From: ahahma@kontu.utu.fi
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: K-mart bombs
Message-ID: <1991Apr15.220722.38162@kontu.utu.fi>
Date: 15 Apr 91 22:07:21 GMT

In article <1991Apr13.062856.5994@ariel.unm.edu>, ee5391aa@triton.unm.edu (Duke McMullan n5gax) writes:

> Yeah, the Anarchist's Cookbook (by William Powell, copyright 1971 by Lyle
> Stuart, Inc.)  should be read with the proverbial jaundiced eye.  It has four
> chapters:  1) Drugs; 2) Electronics, Sabotage, and Surveillance; 3) Natural,
> Nonleathal, and Lethal Weapons; and 4) Explosives and Booby Traps.

Beware of rubbish like this! This book is likely to cause more damage
to its user than to the neighbourhood - perhaps this is the purpose.
For example, there are recipes like: "soak a telephone
catalog with nitric acid and stick a cap into it. If red fumes evolve,
run for your life". I guess the book is written to eliminate any
potential mad bombers and anarchists B-).

For accurate knowledge, choose a book written by a chemist. The Davis'
"Chemistry of Powder and Explosives" and T. Urbanski's "
Chemistry and Technology of Explosives" are full of detailed
information, including industrial and laboratory syntheses, how to
make it step by step.

> My advice?  Take everything he writes with about 10 g of salt.

A sign in a laboratory, where high explosives are being handled:

0,001 grams will make a crack
0,01  grams will make a bang
0,1   grams will make a loud bang
1     grams will destroy your eyes
10 grams will destroy your eyes and ears
100 grams will kill you.

So, compared to this scale, testing with 10 grams is not very good idea.
It is different, if you have a working mixture, that you know, how it behaves.
Then, there is not likely to be an accidental explosion too near to your
bodily parts.

                              R'
                                \
                                 /======\
                               /          \        O
                             /     ArNO     \    //
                             \\        2    //--N+
                              \\          //     \
                                \\------//         O-
                               /
                             R

From: chem2149@waikato.ac.nz
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: Real throwdowns - Be careful!
Message-ID: <1992Jul31.142624.9771@waikato.ac.nz>
Date: 31 Jul 92 02:26:24 GMT

<From: cpbeaure@napier.uwaterloo.ca (Chris Beauregard)
<No shit?  It's only .5g of HMTD.  Shouldn't do much to your hand...

<From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
<Hm - that is 500 mg of a primary explosive - which is far more powerful
<than flash powder. How much flash powder goes in a standard firecracker -
<50 mg?  I am not too sure that I would want such a quantity to explode
<in my hands. I don't think that it do much harm - however, I know of no
<quantitative studies where this has been tested. Remember that the old
<fulminate blasting caps often contained less than 5 grams of explosive.

<Now, if it were .5 grains of explosive, then I would not be nearly as
<concerned.

<Are you speaking from experience, Chris? If so, then it is a nice bit of
<knowledge to have. Otherwise, hopefully there are one or two others out
<there who have experienced such an explosion without harm. Arno, Petri?

I have not bothered with this group for awhile now due to the lack
of interesting articles.
Making throw downs with 0.5 grams of primary explosive is bloody stupid
and shows the mentality of many who post here.

Then two people who should know a little better come up with some
***** stupid comments.

Firstly, Chris, I hope was being sarcastic(sp?) in a big way. The comment
could have been taken both ways to those who know nothing about explosives.
Then Bill, who posts so often on these subjects stuffs things right up.
Bill, if you did have any experience with explosives let me know, you
sure dont show it in your posting.

From my experience with explosives, O.5 grams of primary explosive will
definitely blow a finger or two completly off.
It will leave such a mess that the surgen will have to remove more just
to get to some part he can work with.
If you are holing it in the plam of your hand and the unexpected occured
(a sharp crack) dont expect to have full use of your hand, ever.
Primary explosives have an extremely localised effect when no shrapnel
is involved. They will blow a nasty hole only where close contact is made.
The problem is that anything that is in contact will produce shrapnel
and increase the damage.

0.001 of a gram of primary explosive (eg Pb(N3)2) will rip a small hole
in your skin and will take several weeks to heal. I will do some
experiments on cardboard to find the minimum amount needed that will not
cause a hole, if people are interested.

A funny story about throw downs.(only funny afterwards when the person
was OK)

My friend had some old throw downs from China, they where a chlorate/P
formulation. Any way, they where brightly coloured spheres and looked
just like sweets. His flatmate (19 years old) picked one off the bench
and stuck it in his mouth. One bite, "BANG" and his mouth opened wide.
A puff of smoke and sand came flying out along with bits of the casing.
We quickly saw he was OK, and he spat out the rest of the sand.
We all started laughing, we laughed so much that it hurt.

They are banned due to the fact they look like sweets and even kids
have had the same thing happen to them.



Dr Martin L. Van Tiel     Ph.D. Chem