Custom Flamethrower
- Customized Exothermic Technologies Pulsefire LRT
- Norse-themed laser cutting & engraving by 2A Tactical LLC
- Full custom Cerakote by Koted Arms
We can’t speak for everyone, but we here at UN12 are for the most part a simple folk. If it produces copious amounts of light, heat, and sound, we’re all about it. That’s why, beyond being firearms enthusiasts, many of us gravitate toward things like automobiles, power tools, machinery and gadgets of all types, especially the object in question if it has a carefully defined, very pointed purpose. If there’s a certain element of danger involved, so much the better.
Of course, that’s only part of the equation. We also like beautiful things. There’s the beauty of engineering, the art of taking inanimate objects and manipulating them into an interdependent ecosystem that produces a singular purpose. But we are also into aesthetics—carefully curated patterns and coloration for an element of customization that makes a device more than just the sum of its parts.
That said, this firearm feature is something completely different from the norm. While it doesn’t propel a hard projectile from a bullet casing, it is in an even more literal sense a “fire-arm,” in that it produces actual flame—a big long stream of it, if the user so desires. It’s what’s known as a Pulsefire LRT, produced by Exothermic Technologies (ET) out of Florida, USA.
According to ET, it runs on gasoline, any octane, or a gas-diesel mix depending on the intended use. It utilizes high-frequency electric arc ignition—available on-demand with the press of a button (or trigger, as it were)—rather than relying on pilot-flame ignition like other flamethrower designs.
The arc comes from a 2,200 mAh three-cell lithium battery (rechargeable and easily replaceable) to ignite the fuel. An external fuel pump secured beneath the thrower’s “barrel” arm can propel the stream of flame up to an advertised 25 feet away, and according to some even farther.
Besides carrying an undeniable cool factor, ET flamethrowers (the Pulsefire is one of two models they sell) have a range of practical uses that the company touts, from lighting outdoor bonfires, to weed, brush, and pest control, to snow and ice removal (“More fun than shoveling,” Exothermic Technologies notes). Such devices may also be used by official fire-control agencies to efficiently ignite backfires and controlled burns.
But why would you, the common man or woman, want one, the ET website posits rhetorically? Because it’s a frickin’ flamethrower. Basically because it lights shit on fire, and does so in spectacular fashion.
This particular flamethrower is owned by Jonathan “JD” DeVries of Koted Arms in Mesa, Arizona, a preeminent Cerakote applicator whose work has been featured many times over in these pages. For the customization, which is far-reaching and has essentially been applied to every surface of the Pulsefire’s metallic body, he teamed up with Steve Gonos at 2A Tactical LLC, a preeminent laser artisan whose etching work has also been featured many times in this space.
“We’ve done a bit of work with the guys from Exothermic, so naturally I had to have one myself,” DeVries says. “I own other flamethrowers, but Exothermic’s design is the best for ease of use and performance. With the spark ignition you don’t need a secondary fuel as an ignition source for the primary tank.”
This Koted Arms/2A Tactical LLC collaboration carries a distinctive Norse theme, which was brainstormed by the two customizers using a common appreciation for Viking culture as an ignition point, if you’ll forgive the pseudo-pun.
“I’ve always been fascinated by Vikings and ancient Norse culture,” DeVries goes on to say. “A people made up of warriors who strive for a good death with sword in hand to enter into Valhalla seems so foreign to the world we currently live in.”
The Pulsefire’s primarily aluminum, reasonably flat, and unadorned metal surfaces made for an amazing canvas for Gonos and 2AT LLC to execute an array of wildly imaginative designs, which use everything from runes and intricate knotwork (to some they may seem to harken to Celtic designs, but ancient Norsemen also used knots in everything from pottery and paintwork to tattoos), to stylized dragon m
otifs and ancient sigils, like the three interlocking triangles on the side of the flamethrower’s main rectangular canister. To avoid any confusion with the logo from another company featured in this issue, the symbol is called Valknut and represents a fallen warrior. (Valknut is actually a more modern word for the symbol itself, which was used since at least the 7th century in ancient Europe and probably much earlier than that.)
The detail on display here is mind-boggling and you could pore over the pictures for hours, only to come back later and still be able to pick out things you missed the first time around. The central motif relief-cut into the Pulsefire’s heat shield is an homage to the mythic Norse warrior Surtr. Not exactly a god but certainly not a man, Surtr is what a Viking would have called a Jötunn, one of a supernatural race of beings imbued with superhuman strength.
According to some accounts he may have even been a sort of dragon-man hybrid, and was to play a central role in Ragnarök, carrying a “bright sword” into battle with which he rained destruction on his enemies.
“The mouth of the flamethrower has teeth similar to the dragonesque features of Surtr,” Gonos says. “Surtr was also the only thing strong enough to bring Ragnarök to Asgard.”
One great detail is a pair of knot-like symbols on either side of the Surtr relief, cut through the heat shield, which were made wide enough to fit a special epoxy resin infused with powder that actually glows red, ember-like, when the flames go out.
Which brings us to the color scheme and application of Cerakote. “I wanted to draw from metallic elements the Vikings would work with, like copper and iron, and I wanted it to have a well-used, gritty feel,” DeVries says. The detailed coloration of individual raised and recessed areas is a testament to the painstaking detail Koted Arms infuses into its work. Filling in the details is what raises a project like this above your more ordinary, run-of-the-mill “custom” treatments. We can’t even imagine the sum of man-hours involved in creating something like this.
As a final touch, JD wrapped the front (top) and rear handles in leather, again drawing from the kinds of materials an Old Norse weaponsmith would have had access to and might have used when crafting a period weapon.
We didn’t get to handle it aside from taking the pics, but reading more about it and seeing a few videos online has piqued our interest to say the least. DeVries gives us a peek as to how the Pulsefire shoots. “It’s a ton of fun,” he says. “You can feel the heat radiating as soon as it ignites. It also creates a mist that covers the ground and the flames seem to dance as they burn from yellow to blue.” He adds: “Everyone should have one.” Images by Jay Canter
Build Sheet
Custom Exothermic Technologies Pulsefire LRT
Specifications
Overall Length: 25.7 in.
Width: 8.5 in.
Height: 10.0 in.
Weight Empty: 6.0 lbs
Fuel Capacity: 0.35 gal
Compatible Fuel: Gasoline, gas-diesel mixture (up to 50%)
Ignition: High-frequency electric spark
Battery: 2,200 mAh 3-cell lithium (rechargeable)
Default Nozzle: 0.72” solid stream
Features
Old Norse laser cutting/engraving by 2A Tactical LLC
Custom Cerakote application by Koted Arms
URL: exothermic.tech
