TV show question?

[griz]

Watching Mythbusters a little while back, the one where they tried to get a lighter to blow up.  They had a close up shot of them working on a lighter, and the UPC bar code was blurred out.  Why would they do that?  Doesn't seem to be giving anything away to show a bar code.

[Guest]

The tag probably bore the name of the manufacture or the retailer where it was purchased.

[griz]

That makes sence.  I was thinking it was only the bar code, but it might have had some other identifier.

Thanks, Griz

[280plus]

I'd bet the lawyers were afraid that if the lighter exploded and the name of the MFG was even remotely discernible the lawsuits would have been flying like monkeys out of your butt. Which may or may not be more painful than a rocket NOT flying out of your butt. 

[Azrael256]

So...  did it blow up?

[griz]

It more or less blew up.  Basically the lighter melts until the gas leaks, then as long as there is an ignition source, it flashes quickly.  It doesn't go off like a bomb, but if you had a bunch it could be fatal.  They put several hundred in a car and cooked them off.  It blew the windows out and had a lot of fire.

[mfree]

It cheesed me off that they didn't perform one of the classic warned-against actions associated with butane lighters; lighting an oxyacetlyene torch with one.

It just seems to me that sometimes they don't do their research very well. That bit of warning is in every welding guide and manual I've ever picked up.

[Guest]

It cheesed me off that they didn't perform one of the classic warned-against actions associated with butane lighters; lighting an oxyacetlyene torch with one.

It just seems to me that sometimes they don't do their research very well. That bit of warning is in every welding guide and manual I've ever picked up.

You can volunteer your hand for that test.

Its called "Mythbusters" so they are going after things that might or might not be true, not things that are easily verified as being factually based without having to be tested.

[280plus]

Uh oh, I was bad. I discovered that the old BICs had this enormous flint that would lastway longer than the fuel. I used to use them as strikers for my torch after the fuel ran out. They'd last forever and if you lost one, no big deal. I did this for years. 

 

[crt360]

Those old bic lighters will also blow up if you throw them against a hard surface (like a brick wall) - nothing spectacular, but it'll make a loud pop, flash, and shards of flying plastic.  Wear eye protection if you feel like wasting a good lighter or two this way.