I was talking to a guy today, who told me about his buddy who's jeans exploded into flames while he was wearing them! Seems he was under his car working on a gas line, and leaked gas onto his jeans. He got out from under the car and walked across the driveway to grab a beer, and poof! His pants exploded into flames! Just from the pant legs rubbing together and producing static electricity. Well, after a bunch of screaming and running around, he tore his pants off and turned the hose on himself. Minor burns, and a damaged ego only, so thats good. The question is...has anybody else had something like this happen to them from static electricity while wearing jeans? My pops always told me to wear static free coveralls when working with flammables, guess he was right.
Gas isnt as flamable as the movies make it out to be, you can actually throw a ciggerete into a puddle of the stuff and it wont light (atleast when some buddies and I tryed it) also how was he getting static electricity if his pants were wet? Sounds like this should be over at the mythbusters forums.
Reminds me of the safety article I read a few years back saying NOT to fill a metal gas can with gasolene from the gas pump if the can is sitting on the plastic bedliner since explosion can occur due to static electricity.
I have some friends who nearly burnt a racecar to the ground from static elctricity in a gas can igniting when the went to pour it into the car. Glad you friend wasnt hurt, but goddamn i would love to seen that.
If the gas was anywhere near his crotch, there is no way he could have kept his pants on long enough to walk across the yard! I don't need the Myth busters for that one.
Lucky he did not pour his can of beer on it! Seriously, Static electricity is nothing to take lightly. I have been knocked on my ass from it. Glad he is ok Hotrodderman
mythbusters did show that a certain old tyme fertilizer could form an explosive that ignited with extreme shock, like a hammer blow and possibly the friction of walking, missed part of the episode.i did seem em burn alot of overalls, tho...
I read something about this years ago that stated the temperature of a lit cigarette was just below the flash point of gasoline but as soon as somebody took a drag the temperature increased to a point above the flash point and ignition would occur. That would explain why no ignition occured when you threw your cigarette into a puddle of gasoline. There is some information on this at http://www.physlink.com/education/askexperts/ae1.cfm
I seen them do the exact same thing on myth busters and nothing happend.............................but OK Tyler
A cigarette is not hot enough to light gasoline. However, an open flame of any sort or an type of electrical spark will ignite it.
If that happened to me, I'd probably piss my pants and put the fire out. "We don't need no roasted weinies today"
Could it be that your buddy was just glad to see his buddy and he really did have an explosion in his pants?
Explosion in my pants....boy you just knew this was going to degenerate big time!!!! BWAAAAHHHAAAA!!-MIKE
Fires from filling a gas can in a pickup bed is NOT a myth. I work for a gas nozzle manufacturer and we have been sued because of this very issue. The fumes collect in the bed and a cigarette or a static spark can set it off.
Hahaha...yeah, great thread title. I expected to see some bad ass build pics from Tuck or someone...I know there are few cars on here that cause that reaction But...the topic is similar to other myths such as cell phones or static electricity from upholstery causing fires in gas stations. I heard this was debunked by the Mythbusters and there are numerous articles online related to them. Here's one from Snopes.com...not the most exciting read, but it does have info that shoots down the rumor http://www.snopes.com/autos/hazards/gasvapor.asp. Bryan
Explosion in my pants!!! Yep, I had that happen to me. It was on my second date with the red headed girl from 11C---
My dad once had his pocket catch fire, sort of. His zippo leaked in his pocket. His buddy suggested he empty his pocket, and pull the pocket out so it could air dry. Sounds like a good idea, right? As soon as he turned around, that same buddy lit the lighter fluid soaked pocket... Slonaker
A guy here in our shop set his arm on fire. He had been working on the lines inside the fuel cell on one of our project cars. His hand and forearm were covered with gas. He got a static spark between himself and the plastic fuel cell, and "WHOOSH!" up in flames went his arm. It shocked him so bad he staggered back and just stared at it while someone else grabbed a fire extinguisher and put him out. Singed his eyebrows, and gave him some minor burns on the arm. I know another guy who set his whole shop on fire and blew up a '69 Shelby GT500 on the lift. The car was freshly restored, and the new owner was going to pick it up the next day. He was under the car replacing the fuel sending unit, spilled gas. He'd done this a hundred times. He had a power washer right next to the bay door opening, where the lift was. He flipped the switch on the power washer (which he had also done a hundred times), and the whole area flashed and blew him out the door. Then the fire ran up the trail of fumes, from the ground to the gas tank 7 feet in the air, ignited inside the tank and blew the deck lid off and the windshield out. Then proceeded to cook the car, and set the ceiling of the building on fire. I respect gasoline and fumes. A lot. -Brad
True story -- bought one of those little $7 miracle pumps at WallyWorld to get gas out of the bottom of a waverunner after a massive fuel line leak. (Luckily it didn't light off . . . . only lucky because I was sitting on it.) It's dark, the hose won't go anywhere that it needs to be because it's been in the plastic "shrink-me-another size smaller" blister pack and is coiling up. I hold the pump between my knees and work it with one hand and put the hose in the boat to get it suctioned out. I'm doing this for a minute or two when I realize my ass feels a bit cold, and then my balls feel like they've been lit under a blow-torch. The el-cheapo pump had the rubber line come loose and I proceeded to douche myself with gas. Not pleasant at all. I had to go for a midnight swim as the wife wouldn't let me onto our boat to go to sleep. (Like I could sleep anyway with the burning sensation -- yeouch!)
A car burned up at a gas station near me last year. A woman was filling up used her gas cap to keep the pump running and decided to get back into her car to wait for it. When she got out and grabbed the filler nozzle the static she had built up getting in and out of her car sparked the fumes and a huge fireball went up. She dropped the hose and ran but her car burned before some grabbed a fire extinguisher and put it out. They showed it on the news as it was all caught on the security cameras. Scary stuff.
I once lit a fart through my pants, it was way more explosive than I thought it was gonna be. It singed my asshole hairs all up but witnesses said it was a spectacular blue flame and wanted me to do it again. I told 'em I wasn't about to subject my ringpiece to any further abuse. I once repaired a shorted wire on my chopper with the proverbial oily rag. Needless to say disaster ensued when the whole battery went up in flames. The bike died before I felt the heat under my arse. I destroyed a mint big E levi's jacket trying to put the fire out. It was truly an awful moment, people were watching and laughing at me. This has nothing to do with explosive jeans, I'm just running off at the mouth again.
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