On Wed, 22 May 2013 08:50:04 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Wed, 22 May 2013 09:51:53 -0500, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:

Larry Jaques fired this volley in
m:

"I think I'll light my high-explosive plastique on fire." is not a
sane concept, sir. Even a super-small test piece would have blown his
hands clean off if he guessed wrong about it not exploding. shrug
I mean, you wouldn't just shave a slice off your stick of dynamite to
start a fire, would you? And it's less explosive.

Horse crap and bull dingles, Larry.
C-4 is mostly RDX, waxes, oils, and dioctyl adapate. RDX, like HMX, burns
quietly unless shocked by an initiator. C-4 burns like a fast version of
sterno, with a perfectly quiet blue flame (tiniest bit of sizzle), no
soot, and no explosions.

To my knowlege, the US military does not employ any HE materials that
will DDT under open-air burning of small quantities. Bets are off if you
light a 100lb pile of the stuff.

Does every new soldier know all of that?


And yes, even dynamite can burn, if it's actually dynamite and not one of
the AN 'dynamite-like' stuffs, and it has a high-enough nitro content.
The lower 15% stuff won't burn for **** (or explode when you try to
ignite it). Diatomacious earth/clay/compacted sawdust has a tendency not
to burn very vigorously.

Of course, you wouldn't know this, but even nitroglycerine (IF very pure
and free of any acids or undesirable organic ligands from nitration)
burns like vigorous alcohol. In this case, it would be tempting fate to
arrange a puddle of it, and ignite it by hand.

Fear not. I won't try it. g


An urban legend I have not confirmed (but is probably true) has the
chemist who first compounded TNT casting an ashtray of the stuff, just to
demonstrate how insensitive it was.

I've cooked many a C-rat and LRPs on C-4. I still have all my digits.

OK, but I'll bet you either researched it prior to burning it, or took
someone else's demonstration of burning it before you lit your own C4,
Lloyd.

\It was a common way to heat coffee or rations during the Vietnam era,
at least among the Marines. 'Don't know about the army.

My cousin, a Marine sniper, told me much the same story as the one
Lloyd related above. Like you, I expressed concern that he was
carrying a kilo of it in his pack when he went out on sniper missions.
Then he explained that it really was for heating coffee. g

--
Ed Huntress