Some of my Russian varieties have the wispy look, and appear to be frail, but somehow they produced pretty well. I'll look into Indian Stripe as well.
Those dried habaneros just look hot. I have had a taste of those in a buffalo wing challenge once. I was with a friend of mine about 10 years ago at a place called Wing Stop. They had maybe ten or so different types of wings ranging from like a mild teriyaki, and BBQ up to the more spicier versions, of which the worst was an aptly called Atomic. It was doused in habanero sauce. My friend dared me to try a couple, and I said only if he would, too. So, I got a big cup if ice water ready, and went for it. To minimize the burn, I ate them as fast as possible. It was scorching hot, and the sweat was just popping out of my face, but I finished them. I think after about 10 minutes, and maybe 3 big cups of ice water, I could feel my tongue again. But, I won the challenge, albeit it was kind of a hollow victory.
You mentioned gloves, last year we made about 10 pints of salsa, and needed to cut up about a dozen jalapeƱo's. My wife volunteered to do it, and tried to cut them up in the kitchen. Well, the fumes were overwhelming, so she took them outside to do the job. After about 15 minutes, she came back in, after she'd finished the job. She set the bowl down on the counter, and sat down for a spell. Shortly after that, she said, "man, my hands are really itching", followed by " oh my, now they're on fire!". I said, "why would they be burning? Didn't you wear any gloves?". Says she, "Well, no, I just cut a few up, I didn't think I'd need them!". She was in agony, and all I could tell her was to wrap her hands in a cool washrag overnight. It took a full day for her to get over that. Lesson learned the hard way for Mrs Dood.
Oh, BTW, today we made about 13 qts of salsa, with about 20 jalapeƱo's. She let me cut them up outside this time, and I used double stacked latex gloves.
