The Incredibly Clever Carbide Lamp

[@JamesJohnson-if8rz]

Old spelunking gear. Used to really neat. The color . Glow. Warmth. Sound. But the carbide is hard to find nowadays.

[@rjo49]

It's probably not rare because it's difficult to make; there's just no market to justify all the headaches of handling and shipping hazardous materials. The hazmat shipping cost for medium quantities could be as much as the material itself.

[@JimJimmington-e8i]

That is the coolest thing I will see all day. Very, very clever as you say. Wow. I appreciate you taking one for the team there and stink bombing yourself there near the end of the video. 🤣

[@zednott]

i always thought it was weird that in disaster movies where the survivor makes a torch or lights a lighter to see in the dark and no one ever ignited gas from a ruptured gas main or a broken gas line. could have added a bit of realism to the movies.

[@greylocke100]

I used to own a few of those many years ago back in the 80's. I have been trying to find modern replacements ever since.

[@hellsbells3945]

There are more modern ones for speleology

[@greylocke100]

@@hellsbells3945 I want the esthetic, and I like the old style. Plus I plan on using them for camping, not caving.

[@WaffleStaffel]

Very neat. The flame is so sooty and so sharp that miners and spelunkers would use the lamps to write on cave walls too.

[@InventionIncarnate]

That’s awesome, I didn’t know that

[@Fusildechasse]

I had a couple Justrite's with 4" reflectors for caving back in the late 70's..wish i never got rid of them

[@budprepper3811]

They used carbide lights on bicycles as well. But you already know that

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

Carbide lamps are awesome, I've been wanting to build one for a while but I'm going to have to order more carbide because mine got exposed to moisture and broke down over time. In my area I can probably find an original if I look.

[@build_n_bear]

Soooo..... what I'm hearing is....upscale the size, elongate the exit orifice, put grill ignitor as trigger and wallah...flame thrower

[@NiceToBeAli]

and now they have to put "DO NOT DRINK" on bleach bottles.

[@JimJimmington-e8i]

And "Contains Peanuts" on jars of peanut butter...

[@irishlostboy]

Where can you get carbide?

[@InventionIncarnate]

@@irishlostboy cheapcarbide.com lol

[@InventionIncarnate]

They sell on Amazon too

[@rjo49]

Lehmans. They sell it in 10 lb quantities. With shipping, comes to around $200. But that's a lot of carbide. It is supplied in 5 metal cans, just like the original as far as I can tell, except the old cans were a snappy blue enamel color. Maybe buy some silica gel drying material while you're at it, to minimize exposure to moisture. I once had almost an entire can "go bad" on me, just from living in a humid part of the country.

[@craigpalmer9196]

why little birds went into the pits

[@ct810]

Because of h2s and other gas’s. If the bird died at anytime, they knew to get out to fresh air.

[@phillipbradley6558]

I think I'm missing striker mix I left you an email

[@InventionIncarnate]

I DID forget it in your kit. Which extra blows bc I doubled up everything else bc it’s going to England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿. I dropped a fat sack of it in the mail today. It’ll take a while but it’s coming. Sorry about that error

[@phillipbradley6558]

@InventionIncarnate what's actually in the ignition and striker mix?