@O.W. von Diez was able to tell us quite some time ago that a homemade torch - this was in the same context, with me deriding "tiki torch nationalism" and asking him, because he seemed like a man who would know (and he did) how the SA's torches were made - is in all likelihood going to find you having an unnecessary conversation with VA police (at best) regarding their laws prohibiting "uncontrolled flames". You want something that is contained, having a wick or the like.
I'm cutting my metal torch down with my Dremel, and finding a suitable material to wrap/beef up the handle, which is definitely a fair bit thinner than the "bamboo" ones. I just really don't like the Polynesian aesthetic.
