If you've already built your own wrist-mounted laser-sighted crossbow, how do you top it? Well, a hand-mounted flamethrower might do the trick. That's just what cyberpunk weapons hobbyist and Iron Man fan Patrick Priebe has done, with pretty impressive results. However, unlike some of his previous creations (which have included a 1-megawatt pulse laser gun, and a balloon-popping palm laser), the "flame glove" is not for sale - given its rather startling performance in the video that follows, that's probably for the best.

Priebe had seen somewhat similar devices on YouTube, but he thought their flames were much too small. "[My] goal was to find the perfect mix of reliable ignition and a nice tall flame," he told us. "Another goal was to make it as light as possible, so I stuck with my own laser-glove design and changed it a li'l bit."

Patrick Priebe's flame glove (arm gauntlet/fuel bottle is at the top, with the hand-mounted ignition module at the bottom left)

The finished aluminum-and-brass product is fueled by 300-mL (10 oz) lighter refill bottles of butane. Although Priebe doesn't wish to provide instructions for the glove to pyromaniacs everywhere, he did tell us that it incorporates an NE555 circuit board, an HV driver, and a flyback transformer. This combo, powered by four lithium-ion batteries, is able to create an electrical arc that's hot enough to ignite the butane. An arm gauntlet holds the butane bottle upside down, to ensure a constant stream of fuel.

The flame glove can be seen in action in the video below. Needless to say, we advise readers to never, ever try building something like this for themselves!

Source: Laser Gadgets (Patrick Priebe)