military application of silly string? Options

[PBTHHHHT]

Interesting, just read this and thought y'all might take a look at this. The military use of silly string.

[hobgoblin]

now thats a nice way of using something that on paper looks like something compleatly useless.

kinda reminds me of using dust or similar to spot lasers :P

[PBTHHHHT]

I'm just wondering how sensitive tripwires are usually.

Yeah, for lasers, it can be dust but you're better off with some sort of aerosol device that's all conveniently housed in a can. Easy to
transport/use.

[hobgoblin]

thanks, all i could think of at the moment of typing was say a dry sponge from a classroom or similar :P

as for sensitivty. they cant be so sensitive that the weight of the wire itself triggers the detonation.

im guessing that most are similar to the old grenade in a can type trap that the vietnam war is known for :P ie, you have to apply atleast some force before things go boom.

[Arethusa]

While that may be the case for some of the inhouse fighting, that does not hold true for IEDs and the like, which are far, far more sophisticated. I am really not clear how he was using silly string to help with those.

[blakkie]

Looks like he is talking just about tripwires or other physical tripping hazard stuff like open holes.

It wouldn't help for things fully concealed below surfaces like landmines, linked landmines, covered pitfalls, and stuff like that.

[PBTHHHHT]

Aye, all it's good for is tripwires. Still, better to at least figure out there's no tripwires at least and then work on the other things like landmines, etc...

[Arethusa]

He specifically mentions IEDs, though, which do not use tripwires.

[hyzmarca]

[PBTHHHHT]

Are all IED's done by radio/cell phones? I thought the definition of IED is improvised explosive device. That can be anything. Anyway, it looks like he meant booby traps for room clearing and just used the term IED instead.

If you really want to go technical on the word definition, IED is used by the press a lot for roadside bombs. Boobytrapped rooms are a different matter and using a tripwire and other means is logical for boobytrapping because they can't always be there to trigger the device since it's likely in some room that's out of view during urban search/fighting.

[JRDobbs]

I believe the primary difference between an IED and a "boobytrap" is that the DoD and media got tired of getting flak for saying "booby" on TV.

That being said, runners should be careful leaving a trail of sillystring-like material in at a run site. Even something akin to stealth rope (stealth silly string?) would leave a residue in an indoors environment.

[PBTHHHHT]

Depends on the run. If you're doing some big urban warfare thing where you have to clear rooms, I don't think it really matters if you leave a residue. Not all runners are stealth and leave no trace people. Some are bang-bang mercs.

I know, I know, I enjoy the stealth runners too. But, you have to consider that there are 'different strokes for different folks'... ;)

[Kagetenshi]

It all depends on what your run is about. Unless you're doing a datasteal you're going to be leaving traces anyway, and unless said datasteal consists of "bring in your own camera, don't touch anything, take tons of pictures" you're probably going to leave traces for that too. After that, worrying about silly-string residue is pointless unless you've overused it to the point of being identifying.

~J

[hyzmarca]

[PBTHHHHT]

[blakkie]

@hyzmarca ya, that's linking. You don't nessasarily have to use AP mines at the other end. You could use just a wad of explosive material, or even a spare large munnition/ordinance (like an unexploded aerial bomb). You may not have wanted it to be triggered anyway when it is walked on, instead having the lead man (or some minesweeper tool) set off the initiating explosive and the guy following behind take a direct hit too.

The wad of explosive is also nasty in that it has no metal parts, so it's harder to detect.

[Kyoto Kid]

[Fortune]

[hyzmarca]

[Westiex]

[Crusher Bob]

Woman killed by rocket launcher, experts mystified?

[Fix-it]

Moving this into the 2060s, you think this technique would work well against monowire trips??

[Kagetenshi]

No.

~J

[SMDVogrin]

[FrankTrollman]

It depends upon how sticky the string is relative to its mass. If your string is light enough, and sticky enough, it will hang in a continuous rope right over the monowire.

Of course, something that light is going to take a while to fall down to the point where monowire traps could be identified, but if you've got the time it could help save a leg.

-Frank