

@@devonstoomuch Only if you add oxygen.

[@c766ob]

​@@devonstoomuchлегко и свободно. Резак для металла правда ещё и чистый кислород под давлением и использует. Тут резак на минмалках😅

[@garcxonfirman9106]

​@@devonstoomuchyes...high presure oxygen and not atmospere oxygen

[@lloydbusby6614]

Definitely EMP proof!😂👍

[@aheike35]

Still use my grandfather's lamps at our cabin property. Kids love it. especially the lighting part

[@mohsinrasul8450]

Ah! That makes sense now.... In the video game.... Metro exodus.... Some of the npc characters wear head lamps with a flame coming out of them.... Now i know what they were.... Carbide head lamps. Thank you for the upload

[@GigaGligga]

why so many periods?

[@mohsinrasul8450]

@@GigaGligga huh?

[@albertg4653]

anu cheeki breeki iv nu damke blyat! damn, i forgot about their headlamps. good to see someone else appreciate metro 2033 :)

[@MrClauws]

@@GigaGligga THey're probably older, before modern PCs to write emails, where you can have almost infinite space like this, normal paper for typewriters didnt, so to seperate thoughts, they used periods.......... fascinating is it not?

[@matthewprather189]

Most people end a sentence with a single period because that's what's correct.​@@MrClauws

[@axtondragunov1784]

I want one of these for a backup emergency lighting solution

[@sharronneedles6721]

An oil lamp or flashlight would be safer, and last longer. But as a fun nifty item it is nice.

[@jacobkavinsky1813]

be very carefull doing this the lamp can catch your hair on fire and you might end up like micheal jackson

[@lieananlie]

these one can explode

[@heart0fthedrag0n]

These were very popular for spelunking and some people still use them. However carbide is hard to keep dry for long periods of time. It needs to be kept in an airtight container and absorbs moisture from the air. If you open the container too often, fresh air will get in and it will go bad.

[@YourAveragePredator]

​@@jacobkavinsky1813 he said for "emergency lighting".

[@williamworth2746]

Dang you now now I have this stupid song stuck in my head for the rest of night 🌉

[@BrotherBoysBand]

Me too😅

[@MichaelM-q2q]

16 tons, Tennessee earnie Ford good song. It's still true, too. Even if you work somewhere else other than the mines.

[@byronnelson2549]

I have one too. My Dad is 94 and remembers well of the days he used a carbide lamp rabbit hunting. Thank you for posting!

[@sneezerb]

The way you light it like that looks so damn rugged! Super cool device!

[@justtocommentthings9565]

Now I'm going to repair and fill up my greatgrandpa's lamp. Same carbide mechanism, but a handheld version from the '20s Hungary

[@xa9131]

They way you light is like kick starting a shovel head😂😂😂

[@Subgunman]

Still have mine and use it! Remember to empty the spent fuel slurry right away after it cools down. It is quite caustic and will attack the brass over time.

[@stephensmith4025]

If you combine the ash with vinegar, it turns into water.

[@risingson7773]

What does it REALLY create when you mix with vinegar? Can't be water.

[@morgressperson1516]

@@risingson7773it makes calcium acetate and water, so it does make water, but not just water

[@risingson7773]

@@morgressperson1516 Dude, thank you. Was trying, in vain last night, to find the answer.

[@Tribecasoothsayer]

Gotta get me one of these with the mount and helmet!

[@HistoryNerd8765]

That's so cool, I love learning about older machines and contraptions like this.

[@descriptiondescriptiondescript]

Wow. Surprisingly bright! Very cool

[@daewooparts]

Bright idea 💡 from many years ago

[@Tontylous]

I bought one from an old antique store and currently waiting on some carbide. Some components are pretty caked up though so I got to find something to clean it with

[@chauncey5962]

Acetone

[@goldfieldgary]

Use vinegar if you've got a lot of caked up gunk in it. Acetone is only useful for oil or grease, which shouldn't be in there.

[@nunyabusiness3082]

​@@goldfieldgaryvinegar is only good for salad dressing 😞

[@goldfieldgary]

@@nunyabusiness3082 I was referring to grocery store grade vinegar (a weak and inexpensive solution of acetic acid), not Balsamic Vinegar.

[@bombacimulayim1453]

Apple vinegar

[@GypsyHunter232UK]

Nice. Thank u for this education..

[@thesparkingwire]

Wonderful and it reminds us of glorious history of man!

[@martinsgmireks1509]

I'm surprised how bright it is

[@Vanfran2]

I had one of those lamps, worked great

[@hardcorefishermen]

never seen this before, now i must own one

[@angelcitygirl]

That is super cool!

[@christopherforsyth5284]

Humm , i wonder if any EXPLOSIVE gasses are inside this enclosed space ??

[@gdog1443]

Perfect for finding methane?

[@Bilal-Ihsan-7]

The hard way, yes

[@bigstreetguns6619]

How long can it burn on a single filling?

[@conspiracychase9043]

Usually about 4 to 5 hours

[@kaycey7361]

​@@conspiracychase9043well , I'll be damned. Its as good as rechargable led crapola we have today.

[@heart0fthedrag0n]

You can bring extra carbide in a sealed can/box (it needs to be airtight as it absorbs moisture from the air) and refill it with some fresh water. I've done more than 12 hours spelunking with these.

[@kelseystickney8663]

@@kaycey7361yep, at 1/10th the brightness.

[@poolee77]

@@kaycey7361less bright and you have to pack extra carbide with you rather than just batteries or a charger. Not practical for anything but novelty these days

[@chrislaney930]

Pretty cool. One question, when you light an acetylene torch there's black flakes in the air. Is there something happening here so the miners didn't have to deal with that

[@goldfieldgary]

@@chrislaney930 That tiny amount of soot was the least of their problems!

[@heinz-dietersindhoff7344]

What a cool song, greetings from Germany were my families men were miners

[@waldo2635]

That's really cool. Thanks for the video!

[@wesleythegreatgamer0943]

Fallout 76 ahh song

[@foreversunrise8749]

I have Tennessee Earl Ford's original album.

[@AzaanAshraf-e9s]

They were tough and lived very short lives

[@evalinawarne1337]

I have 2 . I didn't know how it worked. Used in Copper mines. Thank you

[@Nikki-mi8nx]

Awesome. Good old days had it right already

[@fistoos4152]

apart from them randomly exploding and blowing half the face off the user.

[@vroomkaboom108]

​@@fistoos4152sounds like the kind of bullshit excuse that made these impossible to find now as we are completely dependent on electricity

[@fistoos4152]

​@@vroomkaboom108 man its a canister made from thin sheet metal that has pressurized flammable gas inside strapped to your forehead. Its only a question of time until one goes pop and your nose is gone.

[@vroomkaboom108]

@@fistoos4152 Not only were these accidents very rare, they only happened when the lamps were dropped or already damaged.

[@fistoos4152]

​@@vroomkaboom108you cannot convince anybody that having a can of combustible gas with a constantly open exposed flame strapped to your forehead is in any way better than a modern LED Headlamp. Yes, the oldschool ones are very cool, but they are just not safe.

[@samsimington5563]

The way this thing is activated scares the shit out of me... 😳

[@elverdavin365]

The lamp is good but the Carbide will tough to be found

[@Shawn_the_Protogen]

Given what I know about acetylene and how dangerous it can be. Yeah, old miners had balls of brass.

[@joesmith1574]

Cool song!

[@Wheelgauge-bt7ox]

Still have great gramps lamp from Kentucky♥️

[@sharpe67]

Thankyou!

[@DasTechniker]

My power's out from Hurricane Helene. I'd kill to have a headlamp this cool.

[@codysearle366]

Super cool!

[@selwyn500]

Used carbide lamps for camping back in the late '70s. Don't know if carbide is still available. Probably not now due to terrorists.

[@wiono]

useful if there is no methane in a mine

[@stephenstewart13]

Have, explored caves.

[@SirYus99]

If i have a new one with the box, how much is the value? 😮

[@mikaduttwiler1146]

They are cool Lamps and i have one my self the only problem is they stink very bad.

[@aslany1]

I can't understand why they stopped it

[@Handyman1199]

Can’t imagine having an open flame underground where combustible gasses escape from the rocks around you is a good idea. Remember they used birds to determine if toxic Carbon Monoxide gasses accumulated. Once the birds stop singing, you need to leave the mine cause the birds are dead

[@Berainish]

My grandpa was coal miner in Pennsylvania I'm sure he had one of these

[@Abs-h4r]

Beautiful

[@mskinetik]

How long can they last on one fill?

[@WaschyNumber1]

Very cool 🖖

[@adama1294]

Now you can't get the mineral for even remotely affordable price.

[@roxtar69-9mm]

Nice! I have my WV Grandpa's lamp and water tin from the 40's and 50's. Both are in great shape and labeled with "Guy's Dropper". I love to see these in use.

[@AgentFour]

An open flame when mining?

[@Marx-109]

Where can I buy this kind of thing?

[@blackerpanther3329]

How long would it last?

[@pandorasstankbox7769]

No one wants to be tough anymore, just comfy.. and that's why this country is in danger!! 😢

[@anguskeesbury7278]

By "tough" do you mean 'treated as less than human'? Because that's what these people were. The song is literally about how horrible it was to be a mine worker. Your misplaced reverence for tradition is foolish, please study the past and stop trying to revive what is so rightfully dead.

[@MichaelM-q2q]

Better than a battery flashlight whare dead battery is garbage. No waste but a little smoke till it's tuned right.

[@nejinaji]

Really cool

[@ryanguccini8662]

Wrong style of hat, unless you're hard rocking. Thought this is a coal mine song.

[@alandinsmoorcontractingser7119]

Wonder how long it lasts?

[@skynote1728]

Someone tell me the material that he put in the water and how exactly this works I don't know what chemical is being made

[@wilhelm_iron2359]

The top is normal water, the bottom is Calcium Carbide. When the two mix, one of the gasses it puts off is acetylene like in a cutting Torch, which is what this burns

[@bigcharliesmodelgarage296]

Awesome 😊

[@jedinightstalker]

Googledebunker here. Found the skookum on the ole fly catcher. 27.99 a lb.

[@rexross7086]

I don't think I'd want to go into a mind that you don't know that there could be gasses underground.

[@goldfieldgary]

Actually an acetylene lamp is a great indicator that can save your life. If the flame starts going dim, that likely means you're in an oxygen-poor area and you'd best head back the way you came.

[@MrAWESOMElol2]

i want one

[@piggypoo]

0:44 Kino

[@КонстантинРатушный-х7д]

Старые бытовые вещи, превращаються в диковину. Это прекрасно и волшебно. 😊

[@szyszszysz2062]

I love it

[@SturgGaeming]

Id rather not strap a potential explosive to my forehead if i can just use batteries but this is still pretty cool.

[@СергейВолков-ш4й6т]

Карбидка. Седые спелеологи (как я) помнят.

[@keepcalmandenjoythedecline]

Well, they give me crap for smoking at the mine I work at, to the point of taking my cigarettes when they see me, so this probably would make their tiny hats fly off. Can't consume their precious oxygen, the very greedy, short, little bastards.

[@carguy.4591]

Where can I buy lol

[@Redbull_5757]

So cool

[@armorhide406]

Hopefully not used in coal mines

[@mohankumarbl3191]

How he lightens the lamp

[@kaycey7361]

Cant you see, it has a striker similar to what we have in the lighter, fixed on the lamp reflector. How can you see with that chapri sunglass. Gandu lag raha hain.

[@michaelwright1234567]

People these days have no idea how much more intelligent the average person was 100 years ago. Just because you can use a smartphone doesn't mean you're intelligent enough to invent it. You can train a monkey to use a smartphone.

[@bearhall316]

Best comment ever!

[@michaelwright1234567]

@@bearhall316 Thank you Brother!

[@goldfieldgary]

@@michaelwright1234567 Smartphones weren't so much invented, as developed over a period of time, incrementally, by different people. A monkey pulling an old desktop phone's wiring out of the wall could well have inspired someone to think, "Hey, that's a good idea! How can we make it portable?"

[@michaelwright1234567]

@@goldfieldgary oh I agree completely.

[@SmokyRow]

Can you buy new lamps?

[@florindagonzalez5700]

How do these work? What?

[@leosypher9993]

the amount of potentially highly explosive things we surround ourselves is astonishing "Oh but its so much better and safer now days" no, not really, you ever see a lithium battery go up?

[@dearlbenson7687]

People tend to forget that things are a lot safer but when shit DOES hit the fan it’s wayyyy worse and usually a bigger scene

[@gabrieltraicoff254]

Underrated comment

[@Annie-k5b]

Sweet¡!

[@Chikanera666]

Hier kommt die sonne

[@timtaler2826]

Super

[@hailbaphomet]

Could I use a carbide lamp? Uh. Yes. Why would I in 2024? No fucking clue. Why would using a carbide lamp make you tough? It wouldn't. It's just a lamp. It's not that deep.

[@goldfieldgary]

When I used to go spelunking, there was already a clear divide between the carbide and battery spelunking camps. You have to carry the detritus out anyway, doesn't matter if it's used carbide or dead batteries. I will say I've seen beautiful photography done using time exposure with carbide lamps!

[@Looney2383]

Could yes would no fire in mine is MSHA worse sin now a days 🔥💥💥💥💀

[@Ludovic.Teouri.988]

From égyptian l🔥

[@khidaral-mukhtaar7327]

Wow.😂✅

[@kevvo16]

this

[@hisdukeness3037]

This is also how they lighten stages back in the day.. aka.. limelight

[@rowanwhitewolf5712]

An intense illumination is created when a flame fed by oxygen and hydrogen is directed at a cylinder of quicklime (calcium oxide),[2] which can be heated to 2,572 °C (4,662 °F) before melting.

[@goldfieldgary]

​@@rowanwhitewolf5712Thanks, I couldn't remember how limelight was created, just knew it wasn't acetylene!

[@Edbrad]

Didn’t they use this as a South Park song? 😂😂

[@JaredSullli]

They were absolutely stupid. Not tough.

[@goldfieldgary]

Stupid? For using what was available at the time?

[@kisansoni5982]

Wow

[@H3.5phantom]

I want one

[@goldfieldgary]

They also used to make larger table-top units, besides the smaller portable ones.

[@angiewyatt4294]

I want one