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Letter Re: Handy Uses for Thermite
James:
I followed a link from your site and ended up at the DBC Pyrotechnics site,
looking at a
lot of 10 Thermite "all weather fire starters".
It seems like a very handy tool to have - cold weather fire
starters like that. I wonder if any other readers of your novel might find
them useful. A lot of 100 of those might be just a very useful thing to add
into someone's retreat supplies.
Now if I can just find a place that offers pre-mixed bulk thermite, I might
build some nice #2 can-size thermite devices, in case I ever have a need to
do some "off grid welding", or whatever. A smaller [one quart] can
[at the bottom of] a larger can filled with sand (along the sides) tends to
direct more of the molten metal down through the bottom. Just the thing if
you need to put a nice, fairly round hole through some steel plate for a special
construction project. - Bob B.
JWR Replies: I describe how to "mix your own" thermite
as well as how to make thermite igniters in my novel "Patriots:
Surviving the Coming Collapse". Thermite itself is quite easy
to make, with black iron oxide and aluminum powder. But the igniters are
a bit harder to improvise. So it might be easiest just to buy the small readily-available
DBC Pyrotechnics fire starters with integral igniters, and use them to start
larger containers of home-made thermite powder for those big cutting and welding
projects.
