[Kevin Sevcik]

Butane powered soldering irons are also good. They usually have a hot knife bit and a hot air bit that gets melting things hot. They get around the open flame rule since they're run off a catalyst once they heat up.

As for the rule itself, I don't think there's any other power tool a team could currently use that could actually being down an entire event. Not without serious misuse. A propane torch pointed the wrong way could quickly shut the entire event down.