Chapter 11 Fireworks, Explosives & Demolitions Prospectors, civil engineers, farmers, loggers and other workers may have occasions to want to make their own explosives. Dynamite is the usual ingredient but it may be hard to come by in remote areas, or to keep safely on hand in hot weather and for indefinite time periods. The books in this chapter teach you how to make your own explosives by using simple household chemicals, and keep the ingredients in safe, separate containers until you need them. Instead of repeating the phrase "for information purposes only" on each book and video listed in this catalog, ALL books and videos in this Crimefighters' Catalog are FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. BEFORE you blast off, check with local law enforcement agents if fireworks and explosives are permitted in your area, and what you need to do to avoid legal problems if you make them and use them. * * * * * * FIREWORKS PROFESSIONAL HOMEMADE CHERRY BOMBS & OTHER FIREWORKS, by Joseph Abrusci. Don't let the increasingly high prices of commercial fireworks put a damper on your patriotic enthusiasm. Fireworks are an American tradition, and you can make your own with the help of this step-by-step guide. Instructions for six types of exploding fireworks are provided: kraft salutes or "cherry bombs," super kraft salutes, miniature salutes, stick salutes, thunderbolt salutes and super-thunderbolt salutes. Start stockpiling your personal supply now. 5.5 X 8.5, softcover, photos, 48 pp, $10 (CHERRY)(995) THE FIRECRACKER COOKBOOK - A Manual for the Safe Construction and Use of Homemade Pyrotechnics. By Edwin Lough Exploding fireworks - how to make, test and use them safely - are covered in this informative pamphlet. Triangle firecrackers, delayed ignition devices, salutes and exotic pyrotechnics are included. 8.5 X 11, softcover, illust. 40 pp, $8 (3014) PYROTECHNICS, by George W. Weingart. This one is a comprehensive working manual on making fireworks, ideal for the beginner AND the professional pyrotechnist. The ingredients for making smoke, light and color are thoroughly described. This description and price is small, but the book isn't. 5.5 X 8.5, softcover, illustr., 244 pp, $10 (PYRO)(384) EXPLOSIVES RAGNAR'S GUIDE TO HOME AND RECREATIONAL USE OF HIGH EXPLOSIVES, By Ragnar Benson. Who else but uncle Ragnar could write this down-home guide? Ice fishing with dynamite, blowing stumps, mixing up sugar chlorate powder - the Benson family was never the same after Ragnar discovered the fun to be had with high explosives. It's not all fun and games, though. Benson details techniques, materials, hazards and safeguards, drawing on his many years of experience on the farm and as a consultant all over the world. How to obtain commercial high explosives, safely storing and transporting them, detonation techniques, improvised explosives and more are woven in with the tales of Ragnar's outrageous adventures. These techniques are still incredibly useful today. With them, a single individual can easily dig a dry well, redirect creeks, blow up bad guys and perform a host of otherwise impossible chores of immense benefit to mankind. 5.5 X 8.5, softcover, illust. 120 pp, $12 (RAG)(731) EXPLOSIVE PRINCIPLES - An Essential Guide to Understanding Explosives and Detonations. By Robert A. Sickler. Don't be mislead by the technical title of this book - EXPLOSIVE PRINCIPLES is a readable, easy-to-understand primer on the nature of detonations, as well as a concise look at the basic but often overlooked techniques that professionals use to maximize the performance of primary and secondary explosives to get any job done right. The author uses clear illustrations and nontechnical words to explain the importance of detonation, velocity and strength, brilliance, sensitivity, flammability, water resistance, charge shape and more. Also covered are the optimum methods for initiating particular primary explosives, the best primary explosives to set off specific secondary explosives and much more. A must for demolition personnel, amateur "powder monkeys" or anybody interested in things that go bang. 5.5 X 8.5, softcvr, illus. 64 pp, $10 (PRIN)(1018) HOMEMADE MORTAR CONSTRUCTION MANUAL, by Jeff Baker & Thomas Tribble. Using common tools, you can construct a simple but effective device out of a handful of aluminum or steel tin cans that will launch tennis balls and other makeshift, nonlethal ammunition across great distances! Fueling and ignition procedures, common design, problems and operation tips are included. 5.5 X 8.5, softcover, illust. 56 pp, $8 (MORT)(785) DEADLY BREW - Advanced Improvised Explosives, by Seymour Lecker. If you are a man of action, frequently encountering explosive situations (like riots and wars), next time be prepared with a deadly brew of your own! Though home-made explosives may be dangerous to the manufacturer as to the target, this book will tell you how to make relatively safe explosives. Seymour Lecker covers how to construct explosive devices which provide detonation through an immediate mixture of two separate ingredients: a simple acid and a common industrial chemical. Fifty such chemicals are described, as are two detonating acids, five explosives device designs and a reference guide to other books. 5.5 X 8.5, illus, 64 pp, $8 (BREW)(628) EXPLOSIVE DUSTS - Advanced Improvised Explosives, by Seymour Lecker It is difficult for most people to comprehend the degree of explosive power of the dusts produced by industrial chemicals and agricultural products. Now, Seymour Lecker reveals their little-known but deadly nature, providing vital facts for more than 40 explosive dusts, all of which have been deemed SEVERE explosive hazards by the U.S. Bureau of Mines. Also given are clear plans for a handful of simple devices that can harness the violently explosive properties of these unstable dusts. 5.5 X 8.5, illust., 64 pp, $10 (DUST)(927) HOMEMADE C-4 - A Recipe for Survival, by Ragnar Benson. Serious survivors know that the day may come when they need something more powerful than commercial dynamite or common improvised explosives. For blowing bridges, shattering steel and derailing tanks, they need C-4. But, as with many of the goodies survivors hunger for, C-4 is not legally available to civilians and is hard to come by on the black market. Ragnar's recipe for homemade C-4 calls for just three ingredients, all legal, common and inexpensive. It requires no special utensils, reference books or training. The step-by-step directions will show you how to make your own C-4 - and survive! 5.5 X 8.5, photos, 56 pp, $12 (C-4)(875) HOMEMADE SEMTEX - C-4's Ugly Sister, by Seymour Lecker Semtex is the plastique most widely used by terrorists around the world. In the first book to focus solely on Semtex, demolitions expert Seymour Lecker set the record straight about this powerful but misunderstood explosive. He tells you what it will do and won't do, its strengths and its limitations, and how it compares with its U.S. counterpart, C-4. Find out about how to manufacture, store and use Semtex BEFORE you're confronted with a situation where what you don't know CAN hurt you. 5.5 X 8.5, 40 pp, $10 (SEM)(949) THE BIG BANG - Improvised PETN and Mercury Fulminate. By John Galt. Used in plastic explosives, PETN (pentaerythritol tetranitrate) is one of the most powerful conventional explosives ever developed. It can be made by strictly following the proven methods detailed in THE BIG BANG. Also included is a section on making mercury fulminate, an initiating agent for detonating PETN or any other explosive material. 5.5 X 8.5, softcover, illust. 32 pp $8 (BANG)(666) IMPROVISED MUNITIONS BLACK BOOK, VOLS. 1 AND 2. Originally developed by the Frankford Arsenal for the CIA and Special Forces, these books, formerly known as "The Improvised Munitions Handbook," are the most COMPREHENSIVE works ever on improvised weapons. For years they have been the most-wanted and secret books ever published by the American military. After extensive research and reprinting, they are now available to the public. The originals were small and loose-leaf bound due to the limited quantity printed. These reprints are professionally-bound manuals. Vol 1, 5.5 X 8.5, softcover, illustr. 160 pp, $12, (BB.1)(17) Vol 2, 5.5 X 8.5, softcover, illustr. 142 pp, $12 (BB.2)(18) IMPROVISED MUNITIONS BLACK BOOK, VOL. 3 Until recently, the information in this volume was known only to a handful of people in the intelligence community. This encyclopedia on improvised explosives, weapons, incendiaries and detonators is now also available to the public "for information purposes only". 8.5 X 11, softcover, illustr., 162 pp, $19 (BB.3)(342) BLACK BOOK COMPANION - State-of-the-Art Improvised Munitions The BLACK BOOKS. Manuals of mayhem and sabotage for use by CIA and Special Forces personnel, they are among the most controversial publications ever sanctioned by the U.S. Government. This book is a further study into the dark art of improvised explosives and munitions first explored in the original volumes. Lists of materials and sources, step-by-step instructions and clear illustrations instruct the guerrilla warfare specialist in making dynamite, RDX, PETN, Semtex, canister and smoke grenades, shotshell antipersonnel mines and many more weapons and materials for unconventional warfare situations. Also included are a glossary of chemical terms, a list of optimal primary and secondary explosives and amendments to selected formulas in the original BLACK BOOKS. WARNING: The procedures in this manual and the inherent toxicity of the material are EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. This volume is for reference only, not experimentation. 5.5 X 8.5, illust., 128 pp, $13 (BBBC)(906) ADVANCED DEMOLITION TECHNIQUES FOR LIGHT INFANTRY LEADERS This book is a guide to explosives currently used by the U.S. military and a reference on modern demolition methods. Because soldiers know that explosives are only one part of a well-planned operation, this Field Manual emphasizes all aspects of planning a demo mission, from selection, reconnaissance and coordination to calculating, priming and detonating charges. Knowing how and when to use demolitions can save time, money, manpower - maybe even lives! 5.5 X 8.5 softcover, illus. $8 (ADT)(894) THE CHEMISTRY OF POWDER & EXPLOSIVES A rare find for the ordnance expert or advanced pyrotechnist, supplying info on the modes of behavior of explosive substances and the phenomena, both chemical and physical, which they exhibit. Chapters include Properties of Explosives, Black Powder, Smokeless Powder, Dynamite and Other High Explosives, Nitromines, Primary Explosives, Detonators and Primers. This one is the "whole works" on explosives. 5.5 X 8.5, hardcover, 490 pp, $15 (CHEM.OF.P.&.E)(3015) EXPLOSIVES AND DEMOLITIONS This is FM 5-25, the standard text used by the U.S. Army, which covers firing systems, placement of charges and types of demolition projects. The emphasis in the book is not on what explosives are and what they can do: it teaches how to USE explosives - mainly for military tactics - but the same information can be used to free up log and ice jams, blow up stumps, rocks, barricades, and whatever else needs explosive, brute force to remove. 8.5 X 11, softcover, illustr., $14 (EXPL.&.DEMO)(65) CIA METHODS FOR EXPLOSIVES PREPARATION The preparation of explosives from the most common and easily accessible items is covered in detail. For example, included are complete step-by-step procedures on how to make such things as picric acid from aspirin. Don't fret at the small size of the book. It contains highly unusual contents making it a worthy addition to your explosives library. 5 3/8 X 8, softcover, 25 pp, $7 (CIA.EXPL.PRE)(40) VIDEOS (VHS U.S. format only.) DEADLY EXPLOSIVES - How and Why They Work Imagine spending an hour with a top explosives expert while he teaches you everything you ever wanted to know. That's what awaits you in this video. Not only is it a blast to watch, you'll come away with more practical knowledge than most licensed explosive experts! Can C-4 cut steel? What happens if you double the size of a high explosive charge? Triple it? How does Napalm differ from gasoline? All of these questions are answered during explosive comparisons of C-4, dynamite, TNT, det cord, nitro-based propellant, RDX and more. You will see how to safely handle, store and set up a complete range of explosives, and learn the proper use of fuses, blasting caps and other detonating devices. This videotape was shot on location using sophisticated equipment and high- speed shutters in order to capture the explosions in complete detail. Color, approx 60 min. $59.95 (DEADLY)(818) HOMEMADE C-4, A Closer Look C-4 is by far the most desirable explosive, as those who've read Ragnar Benson's best-selling book HOMEMADE C-4: A RECIPE FOR SURVIVAL know. More powerful than dynamite or TNT, and used in frag grenades, claymore mines and other weapons, C-4 quickly penetrates steel or armor, yet is extremely stable - more so than dynamite! Making improvised C-4 requires only three common, relatively inexpensive, legal ingredients, and no special tools, equipment or training. This video takes you step-by-step through everything you need to know to assemble, prepare and use improvised C-4 at home. As you'll see live footage of C-4 blowing up cars and steel plate you can judge for yourself its awesome explosive power. VHS, color, about 25 minutes, $25 (C4V)(977) F9 for Next Chapter