How to blow up a house

Chekurtab · Jun 24, 2013

I have a guy in my WIP who wants to blow up a house. I know he can't go to a store and buy dynamite or TNT in our days. What can he use short of making a bomb himself. What do farmers use nowadays?

My guy is pressed for time, but he doesn't have to follow the legal route. Is there any explosives on the black market, military grade or otherwise?

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

King Neptune · Jun 24, 2013

Natural gas leak

He doesn't have to do anything except make a leak tht will cause a build-up of gas in the basebemnt. Eventually a water heater, or something, will og on and trigger the gas explosion.

Marian Perera · Jun 24, 2013

Timothy McVeigh used ammonium nitrate and nitromethane.

Russell Secord · Jun 24, 2013

It's much easier to steal dynamite than to buy it....

Drachen Jager · Jun 24, 2013

I'd second the gas.

If he wants to make sure he should tape plastic over all the doors and windows and maybe light a long-burning candle on the top floor of the house before he leaves. That should make for a pretty big boom.

If the house doesn't have gas, he can always get a few BBQ cylinders and jimmy the valves open.

jclarkdawe · Jun 24, 2013

K*I*S*S -- keep it simple, stupid.

Unless there's a reason to make this complicated, buy two to four gas containers good for ten gallons of gas apiece. At the same time, buy acetone in one or five gallon metal cans. Figure about twenty gallons of acetone. Spread your purchases through several Wal-marts.

Put metal cans either all together or spread them out. Pour gasoline over acetone cans (don't open them). Carefully drop match and run like hell. The heat will cause the acetone to expand. Upon the cans rupturing, you'll get either a flash fire or an explosion.

Not elegant, not fancy, but easy enough to do.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

Chekurtab · Jun 24, 2013

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I should've been more specific in my request. My guy doesn't want to blow up his house, the house belongs to others people, who won't cooperate because they are gonna die in the explosion. So, my guy detonates the bomb and blows up the house at the moment the bad guy gets in. At least that's the plan. I can have him make a bomb, same ingredients as other scumbag terrorists had used, but I'd rather buy an explosive he can detonate at the right moment. Any way he can get his hands on dynamite, TNT, or military stuff?
Thanks again, everyone.

James D. Macdonald · Jun 24, 2013

If you know the right people and you have enough cash you can buy anything.

This is fiction, right? Then give him the contacts and the cash and call it a day.

jclarkdawe · Jun 24, 2013

Chance of a misfire with anything he can make himself is very high. Hell, the military gets misfires. Give him a buddy who's in the army who can steal the stuff.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

Ken · Jun 25, 2013

... last paragraph of "Killer Inside Me," by Jim Thompson.

Elhrrah · Jun 25, 2013

If it's a small town setting, give him a friend who is an old military vet. It's a bit of a hand wave, but it's an easy way to supply him with some convincing back-yard explosives. Maybe it's an old hand grenade, or a claymore. Perhaps its a block of plastique that he 'got from a friend.'

Otherwise, set aside the idea of a big fireball (those aren't realistic, anyways) and focus on shrapnel. With a few hours of prep time, some plumbing parts, a propane tank, a taser, and a bucket of nails, you can build a pipe bomb large enough to shred a room full of people. Anyone who's built a potato cannon can build one in their garage if they put their mind to it.

WeaselFire · Jun 25, 2013

Chekurtab said:
What can he use short of making a bomb himself. What do farmers use nowadays?

Give a ten-year-old a chemistry set. Almost worked for my dad.

Fuel oil and fertilizer, still very effective and the parts are legal. Takes stumps and rocks out of fields and Federal buildings out of Oklahoma city.

Home-made napalm is also fun. Classic recipe is Ivory Snow soap flakes and gasoline. Pour it in a mayonnaise jar (glass), stuff it in a sock, dip the sock in paraffin (melted candles) and light the sock. Throw it against a surface which breaks the jar. The stuff sticks to vertical surfaces, even ceilings, and gets the job done.

Balloon half full of gasoline, tied to a string hanging over a candle. Set the balloon swinging and leave. Balloon comes to rest, candle heats and expands gasoline, balloon pops and gasoline vapors explode.

Dig up a copy of The Anarchist's Cook Book.

Jeff

WeaselFire · Jun 25, 2013

Chekurtab said:
Any way he can get his hands on dynamite, TNT, or military stuff?

Black powder is still sold over the counter. How it's configured will determine the explosive result.

Jeff

espresso5 · Jun 25, 2013

Remove the step down regulator and on/off valve, and there will be nothing left but a hole in the ground. Maybe add some sort of timer ignition system.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/21/justice/indiana-home-explosion
There's not a picture of the house (hole in the ground) in the link, but you can Google search images.

Chekurtab · Jun 25, 2013

I would like to thank everybody for the very good suggestions. Lots of options, some that I've never considered or known about. I appreciate everyone's input.

Anaximander · Jun 26, 2013

Regular ammonium nitrate fertiliser, as used by farmers. Mix with petrol or other flammable oil in the right proportions, and you have anfo (ammonium nitrate & fuel oil); a rough analogue of an explosive used in mines. As for the effectiveness... well, that's roughly what happened here, accidentally. When something flammable gets on the fertiliser, it can sometimes burn off until it hits the right proportions and the critical temperature, and then you get that runaway explosion. That's also what happened here. Stick some of that along with a source of ignition (the sparker from a cooker and a block of firelighter, or a regular self-defence taser) in a length of ordinary plumbing pipe, or a thermos-type flask, and you'll get a decent bang. Wedge that pipe or flask in amongst a few bags or buckets of the stuff, and you can flatten the building. And the one next door.

Chekurtab · Jun 26, 2013

It's ironic you've mentioned ANFO, I was thinking to go with it. The ingredients are readily available. You can buy a cap (available, but illegal in US. Still, I'm the one making the rules in my MS) to detonate. Can even hook up a remote control from a toy to blow up the bomb.

There are some impressive pictures in the links you've provided. Thanks for your help.

Anaximander said:
Regular ammonium nitrate fertiliser, as used by farmers. Mix with petrol or other flammable oil in the right proportions, and you have anfo (ammonium nitrate & fuel oil); a rough analogue of an explosive used in mines. As for the effectiveness... well, that's roughly what happened here, accidentally. When something flammable gets on the fertiliser, it can sometimes burn off until it hits the right proportions and the critical temperature, and then you get that runaway explosion. That's also what happened here. Stick some of that along with a source of ignition (the sparker from a cooker and a block of firelighter, or a regular self-defence taser) in a length of ordinary plumbing pipe, or a thermos-type flask, and you'll get a decent bang. Wedge that pipe or flask in amongst a few bags or buckets of the stuff, and you can flatten the building. And the one next door.

How to blow up a house

Chekurtab

Smart donkey. Please don't call me-

King Neptune

Marian Perera

starting over

Russell Secord

nearly perfect

Drachen Jager

Professor of applied misanthropy

jclarkdawe

Feeling lucky, Query?

Chekurtab

Smart donkey. Please don't call me-

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

jclarkdawe

Feeling lucky, Query?

Ken

Elhrrah

Summon Bigger Fish

WeaselFire

Benefactor Member

WeaselFire

Benefactor Member

espresso5

Chekurtab

Smart donkey. Please don't call me-

Anaximander

Chekurtab

Smart donkey. Please don't call me-