From: ahahma@polaris.utu.fi (Arno Hahma)
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: Stink bombs
Message-ID: <1990Oct25.075549.24753@polaris.utu.fi>
Date: 25 Oct 90 07:55:49 GMT

In article <1990Oct24.044620.4053@hayes.ims.alaska.edu> fskjk1@acad3.fai.alaska.edu writes:
>
>	If anyone knows of any non-poisonous (or not too toxic) formulae for
>stink bombs, I would greatly appreciate knowing them.....  I know this part
>doesn't fit into Pyrotech. but if they were non-combustible it might be a
> benefit.  It would also be helpful if they were easy to assemble.

I used isopropyl and/or isoamyl mercaptans. Isopropyl mercaptan smells exactly
like a leaking bottle of liquid gas (butane). I guess it is added to butane
to make it smell. A droplet of it, and everybody are looking for a gas leak.
This smell disappears in an hour or a few hours.

Isoamyl mercaptan is still nastier, even minor amounts smell for days, and the
smell is quite terrible. If you like to contaminate something for a really
long time, use thiophenol. It smells like burnt rubber. If you get it onto
your hands, it takes about a week to evaporate. It is no use washing the hands,
the smell is still there.

I used these in sealed glass vials, that I made out of glass tube. A friend of
mine told, they could be smelled about 300 meters downwind during a storm,
when broken. One ampoule contained about 0,2 milliliters. Just imagine the
effect indoors! The ampoules are really handy, you can for example mine a chair
or a door with them. Place one under the chair and when somebody sits on it...

If you like "natural" odors, choose butyric acid or even better, skatole. A
small crystal of skatole forgotten on a hotplate or any other heating device
is funny. It doesn't smell, until the device is connected and heats up.
And the smell? Just like cows...

ArNO
    2

From: ahahma@polaris.utu.fi (Arno Hahma)
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: Tear gas
Keywords: Tear gas
Message-ID: <1990Oct31.172636.12173@polaris.utu.fi>
Date: 31 Oct 90 17:26:36 GMT

In article <todd.657344503@csrnxt1.ae.utexas.edu> todd@csrnxt1.ae.utexas.edu (Todd W. Thompson) writes:
>I've heard someone comment that burning black pepper will form a mild form of
>tear gas, how does one go about making a more potent form? Thanks,
>                                     Todd
Why not try CN or CS, both of them are very easy to synthetize - I have
made both. They are really potent, you need only vaporize a smallest crystal,
a fraction of a milligram, and the effect will be strong and nasty.
CN would perhaps be better, since it vaporizes at room temperatute (slowly)
and thus does not contaminate anything for a long time. I wouldn't say the same
about CS...

ArNO
    2