Some of these may be dangerous. Don't be stupid, use adult supervision, etc.

To light a match with one hand

++ Flip the cover with your thumb, then reach your thumb around, grabbing the tip of one match. Pull it down and around the bottom of the pack until it makes contact with the 'flint.' If it doesn't reach all the way around (cheaper matches usually don't), push at the point where it connects to the rest of the matches.

++ Line up the tip of the match at the edge of the striking surface and crook your thumb so it points at the other edge. Very important, make sure your thumb makes contact with the tip as little as possible to minimize the surface area the flame can make contact with. A few mm from your thumbnail is good.

++ Quickly push the tip of the match away from you across the striking surface and lift your thumb away. It should light and spring out when you release.

How to Make a Lighter Torch

++ Pop off the metal part, push the black knob to the + side, lift the black part up so it's not moving the white piece and put it back to the -. Keep doing that for four or five rotations and put the metal part back on. Should shoot a good 6 or 7 inch flames.

++ When you need to create a small opening in plastic for some reason or another, a steady soldering iron (and maybe a replacement tip too) will do the job when a knife won't work.

++ This isn't so much a trick as it is a warning that not many people know about: NEVER inhale the fumes of burning plastic. When plastic burns it releases hydrogen cyanide gas. 50 ml of this will kill you dead in about 10 seconds. So just for the sake of you and those around you, don't burn plastic.

++ Find a tea-bag, the kind that has the staple in the top to hold it together. Remove the string and take out the staple, straighten out the tea bag and pour the tea-leaves down the sink. Make the teabag into a tube and scrunch up the top end. Light from the top and watch it fly!

How to Light a Match on a Breezy Day

++ Face into the wind. Tear out a match and hold it between the second knuckles of your ring and middle finger, with the tip facing inward, toward your palm. Strike the match to the scratch surface with your thumb, and in the same motion, curl your hand like you are holding a longneck bottle. The hand forms a little dead air pocket, and with practice you can light your cig/fuse/tinder easily on a windy day.

++ To implode an empty aluminum soda can, hold it over a gas flame. Once you hear crackling start to come from the inside of the can, turn it upside down in a bowl of ice water. Presto, one impolded can.

++ If you have a spare longneck glass bottle (old style coke bottles work great for this) and want to impress somebody, you can blow the bottom off of it using only your bare hands. Fill it up with water (or whatever liquid) so it is almost full, but there is a little bit of air left at the top. Not too much air; maybe about a half of an inch from the very top. Now, take your hand and hit the top of the bottle so that the fleshy heel part of your hand covers the mouth. It will form a seal, and since your hand is kind of squishy send a compressional shock wave through the air, and into the water. Since water is not compressable, when the shock wave hits the bottom it will be transfered completely into the bottom of the bottle and blow the fucker out. It is really amazing after you get some practice and just start shooting these perfectly circular shards of razor-sharp glass off of the bottom of bottles for no apparent reason.

++ Saltpeter mixed 50/50 with white sugar will burn very hot, very slowly, and produce copius clouds of smoke. Saltpetre is Potassium Nitrate, and can probably be obtained from your local pharmacy. When contained (a pop can works nicely), it makes a satisfyingly loud noise. Pour the mix into a can until it is 1/3 to 1/2 full. Add sand or dirt on top until the can is full. Turn the can over, poke a hole in the bottom with a nail, add a fuse.
Light fuse, run away.

++ For kind of a cool party trick, you'll need a glass of water, some salt, and a house fly. Catch the fly, but make sure you don't kill it in between your hands. Now you need to try to get the fly into the glass of water. This can be somewhat difficult, try to open the bottom of my cupped hands right on top of the glass while moving my hands downward on top of the glass. Once the fly has been in the water for a short time, it will appear to have drowned. Fish it out, and place it on something flat. Putting it on a napkin is a good idea in order to catch the salt. Pour salt on the fly. The salt will soak the water off/out of the fly, bringing it back to life. Kinda dumb, but kinda cool. To kill insects without using poison or smashing it everywhere, buy a can of that "compressed air" (no, its not really air) like for dusting computer keyboards. When that wasp flies into your room, turn the can upside-down and spray. The insect will freeze solid, and you can dispose of it however you like. The gas will leave what looks like ice on your desk/carpet/whatever, but as it warms up it will evaporate in mere seconds. No fuss, no mess.

++ If attacked by a scorpion of some type, pour whiskey on its back. It'll sting itself to death.


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