Hi,
So here's the challenge I'm trying to accomplish: each year, my Boy Scout troop does a nice ceremony for new Scouts. A nice effect which we have had the last few years is to have floating campfires - we build a floating platform, build a large campfire on top of it, put it in the middle of the lake, and use an anchor to keep it relatively in the same place.
We usually build 2-4 campfires on the water, the farthest is ~50 yards away. When the time comes, we need to light all of them in rapid succession and get back to shore. The campfires burn for about 20-25 minutes (we obviously can't just throw more wood on), so getting them lit quickly at the last minute is important.
Previously, we sent someone in a kayak, but that's slow and hard to coordinate. Was looking for new ways to do that this year, my three ideas are laser ignition, a pullstring trigger with glycerol+potassium permanganate, or a torch on a remote control boat.
My question for you folks here: is laser ignition possible? Is this a valid approach to this problem?
Some additional parameters:
* The fires are floating on the lake. They'll always be bobbing up and down slightly, which means pinpoint accuracy is not possible.
* There will be some amount of moisture in the air, and the fires will be on the lake for several hours before they are lit, due to the timing of the ceremony and setup.
* I can use as many matchheads or other supplies as I need to. 100 matcheads tied in a cluster, surrounded by dryer lint which is soaked in kerosene is a totally reasonable project.
* We'll get a ready-to-go signal at some point. From then, all fires must be lit in ~2 minutes or less.
So, what do you folks think? Possible? What challenges will I face? Any other recommendations?
So here's the challenge I'm trying to accomplish: each year, my Boy Scout troop does a nice ceremony for new Scouts. A nice effect which we have had the last few years is to have floating campfires - we build a floating platform, build a large campfire on top of it, put it in the middle of the lake, and use an anchor to keep it relatively in the same place.
We usually build 2-4 campfires on the water, the farthest is ~50 yards away. When the time comes, we need to light all of them in rapid succession and get back to shore. The campfires burn for about 20-25 minutes (we obviously can't just throw more wood on), so getting them lit quickly at the last minute is important.
Previously, we sent someone in a kayak, but that's slow and hard to coordinate. Was looking for new ways to do that this year, my three ideas are laser ignition, a pullstring trigger with glycerol+potassium permanganate, or a torch on a remote control boat.
My question for you folks here: is laser ignition possible? Is this a valid approach to this problem?
Some additional parameters:
* The fires are floating on the lake. They'll always be bobbing up and down slightly, which means pinpoint accuracy is not possible.
* There will be some amount of moisture in the air, and the fires will be on the lake for several hours before they are lit, due to the timing of the ceremony and setup.
* I can use as many matchheads or other supplies as I need to. 100 matcheads tied in a cluster, surrounded by dryer lint which is soaked in kerosene is a totally reasonable project.
* We'll get a ready-to-go signal at some point. From then, all fires must be lit in ~2 minutes or less.
So, what do you folks think? Possible? What challenges will I face? Any other recommendations?
