That's how my dad taught me to patch tubes, in the '60s. They used a specially-made small C-clamp that held the whole contraption tightly against the tube, then you lit it with a match. Super smelly, definitely outdoors only. I doubt they were intended for bicycle tubes, but that's what we used 'em for. I think I still have the little C-clamp around here somewhere, lot of good it does me without the patches...