From: gherbert@crl3.crl.com (George Herbert)
Newsgroups: alt.engr.explosives
Subject: Re: Explosion
Date: 29 Jul 1999 19:18:29 -0700

PManX82 <pmanx82@hotmail.com> wrote:
>This story is BS, by the pipebomb just going off!  I mean unless they were
>making something other than black powder.  This just goes to show how the
>liberals have to twist the story.  First of all BP just is to stable to "go
>off," second they, knowing they were teenagers, were probally holding a
>lighter or some sort of ignition device twoards the bomb and making
>eachother flinch.  The subject wasn't dangerous, the subjecties were
>foolish. [...]

I'd like you to do an experiment.

Take a threaded piece of pipe, and threaded cap.  Put thick gloves on.
Sprinkle *A FEW GRAINS AND NO MORE* of black powder on the threads of
either the pipe threads or cap threads.  Close and remove BP container.
Screw the cap on.  Repeat until you ignite the BP during the cap
threading exercise.

I usually get it going off in 1 or 2 or 3 tries.  This is why people
who make pipe bombs out of metal pipe are idiots.  The act of closing
the container brings with it a significant risk of ignition unless you
have *perfectly* cleaned the threads of any spilled powder.

Metal pipe BP bombs sealed in other manners are still overly dangerous
because of the fragmentation problem.  There is a reason that firecrackers
and fireworks and hobbyist sized model rocket engines are all wrapped in
paper/cardboard; it doesn't produce dangerous fragments.


-george william herbert
gherbert@crl.com

From: glhurst@onr.com (Gerald L. Hurst)
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: blowing stumps
Date: 21 Mar 1996 05:25:41 GMT

In article <trimmDoL59B.896@netcom.com>, trimm@netcom.com (Gary M.
Watson) says:

>In article <4ipn6e$c8h@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu> glhurst@onr.com (Gerald L.
>Hurst) writes:
>
>>If we felt good about instructing the readership in the fine art
>>of mome-made bomb making, there would be instructions for pipe
>>bombs in the rec.pyro FAQ.
>
>Jerry, I have a couple of questions you might care to comment on.
>
>1) Are there really people who want to make a pipe bomb who couldn't
>do it given access to a can of gunpowder?  Seriously.  It seems like
>*I* personally have always known how, but then I've always been a
>psychopath.  Are there people to which the very name "pipe bomb"
>doesn't basically tell them how to make one?  I was wondering about
>this last night.

If you read this forum or the newspaper the answer is obvious.
The police find dud pipe bombs all over the place and supposedly
experienced terrorists blow themselves up on the way to work
with great frequency. There are people in this forum who can't
find a source of iron rust. 

Lots of people who think they know how would goof up on the
fuze (or fuse) or make a device that opened like a pair of tight 
pants after a big meal. I've worked on military "pipe bombs"
and studied the killing efficiency. It's like any other class of
lethal device - some are deadlier than others.

People who make home-made pipe bombs are not always the brightest 
lads around. It is even more likely that they do little thinking 
for themselves. A set of instructions in words of two syllables or 
less is not only a "recipe" but an inducement to a new activity for
those who might better waste their time painting grafitti.

[Rhetoric snipped]

Jerry (Ico)