A former german firefighter being the leader of the first flamethrower unit the german army? Makes perfect sense to me. Who better to lead soldiers using fire as a weapon than a man who understands the dangers of fire intimately?

This is a flammenwerfer. It werfs flammen.

lol "no longer effective..." you'd think in an urban environment a flamethrower would be incredibly effective.

Australians must still use them to clean their driveways of terrifyingly dangerous creatures before they go to work every morning.

"i should get a Flamethrowers" "why?" "uh.....home defence?"

"There is no law prohibiting citizens from owning flame throwers" *Googles flamethrowers for sale*

"Uses legally bought flamethrower for selfdeffense, burns to death in his own home along with the intruder"

There are some fundamental flaws with flame-throwers. The obvious one, wind. All is well until your enemy is up-wind and your burning-liquid stream doubles-back on you. Very sensitive to ambient conditions. The not-so-obviious flaw is proximity. Too close, and the operator gets singed in the IR 'back-blast'. Throw a big fireball, it will heat you up! And the fires started just don't 'go out' when the operation is over. OK, the third thing is that the weapon itself is dangerous to the operator. Highly pressurized Napalm in a large back-pack. Nicely recognizable high-value target. Sounds like a pyrotechnic pinata just waiting for a kid with a stick...sniper with a bullet.

The narrator looks like the type of guy who owns a flamethrower.

Do people need an open-carry permit to take flame-throwers into shopping malls and cinemas?

Not really ironic that he was a fire fighter. It makes sense that a firefighter would understand how to start fire and prevent the extinguishing of said fire better than anyone else.

#6: Flamethrowers are widely used by Terran's Firebats, Hellbats, and Hellions

No. 6: it is pretty effective against zerglings.

3 thing you don't know about flamethrower 1:it shoot fire. 2: you need fire. 3:u need gas.

Shermans were absolutely not the first flamethrower tanks. Germany produced the panzer II flamm "flamingo" starting January, 1940. Unlike the improvised sherman conversion described in this video, flamingos were dedicated factory built flame tanks with 2 flamethrowers mounted in small dedicated turrets, with 160 liters of fuel per flamethrower. The Germans did abandon the concept after the tanks were used in the invasion of Russia, as the tanks were found to be too vulnerable to Russian antitank weaponry.

1. interesting 2. interesting 3. interesting 4. interesting 5. Time to move to the USA!

The only proper weapon for use against heretics.

Fact 2 in incorrect. The first dedicated flamethrower tank was the russian KW-8, developed in 1941 and manufactured from 1942 on.

the government is ok with the flamethrower but I had trouble getting the permit for my bazooka.

Lol, giving a whole new meaning to the name, "Fire hose".

Is it just me or does the host's face look really oddly airbrushed?

I saw a flame thrower, a legal option, on BMW's in South Africa to prevent carjacking. Too cool.... LOL

may be considered obsolete, but I can't imagine being all safe and cozy in an APC from small arms fire and knowing there is a soldier out there with a flamethrower that can turn an APC into a giant oven.

France still has them. Who would have thought...?

Great weapon for home defense!

Point two is wrong. Atleast under the name it has. It shoud be called: "The first standard * US * Tank flamethrowers were created in October 1943". Why? Becouse Nazi Germany for example had the Panzer II (Flamm) 3 years before that.

Dear Santa...

I am verry sure there were standart flametrowers on tanks much earlier as in 1943...:) Even the oldest WW2 models had some variants with flamethrowers - like the Pz II or T-26....

a pyromaniac German firefighter invented the flamethrower.....why does this not surprise me?

flamethrowers are also used to take care of wasps and bees.

The Churchill crocodile was one of the first tanks to sport the flamethrower in it's chassis. It was mounted where the 105 howitzer would have been. It carried the fuel behind it in a trailer.

I had the dubious honor (probably because I scored highest on the physical fitness test) of humping a flamethrower during bunker assault exercises at Infantry Officers' Candidate School at Ft. Benning, Georgia in 1967. It was 90F and 85% humidity. I was given all of about ten minutes of training on how to use it and only fired one quick burst before the platoon level assault began. The most important rule in operating a flame thrower was to get a "death" grip (literally a death grip) on the forward handle as the blow back pressure will throw it out of your hands and fry you instead of the enemy. Firing the flame thrower was very similar to pulling the trigger on a water hose nosel but much, much more backward blow back pressure and instead of cooling you off if you lost your grip you'd fry yourself and your fellow troopers next to you. When adding in the high temperature and humidity with the intense heat from the flame thrower after walking on line approximately 100 yards uphill it was a very uncomfortable and exhausting experience. And, if in actual combat, the enemy would all be trying to kill you first. I had a lot of respect for those infantrymen in WW2 whose weapon of choice (probably not their choice) was a flame thrower. In Vietnam as a convoy commander I did deploy a flamethrower but it was on an armored personnel carrier (APC). It worked great as one couldn't see the NVA because of the heavy jungle vegetation and the flame thrower was able to burn away concealment and cover. I never saw any infantry units humping flame throwers as there were just too damned heavy.

fact 5 is the best

Flamethrower: A device designed to set someone on fire wwwwwaaaaaaaayyyyy over there!

The M2 manpack flamethrower was still in the US Army inventory in the early 80's, but as a teargas dispersant.

I remember reading a study on napalm based incindiary weapons and in that they had studied the casualties of the weapons and found majority of victims actually died from carbon monoxide poisoning basically never feeling any pain as they were not hit directly. This has made many rethink napalm more as a chemical weapon than an incendiary.

0:20 COD fan seeing BF1 Trailer for the first time

Those crazy person eyes when the host tells us you can buy a flame thrower...

Lead a flame range(0351) in the Marines in 72-73. Very effective against enclosed spaces the fire sucks the air out killing by suffocation. Other uses are limited only have a 50' range

for people asking "why would a army still have flame throwers?" (specially demoblade, stating it as a "barbaric weapon") the answer is: combat engineering. some engineers units use flamethrowers to "burn bridges,woods,etc in order to stop the advance of the enemy". they are not used directly on the enemy. (at least thats what my army uses it for)

haha his skin is digitaly smoothed as fuck. i mean look at him :D

Lets start flame wars in the comments!!! WHOO HOO!!

" That Smell ! That Gasoline Smell ! Nothing else in the world smells like that . "

that warning should have probably been in the video because many do not read the comments ,but this is a very interesting series and a very professional presenter and footage used ,very like TV so well done and good luck making more, also FIRST!

It's a shame they're no longer in use by the U.S., they'd be great for clearing buildings in the middle east.

"They were installed on Stuarts.. Which then became known as Satan Tanks" lol

The British developed the Churchill Crocodile tank, which was basically a Churchill with a flamethrower on the front and a tank of jellied petroleum behind it. But being part of a flamethrower unit was never a fun job. If captured, enemy soldiers would usually show no mercy and this was done on all sides. If a flamethrower tank went down, the crew usually ran for their lives, since the enemy would take no prisoners.

Also, a lot of the deaths caused by flamethrowers were due to lack of oxygen, as the flames would consume it before people could breathe it in. Worked especially well against troops situated in bunkers :)

Videogames often depict flamethrowers as very short range weapons but couldn't that M2 Flamethrower from the World War 2 era reach a little over 30 yards or something?

5 things you didn't know about nuclear weapons would be cool.

How he said "Flammenwerfer Abteilung" hahahaha made my day

Farmers use flamethrowers for weeding purposes, however they use diesel fuel rather than the gel-mixture the Army and Marine Corps used.

dude... you forgott the carbon monoxide poisining... topic bad researched.

This would be such a shitty way to die.

While the British used a squadron of Churchill Crocodiles during the fighting at Brest in September 1944, the US Army received a smaller American designed flamethrower mounted upon the M4 Sherman tank during the same month. Assigned to the US Army's 70th Tank Battalion, the flamethrowing tanks went into action on 18 September 1944, where it was found that the weapons had a very short range as compared to the British Crocodiles, and consequently were not very popular amongst US troops.

So much for that thought. Was wondering if there would be mention of the fact that during the American Civil War there was a flamethrower designed for the Federal army. No idea if it was ever actually attempted to be used but I do know it existed.

here we use even rocks in our armed forces LOL

oh rly? I can buy one?....where? snow is a bitch

Also the flame is produced using gasoline mixed with soap flakes giving the stickiness a pressure bottle pushes the fluid out. Ignited by large matches at end of the hose. Lots of fun

MAN!!!! I love this guy!!! His appears in a lot of Discovery/History Channel programs like Enterprise 360!

Every nation had flamethrower tanks all they are is a tanks and a flamethrower simple.

only in the USA can u buy lethal weapons like this....OH OFFICER ITS FOR MY DEFENCE LOL...

*One thing you might not know about flame throwers: T H E Y T H R O W F L A M E S.*

The guy was going around putting fires out.. but really he was the one starting them!

the first flamethrower was made back in 7th Century by the Greeks

This guy's face is having a deep psychological impact on me Yes I liked my own comment

My great-uncle was on Saipan in 1944, clearing out caves of Japanese with one of these. The smell and screams haunted him forever.

About the time of Avganistan the Russians replaced standart flamethrowers with one use incendiary grenadelauncher (simular to pancerfoust in ww2). Its use was so terifyingly effective that Avganis nicknamed it Шейтан труба - Devil`s pipe. Its not exactly a flamethrower in the meaning that you put in the video, but it serves the same purpouse and its variants are used by russian military today.

There should be a nerf flamethrower LOL:D

*NOTHING* can beat the awesome feeling of spraying firey death into your enemies! :)

5:28: That's the most epic fart lighting I've ever seen.

Canadian troops still use flame throwers, before deployment, for thawing tank treads that are frozen to the ground so they can load up and depart.

wtf is his face

It was removed from service for political correctness. In WW2 and Korea we were fighting a known military army and it was not televised so the weapon was used. In Vietnam with a guerilla army of non uniformed combatants that looked like simple rice farmers Americans did not want to sit down to dinner and the evening news and see live footage of some marine torching villages and people. It appeared to "cruel" so the military pulled it before it became an issue since was only a infantry platoon weapon with limited use. That allowed them to dodge the "inhumane" issue and keep the napalm shells dropped from aircraft which were much more effective anyway. Trade off a small one to keep a big one.

People are joking when saying it would be great for home defense, but if a burglar sees some psycho come around a corner with that thing...

Please note: You may be able to legally own or build a flamethrower, but you can still get charged for the destruction it may cause...

Need this for isis.

A terrible weapon - both in nowaday's combat standards and what awful death/scars it causes from the burns. I'm glad it has been mostly dropped. War is dirty, but even then there should be some limits.

No info on what fuel was used or combination thereof and/or technological input on how these weapons operated??? That's what I was hoping to know.

nice video.what is the reloading sound in the intro ???

There is something in "portable flamethrower" that gets me :D

that theres my home defense flamethrower. we've all heard the saying don't bring a gun to a flamethrower fight. you never know, someone might be wearing body armor or plates when they rob your home if they know you are armed but unless it's the fire department they are gunna be introduced to a mechanic they have only seen in games up till that point :P srsly tho as like a bunker defense tool a hallway and a flamethrower is a terrifying thought...

Farmers here in the Philippines use flamethrowers right after harvesting rice, sugar canes and other crops! But with some regulations from the DENR(Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources), Dept of Agriculture, and the Firearms and Explosives Office of the Phil. National Police...

Good video, shame it's only 5 things - could have included the British Livens Large Gallery Flame projector, the Churchill Crocodile flame throwing tank and the Fougasse anti-invasion flame system

Actually the Panzer I was modified as a flame tank before the Stuart. The panzer I was a field modification however. Where as Satan tanks were not. Satan was the first official flamethrower tank variant.

i was thoroughly convinced that the feds would come knocking if you made a flamethrower at home

0:20 "when you go outside and it 107F outside"

He is right that German Army captain Richard Fielder made the flame thrower(flammenwerfer) in 1901. But yet there was a second man who I don't know the name also helped build the flame throwe(flammenwerfer) along with Richard Fielder. During World War 1 German fire fighters were the first to be the flame thrower brigade. They were given a gas mask and a deaths head insignia on the left sleeve. To the British and French troops were told to never let the German flame thrower brigade to be taken alive but shoot to kill him.

I like your informative videos. The flame thrower has got to be the most terrible weapon invented, that and poison gas. New subscriber.

Actually, the first dedicated flamethrower tank in use was the British Crocodile, used fron D-Day onwards. Towing an armoured trailer containing the fuel, it could fire for considerably longer than other designs, and still had a useful 6Pounder main gun. It could also simply spray the fuel into the target, which generally caused rapid surrender before a second burst lit it.

Pretty good video though you should have included Greek Fire as the true origin...

btw the reason it is legal for civilians to own flame throwers is because they can still be effectively utilized as a tool.

What our (britains) crocodile tank? That was a more armoured version the M4s and incredibly affective against the bunkers during D-Day

The first confirmed use of flamethrowers was the siege of constantinopole in 8th cantury . The byzantines burned down the arab fleets . It was later used in sieges , by units using handheld flamethrower devices , the unit was called syphonares .

I think, maybe I'm wrong, the first flame tank was the Panzer II Flammingo, it was operational since 1940.

M2 fitted with the flamethrower was the first 'flame tank'? British Crocodile was in production from Oct 1943 (A Churchill Mk VII with a detachable fuel trailer)

Woah, I just checked and apparently flamethrowers aren't illegal in Canada! SWEET!

other interesting flamethrower facts: -The WW2 Russian ROKS2 was designed so that the fuel tank resembled an Army backpack and the projector a rifle, so as to minimise identification prior to use. -The defences of the British mainland during WW2 included plans to use flamethrowers en-masse to set invasion beaches ablaze. -Flamethrowers were issued- in the form of the Harvey projector- to British Home guard units due to their ease of manufacture. -The modern Russian arms industry hascreated what is basically a flamethrower shotgun, firing thermobaric cartridges. -Flamethrowers appear to be an effective defence against alien Xenomorphs.

I use my flame thrower for home defense, and of course for hunting. I always go for the head shot while hunting with my flame thrower, because I don't want the animal to suffer needlessly. It's also great for starting up an outdoor barbecue grill.

Flamethrowerd were originally designed for home defense... someone breaks in then you burn your whole house down and there is nothing left for them to steal so they leave.