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MRE Bombs/Draino Bombs/Ignorant Police and Courts

idsman75idsman75 Member Posts: 13,398 ✭✭✭
edited February 2004 in General Discussion
I've run across two gentlemen over the course of the last year who have been charged with "Reckless use of Fire" because they made an MRE Bomb (similar to a Draino Bomb) and set it off in a field or other place where no people were around to be alarmed.

For those that don't know, an MRE Bomb or Draino Bomb merely causes the rapid expansion of gasses inside of an enclosed container. A Gatorade bottle works well since no glass shrapnel will be thrown. The gasses escape from the liquid/chemical reaction inside of the container and cause the container to pop usually causing a very loud noise that is about as loud as an M-80. There is no fire or incindiary materials involved. It's similar to blowing up a balloon with too much air until it pops except you aren't providing the source of expanding gasses.

Is this pure ignorance on behalf of police and courts or is a kid not allowed to be a kid anymore? I guess I'm nostalgic for the days where a boy could be a boy and do boy things without being arrested and charged with something in a court of law. Remember when you could bring a gun to school and have it stored there so that you could go hunting when the school day was over? Heck, a friend of mine missed the bus and drove a John Deere lawnmower down country roads to school one day. I suppose that would be illegal today too.
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Comments

  • daddodaddo Member Posts: 3,408
    edited November -1
    Would have to look up the definition of illegal explosive device. A heated spray can will explode in a fire-whats the diff.?
  • SilentKnightSilentKnight Member Posts: 2,607 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Ya, the USA is becoming a sissyfied country. Just look at california.
    Luckily it hasnt reached Texas yet. Most people here just say boys will be boys.

    Some of my friends and I got caught chalking and rolling another friends house and a police officer pulled up and had a talk with us and we explained that we were getting a friend, and he just laughed told us to have a fun safe and fun night and some other stuff and left.[:)]
  • BullzeyeBullzeye Member Posts: 3,560
    edited November -1
    Never made an MRE bomb. Made a few pepper gas bombs from MRE heaters and Tabasco though. Aerosolized Tabasco hurts like hell [:D]

    Guess that makes me guilty of Chemical Warfare then, eh?


    "If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate for an outright ban, picking up all of them, "Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them all in," I would have." -Sen. Dianne Feinstein

    feinstein2.bmp
  • idsman75idsman75 Member Posts: 13,398 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Daddo--the difference is that a hairspray can contains flammable liquids actually posing a danger to bystanders or the individual in question. An "MRE BOMB" contains to explosive or flammable/incidiary materials. No fire is involved yet they come up with "Reckless Use of Fire" as a charge?
  • FrogdogFrogdog Member Posts: 2,908 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    idsman, you're right. Things are getting out of control VERY fast in this country. I have only been out of high school for 8 years. Back then we all brought rifles for hunting (kept them in our trucks), practically everyone had knives, and we set off drano bombs all the time (sometimes after practice on the football field). No one ever got in trouble and there was never a problem. Where I live now some kids did a drano bomb this past year and were going to be charged with felony explosives charges. The news went on and on about how deadly the chemicals could have been (even though they didn't do it near anyone). I don't know what ever came of it. Sad.

    By the way, dry ice works great too and you don't have to mess with the foil balls.
  • Red223Red223 Member Posts: 7,946
    edited November -1
    I set a few off in California when we were on State property and the State Game folk came upon us very quickly and frowned upon the activity.

    After looking up State law I found out a non-combustible device is legal for military members to use on State property.

    You can not by found guilty of setting of an MRE bomb and possibly starting a fire, as it is a non-combustible explosive device which is just a rapid creation of gas contained thru a device that ruptures at a certain pressure point thus creating a bang or pop sound.

    Check State Laws.

    kabalogoshadowed.gif
  • pickenuppickenup Member Posts: 22,844 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    This is not the same world I grew up in. [:(]

    The gene pool needs chlorine.
  • mateomasfeomateomasfeo Member Posts: 27,143
    edited November -1
    I sure am glad I'm gettin' old. I feel sorry for the kids.


    oswald.jpg

    Mateomasfeo

    "I am what I am!" - Popeye
  • 4GodandCountry4GodandCountry Member Posts: 3,968
    edited November -1
    We used to make drano bombs and carbide bombs, they made pretty decent fishing lures.[:D] I suppose that it would be frouned upon today. I bet that if we were being raised today and did the kinds of things we did as kids, most of us would be considered evil do'ers and bad kids and our parents would be labeled as evil child beaters who diciplined their kids. Of course there were a few pansy types back when we were kids too but there were fewer limp wristed hand wringers running things.

    "Neca eos omnes. Deus suos agnoscet."
  • HAIRYHAIRY Member Posts: 23,606
    edited November -1
    Isn't the current societal and educational thrust to "quiet down" the boys and make them more subservient to authority?

    The biggest issue I see is giving kids medication for ADD--the teacher is boring and the kid is fidgeting--give'm a pill?

    If I remember correctly, boys were a handful compared to girls; the difference is no longer valued by society. [:(]



    There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.
    Hypocrisy is the homage paid by vice to virtue.
    Don't assume malice for what stupidity can explain.
  • gogolengogolen Member Posts: 1,619 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    We used to do the same thing only with dry ice it made for a pretty entertaining afternoon.
  • TOOLS1TOOLS1 Member Posts: 6,133
    edited November -1
    How do you make these Drano and MRE bombs? I never heard of them. When I was a kid we had Gun Powder[;)][:D][:D]
    TOOLS

    General TOOLS RRG

    Don't go blaming the beer. Hank Hill

    So much Ice, So much Beer. So little time. Shooter4

    I don't have an anger problem. I have an idiot problem. Hank Hill

    When I was a child, I thought as a child. But now that I am grown, I just wish I could act like a child and get away with it.
  • ItGoBangItGoBang Member Posts: 1,529 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Hey Guys...... I dont think we want to give too much info about how to make things. Nuts and kids read GB....

    THANKS [:)]

    It will hurt you, More than it will hurt me..

    Life Member..NRA,
    American Legion, MECU, MWCA, SMSC, NASDS, IDPA
    Thanks for all the help!

    IN GOD WE TRUST! *And don't use Pay Pal!
  • headzilla97headzilla97 Member Posts: 6,445
    edited November -1
    8 OF MY FRIENDS HAVE FELONIES BECAUSE OF THESE BOMBS NOT KOOL

    We're men. Its our God given right to watch sports and smut" - Al Bundy
  • idsman75idsman75 Member Posts: 13,398 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    FYI--These are not "Bombs" There are no incendiary/explosive materials involved. It merely involves the expansion of air inside of a plastic container until it pops like a balloon would under similar conditions. An MRE "Bomb" is just a little louder.

    Don't sweat the kids. They already know how. If they really want to know how, there are plenty of other more informative websites to visit.
  • fishermanbenfishermanben Member Posts: 15,370
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by headzilla97
    8 OF MY FRIENDS HAVE FELONIES BECAUSE OF THESE BOMBS NOT KOOL

    We're men. Its our God given right to watch sports and smut" - Al Bundy

    Well tell your boys to quit blowing up mail boxes.[;)]
  • ItGoBangItGoBang Member Posts: 1,529 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Dont make a bit of difference how EZ it is to find "HOW TO" on the net.. Why would we want to even give a hint how to make something that will hurt someone??? [:(!]

    It will hurt you, More than it will hurt me..

    Life Member..NRA,
    American Legion, MECU, MWCA, SMSC, NASDS, IDPA
    Thanks for all the help!

    IN GOD WE TRUST! *And don't use Pay Pal!
  • robomanroboman Member Posts: 6,436
    edited November -1
    Hmmm, my high school years were still fun. Heck, my friends and I made our own little "toys" (if you will) all through my junior and senior years. Fill some copper tubing with gunpowder, press the end shut, add a fuse, and you have one heck of an M-80. We even got 'em to go off underwater with waterproof fuse, now THAT was fun to see! [:D]

    signew.JPG

    "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long..."
  • SilentKnightSilentKnight Member Posts: 2,607 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    get a coke bottle, fill it maybe 3/4 of the way with water, add an MRE heater. Your done.[:)] Stay safe.
  • chunkstylechunkstyle Member Posts: 2,463 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Just dry ice in a coke bottle makes a nice bang.

    "Go to Lakedaemon, stranger passing by;
    And say there, that in obedience to her law, here we lie"
  • allen griggsallen griggs Member Posts: 35,502 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    We used the same principle of the Drano bomb, I guess, to make hydrogen balloons.
    We put Red Devil lye in a big coke bottle. We put aluminum foil in there with water. We fitted a big balloon to the top of the bottle.
    As the hydrogen was produced the balloon filled up.
    Tie the thing off, and it will float out of sight.

    As a ten year old student of history I realized that the Hindenburg was full of hydrogen and it blew up.
    I tied three balloons together and made a little gondola of aluminum foil, suspended with sewing thread from the balloons.
    I got a cigarette for a fuse and put a little firecracker on the fuse in the gondola.
    That thing was a thousand feet high and a mile away when it blew. Big puff of smoke, then ten seconds later you heard the explosion.

    I guess, today, I would be the only ten year old detainee at Guantanamo.
  • idsman75idsman75 Member Posts: 13,398 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    allen_griggs--my friends and I would do the same thing with the hydrogen balloons. It made a nice big bright flash of light at night.

    We also managed to find a way to mix this and that and make our own bottle rockets. They were very primitive but we managed to make a few that took off flying and even gave a report.

    ItGoBang--You CAN'T hurt yourself with an MRE bomb if you use a plastic bottle. Virtually impossible.
  • SilentKnightSilentKnight Member Posts: 2,607 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    What is "Red Devil lye"?
  • allen griggsallen griggs Member Posts: 35,502 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Red Devil is a type of lye that is sold in the South. It is in the dish soap section at all the grocery stores. Used for cleaning drains I guess, all I ever have bought it for is hydrogen balloon making.
  • ItGoBangItGoBang Member Posts: 1,529 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I thought that most of you on GB were smart, BOY, was I wrong![:(!]

    It will hurt you, More than it will hurt me..

    Life Member..NRA,
    American Legion, MECU, MWCA, SMSC, NASDS, IDPA
    Thanks for all the help!

    IN GOD WE TRUST! *And don't use Pay Pal!
  • ItGoBangItGoBang Member Posts: 1,529 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    For a few of you that can't remember this...... Nunn stopped this type of stuff before.. This was a few of us, saying thanks to Dave.

    http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=63015

    I hope he will do it again, before someone gets hurt![:(!][:(!]

    It will hurt you, More than it will hurt me..

    Life Member..NRA,
    American Legion, MECU, MWCA, SMSC, NASDS, IDPA
    Thanks for all the help!

    IN GOD WE TRUST! *And don't use Pay Pal!
  • SilentKnightSilentKnight Member Posts: 2,607 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:I thought that most of you on GB were smart, BOY, was I wrong!

    Oooo Please! Most of this stuff is just loud noise makers. We did that hydrogen balloon thing in science class.
  • allen griggsallen griggs Member Posts: 35,502 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Itgobang--We made hydrogen balloons all the time as kids. I don't see anything wrong with talking about it.
  • FrogdogFrogdog Member Posts: 2,908 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Most of this stuff is pretty tame -- just loud noise makers. With kids there's always a danger if they are messing with drano or Lye, or any other chemicals; So for any non-adults reading this, please just don't go and blow yourself (or your friends) up.

    Now Roboman did get into pipe bombs a litte. I don't think kids should be messing around with that sort of thing at all without supervision. I had a good friend in school that was making pipe bombs with a friend and one went off -- killed his friend and he lost an arm and almost bled to death. We were only about 12. They're just too dangerous for kids. Once you're an adult if you want to blow yourself up that's your business.
  • SilentKnightSilentKnight Member Posts: 2,607 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Heres how you make a nuclear bomb.

    1. Get a hold of some uranium 235(radioactive type) not 238.

    2. Surround the uranium 235 with VERY HIGH exposives(enough to cause fusion)

    3. Stand back about 100 miles, and detonate. If you made it right you should see something like this. But be careful, you could lose an eye making this bomb.

    Nuclear_Mururoa.jpg
  • HappyNanoqHappyNanoq Member Posts: 12,023
    edited November -1
    SilentKnight:
    Is that bits and pieces of a mailbox I see in the upper left corner??
    Who'd you go tease now.??!!??

    polarbear.gif
    Don't do anything that I've allready done - That'd be just plain STOOOOOOPID.
  • SilentKnightSilentKnight Member Posts: 2,607 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:SilentKnight:
    Is that bits and pieces of a mailbox I see in the upper left corner??
    Who'd you go tease now.??!!??


    Mailbox......what??? What does that mean?
  • headzilla97headzilla97 Member Posts: 6,445
    edited November -1
    hahhaa

    We're men. Its our God given right to watch sports and smut" - Al Bundy
  • ItGoBangItGoBang Member Posts: 1,529 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    SilentKnight......... Good one! [:D]


    It will hurt you, More than it will hurt me..

    Life Member..NRA,
    American Legion, MECU, MWCA, SMSC, NASDS, IDPA
    Thanks for all the help!

    IN GOD WE TRUST! *And don't use Pay Pal!
  • idsman75idsman75 Member Posts: 13,398 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:For a few of you that can't remember this...... Nunn stopped this type of stuff before.. This was a few of us, saying thanks to Dave.

    First off, an MRE "bomb" isn't an explosive nor does it produce fire or anything that could cause harm to bystanders. It's merely a noisemaker--like party poppers or "snaps" or caps for cap guns which you can purchase legally in most states (even in most states where fireworks are illegal). Your comment is rooted in the same knowledge base as the police and courts that I mentioned in the initial post.

    P.S. I remember it well.
  • ItGoBangItGoBang Member Posts: 1,529 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Why dont you tell how the KIDS can make 10/22's FULL AUTO?? Or how to hotwire cars??? Better yet.. lets tell them it's ok to take dads gun and go play!

    Sounds dumb?? It sure does! Just like the rest of your HINTS![:(!]

    It will hurt you, More than it will hurt me..

    Life Member..NRA,
    American Legion, MECU, MWCA, SMSC, NASDS, IDPA
    Thanks for all the help!

    IN GOD WE TRUST! *And don't use Pay Pal!
  • idsman75idsman75 Member Posts: 13,398 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Why dont you tell how the KIDS can make 10/22's FULL AUTO?? Or how to hotwire cars??? Better yet.. lets tell them it's ok to take dads gun and go play!

    Making an MRE "bomb" isn't illegal--just misinterpreted by cops and judges. Nobody is encouraging kids to do something dangerous. Making a non-threatening noise-maker ("bomb" is a misnomer) is not dangerous. It's about as dangerous as the sparks set off by a cap gun. I suppose your mother never let you play with those as a kid either.
  • ItGoBangItGoBang Member Posts: 1,529 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The post I was talking about is GONE! Maybe he got some smarts and took it off? or NUNN took it off...... anyway, you did not say a word about it, you just want on and on about fricken "POP" bomb, and the courts and the police........

    It will hurt you, More than it will hurt me..

    Life Member..NRA,
    American Legion, MECU, MWCA, SMSC, NASDS, IDPA
    Thanks for all the help!

    IN GOD WE TRUST! *And don't use Pay Pal!
  • idsman75idsman75 Member Posts: 13,398 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Yep. That's right. I do want to go on about it. Ever try to tell a kid that he can't get the MOS he wants in the Army because it requires a TOP SECRET clearance and a simple charge like the one that I described will keep him from doing so? I just love the way that the courts (both adult and juvenile) act with so little discretion when charging a juvenile with a crime when there is no burden of proof that the crime was ever committed. They somehow feel justified in doing so because they feel justified in playing the parent role as a representative of government. They sleep at night because they can tell the kid that their record will be "sealed" or "expunged" when they turn 18. That is a lie. A typical National Agency Check completed prior to entry into Basic Training will reveal all of those allegedly "expunged" records that should have never existed in the first place. I see young men and women screwed by state and local governments regularly. There seems to be no requirement of proof when it comes to charging a juvenile.
  • ItGoBangItGoBang Member Posts: 1,529 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    [:(]

    It will hurt you, More than it will hurt me..

    Life Member..NRA,
    American Legion, MECU, MWCA, SMSC, NASDS, IDPA
    Thanks for all the help!

    IN GOD WE TRUST! *And don't use Pay Pal!
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