Who Am I?

At 15 I learned how to make a 10 foot fire bomb out of a Mickey’s bottle and some gasoline, we called it a “Mickey Bomb”.

At 16 I made a classic “potato gun” that my friends and I would take out to the desert for some target practice with our can of starter fluid and bag of potatoes.

At 17 I learned how to make a bottle rocket using the powder from a piccolo pete with a plastic bag and a gatorade bottle to make a huge “boom” loud enough to set off car alarms.

And when I was 18 years old in 2007 I created my very first homemade flamethrower out of an old squirt gun filled with gasoline and a blow torch strapped to it. To my surprise, it worked amazingly! I was launching massive flames into the night sky as my friends all watched. Unfortunately the fun didn’t last long. Within about an hour my homemade flamethrower started to break. The rubber seals failed and gasoline was leaking out of the gun, all over my hands and the ground. I knew I needed to figure out how to make a flamethrower that would last and could be used over and over again. So I did. I spent the next several weekends in my garage, designing, building and testing my first flamethrower.

Just a few months after building my first flamethrower, my life changed in a way I never expected.

I was living a life just like any young adult who just started college would have enjoyed. I was living at home, worked a great job, had all my friends around me enjoying days and nights together partying, going on camping trips, throwing pool parties and anything else we could enjoy!

However in January of 2008, a pain and tenderness that had been lingering and surfacing at various intervals for several months in one of my testicles finally led me to visit the doctor who would prescribe a series of tests to monitor this symptom over the next 30 days. I sat in the doctor’s office about 30 days later waiting to hear the results of these tests and what they might reveal. The doctor walked into the room where my father and I sat waiting, he shook our hands, sat down and opened his folder.

“Rob”, he said to me, “there is a tumor growing on one of your testicles, we don’t know if it’s cancerous or benign but the only way to find out and not risk spreading the tumor is by operating and removing your entire testicle which we’ll do a biopsy on to determine the nature of the tumor.”

What??? I thought to my self, how could that be the only way? And what if it isn’t cancer? Either way I’ll be left with only one testicle, that doesn’t sound like a very good deal to me. But I knew that cancer ran in my family and it wasn’t worth the risk to leave this unknown. I went forward with the surgery just a couple weeks later, eagerly anticipating the results.

Days later the doctor called us, “You need to come into the office so we can discuss your biopsy results.”

My father and I visited my doctor prepared for the big reveal.

“You have cancer,” the doctor told us.

The words were like knives being jabbed into the pit of my stomach. How could this happen to me? I’m barely 19 years old, active, healthy (so I thought), it’s not fair!

“So what now doctor?” I asked.

He referred me to a specialist in cancer treatment where I began my regiment of chemotherapy which was to last 9 weeks. I wasn’t spared any of the side effects. I became very sick, vomiting at times, lost my energy, all the hair on all my body…it was very difficult, and I hated it. But as treatment went on, I realized that I needed stay positive. They say that with illness, your mental attitude is half the battle to become well. I decided that I wouldn’t let my current situation become my identity and I was determined to somehow use my experience as a way to benefit others. I kept my head up and was thankful that I was fortunate enough to be receiving the treatment that would allow my body to heal.

I’m thankful that I get to continue my life cancer free!

I realize how fortunate I was to have access to the doctors and treatment that saved my life. The cost of health insurance and medical care is on the rise in US and it’s important to me to support organizations that help others receive the life saving medical treatment that they or their families may not be able to financially afford.

When it was all said and done, the cost of my treatment was staggering. I only received 1 surgery and 9 weeks of chemotherapy, which in world of cancer treatment, is a relatively small amount of treatment. I’ve known others to have multiple surgeries and chemotherapy or radiation therapy treatment that lasted for years. My treatment still cost over $100,000. Thankfully I had adequate health insurance which covered the large majority of that cost. I can only imagine how such an expense would be financially devastating to most families who may not have health insurance or enough health insurance coverage.

Each donation, big or small, makes a difference in battling the deadly spread of cancer. Enjoy your flamethrower even more knowing that your pyro hobby is helping make a difference in the lives of families affected by cancer around the world.

Thank you for taking the time read my story and for your support.

Keep Calm and Flame On!

• Launch up to a 45 foot flame!
• 60 second continuous burn!
• Buy everything you need online with my tools and parts shopping list (included in ebook)!
• Mobile flamethrowing with backpack mounted flamethrower!
• Safe to use and LEGAL in most US States!
• Build yours for about $450, significantly less than nearly $1,200 for the XM42 and $1,600 for the X15 flamethrower for sale!