Slinging.org Forum - Inka firebombs.

bigkahuna past-moderator Offline Posts: 3894 Delaware, USA Gender:	Re: Inka firebombs. Reply #15 - Feb 4^th, 2006 at 5:11pm Rocks can get really hot and stay that way for awhile. Look at how rocks are used for the Native American sweat lodge. Those rocks get red hot and could be kept that way long enough to hurl at a target. Wrapping it in flammable/inflammable material would be very tricky though.
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aarya

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Re: Inka firebombs.
Reply #16 - Feb 4^th, 2006 at 5:38pm

As far as i know, rocks don`t get red hot... If rocks got red hot, you`d have lava/magma..
Yes, true that rocks are used in sweatlodges and suchlike, but also, as far as i know, they do have intermissions in the sweatlodge proceedings, so as to refill with more hot stones.
Also, it`s the steam that is essential in a sweatlodge, not the hot rocks..
And, as far as i know.. (God.. I do use that phrase alot, now don`t i?) Rocks might hold their temperature for about 5-10 minutes, before they get noticeably colder..
True, this would be long enough for the incas to lob them at an enemy... But, if i was the inca... I think i`d just make some sort of clay vessel, fill it with pitch or oil and set fire to it... Like a primitive molotov cocktail...
Cause they did have the technology.
What they might not have had, was the theory..

But again.. All this makes great "what if's", but not too great... "Oh yeah!! That`ll definately work.. Let`s try it!!"...

Time to get real? I guess not... *sigh*

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Re: Inka firebombs.
Reply #17 - Feb 4^th, 2006 at 5:45pm

I never believed the efficiency of hot rocks till I met people cooking with hot rocks. It turns out that one golfball sized rock can get a bigish pot, several liters, to the boil and once hot, a second rock will keep it boiling hot for quite a while.

If left to the air, rather than dumped in water, they stay hot for a long time. At first more than hot enough to do damage.
And you only need a small fire to get the rocks hot and keep them heating till needed. Other than water, they keep getting hotter as long as they are in the fire.

Willeke

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Douglas_The_Black Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Hakkaa päälle! Posts: 3491 Salineville Ohio Gender:	Re: Inka firebombs. Reply #18 - Feb 5^th, 2006 at 10:05am and any way it hurts to get hit by a rock no matter how hot it is but i aggree with aarya and i think a clay pot, with something in it would be better.
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Re: Inka firebombs.
Reply #19 - Feb 5^th, 2006 at 10:46am

Of course alot depends on what type of rock it is. I work with soapstone, and can confirm that it can indeed be heated until it is red hot with no change to the stone. It also takes forever to cool down.
The vikings would take slabs of it on their ships, build a rough hearth, and have a fire on their ships. The rock never scorch the wood.
So rocks can indeed be quite hot

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CanDo Interfector Viris Spurii Past Moderator Offline Posts: 1652 New England, USA Gender:	Re: Inka firebombs. Reply #20 - Feb 6^th, 2006 at 8:52pm can anyone get out there and try it?
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Re: Inka firebombs.
Reply #21 - Feb 7^th, 2006 at 3:09pm

i will do no such thing and try something as insane as that Shocked

lol

but that wasn't what i came for.. the inca would have had the idea of using the clay pots but euhm have you Seen an inca pot those things where a: very nice b:really expensive i know for a fact that teracotta (wich means baked clay) was the most expansive thing in china for a while (anyone ever hear of the teracotta warriors?) so i don't think they where gonna lob em twards there enemies

never the less red hot rocks do seem to be a little dificult to wrap in a pitch drenched cloth

lets just say i have no idea how they did it

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Douglas_The_Black Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Hakkaa päälle! Posts: 3491 Salineville Ohio Gender:	Re: Inka firebombs. Reply #22 - Feb 7^th, 2006 at 4:45pm that was the nice clay that they made pots out of. Just your run of the mill unfired clay would not cost that much.
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Roy

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Re: Inka firebombs.
Reply #23 - Feb 7^th, 2006 at 7:50pm

I wonder if the hot rock would be like an ember and the cotton would flame up when oxygen was introduced at force? Have you ever made a fire using flint and steel, or using friction? You can get a spark, or get it to smolder a bit, but it does'nt flame up untill you blow on it.

If they used the cotton thick enough it would blanket the heat (like a pot holder) long enough to possibly sling. Only a thought.

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CanDo Interfector Viris Spurii Past Moderator Offline Posts: 1652 New England, USA Gender:	Re: Inka firebombs. Reply #24 - Feb 7^th, 2006 at 8:32pm and the oxygen be supplied by the air flowing over it as it hurled towards its target?
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Roy Senior Member Offline That was'nt a duck... that was a rock. Posts: 404 Foothills of the Appalachians Gender:	Re: Inka firebombs. Reply #25 - Feb 7^th, 2006 at 8:48pm That was the idea.
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Taiki Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Don't tell my mom i'm here will you... Posts: 1255 belgium Gender:	Re: Inka firebombs. Reply #26 - Feb 8^th, 2006 at 5:12am true i guess your right the normal pots wouldn't be That nice but still why else bother with red hot stones
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Re: Inka firebombs.
Reply #27 - Feb 8^th, 2006 at 5:34pm

And clay has to be dug out where there is/used to be flowing water which left to right kind of sediment.
Rocks are more readily available in mountain country, esp if you are not too concerned about the shapes, but can also be found on the flat country a distance away from the high lands.
If you happen to be in country with next to no rocks, you can still rough form your clay and heat that in the campfire. It might even get hot enough to do damage.

Willeke

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Roy

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Re: Inka firebombs.
Reply #28 - Feb 8^th, 2006 at 6:52pm

Quote:

" The Inka heated stones in campfires until they were red hot, wrapped them in pitched soaked cotton,

I can imagine this may have been a night time siege, or early morning. Rocks will glow red in the dim light, but doubtful that you could see this in daylight, or that they could get an average fire hot enough to make a rock appear to glow red in the light. Guessing that the pitch soaked cotton was a way to bind the cotton to itself around the rock long enough to be carried through the air to its point of impact. could possibly stick to what it hits if it let go of the rock at the time of impact. Flaming marsh mellow theory. Still sticking with the idea that the air flow would ignite a smoldering ember created by the glowing rock.

Possible??

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CanDo

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Re: Inka firebombs.
Reply #29 - Feb 8^th, 2006 at 7:06pm

this is first on my to-do list when summer roles around.
to test the theory, how about laying the cotton on a bed of hot rocks, wait a short while then blow on them with the 'blow' end of a shop vac?

anyhow, whats the most effective way to ignite the pitch in a clay pot? (prefferably upon hitting its target rather than inside the sling)

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