The Blaster: anti-carjacking flamethrower

[Jon]

The Blaster was an anti-carjacking flamethrower, invented in South Africa.

In the early '90s, South Africa's capital, Johannesburg, was plagued by urban blight. Thousands of poor people flooded the city, as well as immigrants from war-torn African nations. Buildings were abandoned, and corporations moved their offices out of the city. In 1998, Johannesburg was the murder, assault, rape, and carjacking capital of the world.

Enter Charl Fourie, a South African inventor. Fourie invented a flamethrower that was installed along the sides of a vehicle, under the doors. If a vehicle was carjacked, the driver could activate the flamethrower, shooting 15-foot walls of flame up into the faces of carjackers. This was perfectly legal; South Africa is fairly permissive in the allowed use of lethal force in an act of self-defense, and civilian flamethrower ownership is allowed. Besides, argued Fourie, the Blaster was not designed to kill anyone, just to severely blind them.

Fourie's invention wasn't successful. Though legal, it was prohibitively expensive. Only a few hundred units had been sold, many of which are still installed today. Fourie then switched to marketing a personal flamethrower.