On Friday, August 10, 2001, at 09:06 AM, Eugene Leitl wrote:
On 10 Aug 2001, Secret Squirrel wrote:
Why not nitroglycerin? The components are very easy to get -- nitric acid and glycerine.
Easy to get? Haven't seen concentrated acids being sold at Walmart so far. Even if, nitrating polyols is nontrivial, especially in large batches, by novices. You'd rather defoliate your garden before.
Hey, is ammonium nitrate fertilizer a watched substance yet?
Has been for years. Most fertilizer sold to the proles at garden supply stores is now stuff like ammonium sulfate. It used to be that all it took to order fuming nitric was a phone call and a credit card number to a chemical supply house. I expect (but don't know) that this is no longer quite so easy to do. Probably more due to the proliferation of meth labs than fears about bomb-making--lots of "precursors" and "ingredients" are now less available. (Turns out my little area of canyons and hills has had three major meth lab busts in the past two years. Those with access to deep newspaper archives online, more than what Google offers, can search on these roads: Eureka Canyon Road, Corralitos Ridge Road, Eno Lane, and Redwood Gulch. Meth labs out the wazoo are tucked-into these hollers. Local cops say that for every one busted, there are likely to be 5 others. Crystal, ice, rock, crank...) --Tim May