At 06:06 PM 8/10/01 +0200, 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.

34% HCl sold by the gallon H2SO4 in plumbum batteries nitrate salts in the gardening area polyols in antifreeze, in the automotive section pyrex, heatplate, etc. in cookwares :-)

Hey, is ammonium nitrate fertilizer a watched substance yet?

Yes, in prilled form. Wonder if its still used in those sports-injury instant-cold bags that I used to recrystallize it from in my youth... ........ Fuel-Air Munitions for Gophers http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAW894O4QC.html FARM SCENE: California Farmers Use Low-Tech Weaponry to Blast Furry Pests From Burrows - from Tampa Bay Online FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Stalking the elusive pocket gopher and the brazen ground squirrel, farmer Mike Lagaluso is armed with the latest low-tech weaponry to blast the varmints from their underground lairs. In a scene being repeated in orchards and vineyards up and down the Central Valley, Lagaluso inserts an end of the Rodex 4000 into a hole in the ground, injects a combination of oxygen and propane, hits a switch and watches as the resulting explosion collapses a burrow several feet long. "This has just been a never-ending battle. Now, hopefully, within a year we can get the population down to a manageable level and reduce our labor costs for controlling these pests," said Lagaluso, who's using it on apple and peach orchards in San Luis Obispo County. Despite concerns about the product's effectiveness and safety - mostly voiced by university researchers - several farmers said they've had unparalleled success with the Rodex 4000. They like its portability - the oxygen and propane tanks can fit on the back of a small all-terrain vehicle - and its pyrotechnics, though the explosions are mostly concussive. To people who might think the Rodex 4000 is inhumane, its boosters say it's better than pesticides that can take longer to kill an animal. There's also minimal risk that farmers will blow up dogs, coyotes or birds, which all could be harmed by eating pests that have been poisoned. At about $1,400, the Rodex 4000 is a serious product that doesn't come in a big cartoon box stamped Acme on the side. And in an era of increasingly complex environmental regulations and mounting pressure from suburbanites to limit pesticide use near homes and schools, farmers are constantly on the lookout for alternative pest control methods, said Darren Schmall, who uses the product in his agricultural pest management business. "It sounds like just such a big boy's toy until you go out and see how the thing works," Schmall said. The Rodex 4000 doesn't blow gophers from their burrows or set them on fire. Its primary gas is oxygen, which is ignited by the propane and expands rapidly into 30 feet to 50 feet of tunnel. The critters inside are subjected to a massive concussive pressure that produces a deadly hemorrhage at the base of their brains. The gases also get into the creatures' lungs and when the oxygen expands, the lungs essentially explode, said Ed Meyer, vice president of sales for Midvale, Idaho-based Rodex Industries Inc. Still, researchers at the University of California and the Montana Department of Agriculture give the device mixed reviews. Montana officials found the device killed only about 30 percent to 40 percent of targeted ground squirrels and about 30 percent of the prairie dogs, said Monty Sullins, a vertebrate pest specialist. "They're very reproductive," Sullins said of the animals. "Unless you're getting 85 percent to 90 percent ... you're looking at repeat use. We just didn't have the numbers there to really recommend it as a major control tool." But farmers who are happy with it don't seem to mind going over the same ground a few times. Schmall said he gets a 95 percent kill ratio by making a second visit to the same place within a week. Farmers are eager to use anything that gives them an edge in the perennial battle against burrowing rodents, which destroy berms and irrigation systems and eat the roots of young plants. Desley Whisson, a vertebrate pests specialist with the University of California at Davis, studied a device similar to the Rodex several years ago. She worries about the fire risk when the Rodex 4000 is used in dry fields or orchards. Company officials concede the fire risk, but said if farmers use common sense and take precautions, wildfires won't be a problem. As for the risk to life and limb, Schmall said, "We've blasted easily 10,000 holes and I have yet to hand out even a Band-Aid to any of my guys."