View Full Version : Carrying Grenades and other explosives
wiking
10-16-2005, 05:33 PM
Those of you who have been in Iraq, A-stan or other warzones and have carried handgrenades, 203 grenades or other explosives, is there anything you do to feel a bit safer like taping the handles on the grenades?
Personally, i'd be shyte scared of lugging grenades or any form of explosives from firecrackers and on up in a combat zone where an accident or a bullet might make me into a unintentional suicide bomber.
Uncle Sam
10-16-2005, 06:22 PM
Those of you who have been in Iraq, A-stan or other warzones and have carried handgrenades, 203 grenades or other explosives, is there anything you do to feel a bit safer like taping the handles on the grenades?
Personally, i'd be shyte scared of lugging grenades or any form of explosives from firecrackers and on up in a combat zone where an accident or a bullet might make me into a unintentional suicide bomber.
Nope. But that's just me...
What the point of taping the lever if you then need to use it in hurry, just make sure the pin is in well and slightly bent over at the end so that it does not come out easily, but will need a hefty tug, but it will be quicker than trying to get tape of the lever to use it.
jason82
10-17-2005, 09:42 AM
I carried two hand grenades, and 16 M203 rounds (of which 8 where HE/AT,the rest CS) and in all honesty, it was weird the first few days, but then you get used to it. The scary thing, is seeing all the dents on the older hand grenades you get issued.
In truth, a grenade is a very safe weapon. We constantly check the safety mechanism's, and also store them backwards and upside down in the vest to prevent accidents. (handle facing the body)
Deuterium
10-17-2005, 11:32 AM
When I carried frags I would always use white paper tape and tape down the round pull ring. Paper tape rips very easy and won't get in the way. I was always a little paranoid about the ring being pulled by accident during movement and doing cheeta flips. Taping 'nades' was always a personal thing. Some guys would do it and some wouldn't. I never saw guys taping the spoon though. We had an issue last year with Navy Crashes having their spoons cracked at the top so that when you pulled the pin it went off in your hand. We had a couple of accidents, some guys lost fingers before we figured out what was going on.
wiking
10-17-2005, 02:07 PM
best historical reference i can rember to this is from Band of Brothers (the book). Richard Winters was telling about when he and one platoon of Easy Company damn near masacered 2 SS companys in Holland in October 1944. As those who have seen the TV series remember he was first to reach the dike and fire on the Germans, but what is omitted in the filming is the first thing that happened.
When he reached the dike he saw one lonely German and the rest of 1 company off at a distance, he doubled back to 'his' side of the dike, pulled the pin on a nade and then realized he had forgotten to remove the tape, to quote the booke exactly "..he kept there to avoid an accident.." At the same time the lonely German lobbed a grenade over the dike to him and then hit the ground waiting for winters's nade to go off (wich it didn't due to the tape).
Like wiking said (or more like steven spielberg says :P), due to the fact that it's highly likely that during combat you won't be as calm as in training, and there is a high chance you'll forget to remove the tape, and waste your grenades.
I know that in Israel, after many terrorist attack, when they didn't suicide immidiatly, in many cases we've found grenades that didn't explode because the forgot the pull the pin (yes, the pin), because when you're in so much pressure you forget how to do even the most basic things.
As jason said, carrying grenades (or any other kind of explosives) is scary at start, but you get used to it very quickly (i've been carrying 2 frag grenades for about 1/2 year).
memphiz
10-17-2005, 07:34 PM
Thats why there is 2 safety pins on the grenade
Thats why there is 2 safety pins on the grenade
?
Didn't understand that, what 2 safety pins?
Altough i've only throwed one live frag grenades during my service, I don't remmeber 2 safety pins.
And if you mean "your brain" or something simliar...
The smoke grenades I've used has 2 safety pins, while frag, flash and shock grenades has one (all NATO standard grenades, so I guess the same could apply to other countries).
I have heard a story of a shock grenade going off while being carried in a box. It was taped, but the tape had melted and the pin was shaken out. Don't know if this was just another one of those stories were they would scare us with lies so that we would do things properly.
I've also seen people forgetting to remove the tape while throwing grenades at the practice range, just because of the stress of holding some dangerous amount of explosives in your hand.
ibstolidude
10-18-2005, 03:43 PM
Those of you who have been in Iraq, A-stan or other warzones and have carried handgrenades, 203 grenades or other explosives, is there anything you do to feel a bit safer like taping the handles on the grenades?
Personally, i'd be shyte scared of lugging grenades or any form of explosives from firecrackers and on up in a combat zone where an accident or a bullet might make me into a unintentional suicide bomber.
CompB is pretty stable stuff - ever time I've seen it shot, it will typically just shatter apart. I remove the thumb catch, untape the spoon (if taped) and would tape the pins leaving a flap of tape hanging; while a thin strip of 100mph works, many prefer to use the medical tape bacause if it fouls they can pull the pin anyway. On things like PDM's, they are pretty well diffiucult enough to pull apart and use (assuming you have a good lot.) I never carried claymores on my person or C4 unless I was headed for a range. That **** stays in the vehicles, atleast for me; I'm sure others here have different experinces. I configured my smokes the same way as my grenades - things like pen flares, flares, starclusters, and others again come with pretty stable safeties.
James
10-18-2005, 04:38 PM
I tape pins in such a way that I can stick a finger in, give it a twist (breaking the tape) and pull. I don't carry grenades on my person - they live in my go bag.
Earlier someone asked about 2 safeties on grenades - some (M67 frags among them) have a pin as well as a thumb safety on the spoon that needs to be removed before employing the device.
Tracker 23A
10-18-2005, 06:23 PM
Thats why there is 2 safety pins on the grenade
there is a safety spoon and a safety clip, that is all there is on a M67 Fragmentation Grenade and others like it. If you feel the need to tape a grenade you may want to think about how you are carrying it and what you are doing before you use it.
Taping a weapon that you may have to use instantaneously is like putting tape over your trigger, just in case you accidentally pull it.
digrar
10-18-2005, 10:52 PM
just make sure the pin is in well and slightly bent over at the end so that it does not come out easily, but will need a hefty tug, but it will be quicker than trying to get tape of the lever to use it.
We lost a bloke in training in the mid 90's, the M26 grenade pins were being altered as they were hard to pull, the pin having been re bent, broke, the pin came loose in his webbing and detonated in his pouch, killing him and injuring his safety supervisor. I don't think I would ever tamper with a pin after that.
Our new grenades have a good pin that needs to be twisted to unhook a bale before they can be pulled, I felt pretty confident that they were safe and they also came in their own individual pouch that would secure the spoon if the pin did come loose. In saying that they were always something I kept an eye on, just in case.
coverteye
10-19-2005, 09:40 AM
The smoke grenades I've used has 2 safety pins, while frag, flash and shock grenades has one (all NATO standard grenades, so I guess the same could apply to other countries).
I have heard a story of a shock grenade going off while being carried in a box. It was taped, but the tape had melted and the pin was shaken out. Don't know if this was just another one of those stories were they would scare us with lies so that we would do things properly.
I've also seen people forgetting to remove the tape while throwing grenades at the practice range, just because of the stress of holding some dangerous amount of explosives in your hand.
Methinks you are telling "porky pies" (lies).....
memphiz
10-19-2005, 01:41 PM
there is a safety spoon and a safety clip, that is all there is on a M67 Fragmentation Grenade and others like it. If you feel the need to tape a grenade you may want to think about how you are carrying it and what you are doing before you use it.
Taping a weapon that you may have to use instantaneously is like putting tape over your trigger, just in case you accidentally pull it.
http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/lf/English/Images/2_0/24.jpg
I figured a picture would help explain
Tracker 23A
10-19-2005, 02:10 PM
http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/lf/English/Images/2_0/24.jpg
I figured a picture would help explain
thanks for the pic, the C13 is the Canadian version of the M67 grenade. It has a safety pin (the round thing) and a safety clip (the wire looking thing at the top of the body of the grenade that is attached onto the spoon and body of the grenade on the right side of the safety pin).
memphiz
10-19-2005, 04:19 PM
We're no longer using the C-13 because it has a 10% failure rate.
Dud grenades are the worst
Tracker 23A
10-19-2005, 07:34 PM
We're no longer using the C-13 because it has a 10% failure rate.
Dud grenades are the worst
could you give me your source?
Resevoir Hogs
10-19-2005, 09:42 PM
WHAT? I didn't hear that at all. We're still training with them here.
Memph, is that what your unit is saying? Or are you just confussing it with that story in the news about the dud Canadian AT grenades. You know the ones we never train with and are in storage just in case. You could very well be right about this, but this would be the first I heard about it.
@Wiking
Oh I'm a 203 gunner in my section and no I don't feel unsafe lugging rounds around.
I find that with a good understand how the weapon operates, comes a peace of mind.
Valid question, but keep in mind that if it were easy to set the rounds off in combat that the army wouldn't feild them.
Now I must admit that the grenades we used were the old Mills 36 type. The pin went through a couple of iron lugs on the side of the grenade. The pin was a split pin and you could open the split pin as wide as you liked which in turn meant the pin was harder to pull through the iron lugs. Mind you we never primed the grenades until we were actual going out on patrol, and we would check the state of the pin before we primed the grenade. After a while you got things to the way you liked them. I must say that we never had any of our people injured with our own grenades.
i123.photobucket.co./albums/b351/LeEnfield/millsgrenadeno36.gif<img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b351/LeEnfield/millsgrenadeno36.gif" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">
Mills Grenade 36
IMG]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b351/LeEnfield/millsgrenadeno36.gif[/IMG]
Mills Grenade 36
IMG]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b351/LeEnfield/millsgrenadeno36.gif[/IMG]
wiking
10-20-2005, 06:51 PM
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b351/LeEnfield/millsgrenadeno36.gif
Mills Grenade 36
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b351/LeEnfield/millsgrenadeno36.gif
Lets see if this works then. There we go.
memphiz
10-20-2005, 08:11 PM
WHAT? I didn't hear that at all. We're still training with them here.
Memph, is that what your unit is saying? Or are you just confussing it with that story in the news about the dud Canadian AT grenades. You know the ones we never train with and are in storage just in case. You could very well be right about this, but this would be the first I heard about it.
Nope its the C-13, I am positive
wiking
11-30-2005, 08:07 PM
Now I must admit that the grenades we used were the old Mills 36 type. The pin went through a couple of iron lugs on the side of the grenade. The pin was a split pin and you could open the split pin as wide as you liked which in turn meant the pin was harder to pull through the iron lugs. Mind you we never primed the grenades until we were actual going out on patrol, and we would check the state of the pin before we primed the grenade. After a while you got things to the way you liked them. I must say that we never had any of our people injured with our own grenades.
I think my grandad used mills grenades when he was in, he told me he had once done that, priming grenades for an exercise or something.
akmarksman
11-30-2005, 10:57 PM
The key to any dangerous/stress situation is to control your breathing.
Take a couple of deep breaths..Allows you to clear your mind and focus..Also slows down the adrenaline tremors.
DeathForSale
11-30-2005, 11:08 PM
When I did my time in the "buffer zone" in Kosovo we where issued 3 "kasikare" as we call them handgrenades. We never really planned to use them so we kept them in our buttpacks. Although there was a guy in our unit who taped his whole hand grenade to his backpack strap, although I never really saw the point in this because if he ever had to use it he would have to unwrap the tape several times around before he could take it off.
Anyway if you're interested here's the grenades we carried:
http://naoruzanje.paracin.co.yu/m75-1.jpg
M-75 "Kasikara"
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