What a Molotov Cocktail Is and Isn't

I've been playing the beta of the new Call of Duty video game, World at War, which comes out next week. It's a video game series that interests my sons and their friends, so we gather around to play. This new game includes Molotov cocktails as a weapon. It also includes Tabun and Mustard Gas, but we can save a discussion about those for another time. I was sort of surprised that many kids think Molotov cocktails are made by stuffing a cloth in a bottle of alcohol, lighting the cloth, and throwing the bottle. Close, but not quite right. Yeah, that will produce an incendiary device, but it's most likely going to set its user on fire. Don't light any container of fuel on fire. Definitely don't throw the container. If you throw an open bottle of water, it sprays everywhere. It doesn't take a big leap of imagination to figure out what happens if the bottle is full of burning fuel. So... after playing the game I decided it might be prudent to post a warning against trying to make anything resembling a Molotov cocktail, plus I think the history of the device is interesting. Molotov cocktails were intended to disable Russian tanks. If it's possible to use one to disable a tank in Call of Duty, I haven't figured out the trick yet. Don't make these devices (if you are actively participating in a revolution or something, don't make them incorrectly)... save Molotov cocktails for history and video games.