Comments on: The Bang Theory: Explosives, Force Multiplier or Dinner Bell

By: 3-15 INF

3-15 INF — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:28:41 +0000

Explosive are extremely useful. I would steer my thinking more toward IED’s made from plumbing, black powder, and such. Set up as booby traps, they also can be used as early warning if your perimeter is being breached.

By: Darth Psycho

Darth Psycho — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 19:20:22 +0000

My friend and i have discussed this since im an explosives expert well i know how to make a bomb outta anything flammable we have said that explosives will be used as last resort should our place of safety (wal-mart) be over run on the outside. i think the best way to at least suppress zombie hordes is a well placed nail or pipe bomb behind the horde

By: KillerB

KillerB — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:20:03 +0000

OK Guys we are forgetting the design of the human body. Our muscles attach to our bones and that is the basis of how we move. IF you remove either the muscle or the bone then the machine as a whole breaks down. Yes there is a chance that you will not kill the Zombie but maby the idea is just to reduce its overall ablity to inflect harm to you and others. Lets assume for a second that the Zombies will be the fast moving hard to shoot type. Explosives can be used to open a path, as a distraction, or as an early warning (AP/AT mines) device. I would much rather have a Zed crawling after me than one running full out wanting to eat my brain. The reality of the matter is that homemade explosives are either very sensitive or not sensitive enough. That means that a drop could detonate the charge or that you will have to have military grade explosives to start the chain reaction to the bigger boom. Military grade explosives are going to be next to impossible to come across. Hand grenades will be a great last ditch thing to have but lets face facts. If the Zombie horde overruns a group of Marines then they will have already used their grenades. (And their ammo for that matter) So I would say that explosives have a place in the anti-Zed tool kit but they are not and cannot be seen as a perfect solution for dealing with Zed.

By: death31313

death31313 — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:24:04 +0000

you guys have got it all wrong about the fire being bad thing, the zombie outbreak will most likely be the result of an infectious outbreak, and what hapens when you boil a germ or paricite? it dies remember the reasion fire causes pain it because it is causing large amounts of damage to tissue cells. then theres the grenades you seem to think they would only ever hit the zombie in the bodie but there is a good chance you could hit the head with shrapnel. mines are also great have you ever seen a persion after getting hit by the shock wave from an explosion, let me tell you it aint pretty theyr tusue become almoest a jelly like substance (and that includes the brain), you guys realy arent giving explosives the credit they deserve theres a reasion they have been used on the battlefield for centurys.

By: Sharpshooter

Sharpshooter — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 02:30:47 +0000

how the flaming hell would you get grenades anyways?! ok lets say you come across a collection of grenades and landmines…. landmines would be pretty sweet for defence and grenades well… they’re grenades they could take out a few zeds, be an awesome way of entertainment, or could be used as a distraction…. just because they are zeds they are still going to have some scraps of they past life in them meaning they are going to most likely look towards the explosion

By: 68A Soldier

68A Soldier — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:07:30 +0000

Something that fragments (Grenade, Claymore,etc…) at head level would be highly effective if your not worried about noise discipline. And seeing how the dead are well dead camouflage would be a moot point.

By: Nikson

Nikson — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:36:14 +0000

If you really are in a pinch and you have the access you can use a jar or some kind of container of straight gunpowder (or some other powders too).The right kind of gunpowder and in large enough amounts can burn hot enough to do damage to anything.

Or if you really want to cause some fire damage you can make or buy thermite. Thermite can literally burn through large chunks of steel. Imagine what it could do to dead or living flesh.

Either on of these could really hurt crowds of zombies

Ex: Burn through muscles, making the zed immoble
Even making the brain literally melt or boil and explode in their head depending on the kind of zed.

By: Roy

Roy — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:04:48 +0000

using explosives against zombies falls into the category of Very Bad Ideas. The biggest problem with using explosives against zombies is due to the physical differences between humans and zombies. Firstly, humans do not need to be “blown up” to die from an explosion. There are three basic ways an explosion kills you: Shrapnel enters your body causing organ failure, The force of the explosion rips the body apart, causing death by blood loss and massive trauma, or the blast wave causes neural overload and hydrostatic shock. Let’s look at each one individually.

1. Shrapnel wounds will not cause the trauma necessary to kill the horde size we are talking about here. AP explosives, even claymores, will shred the flesh like a shotgun blast. We all know what happens when you shoot a zombie in the torso or limb with a shotgun. Shrapnel based weapons will cause mayhem, yes, but not in the amounts that will justify using something that draws that much attention.

B. Anyone who’s watched any of the Doctors Without Borders or Red Cross videos about the dangers of land mines has seen what they do to people: Arms and legs blown off. This is bad in every zombie related situation. Legless zombies are sneaky little monsters that like to hide in tall grass, under vehicles, etc. A zombie with missing arms is a threat due to the fact that where a whole zombie will grab you with his hands and then go for the bite, handless zeds will simply stab you with exposed arm bones. Automatic infection.

III. Thirdly, explosives will not work for the same reason a zombie will not bleed to death when cut. Zed blood is congealed and unmoving. Due to this fact, they are not subject to the same forces that the living human body is put through when hit with a large blast wave. Experiments in living creatures have confirmed that a distant effect exists in the central nervous system after a high-energy impact, even to an extremity. A high-frequency oscillating pressure wave with large amplitude and short duration was found in the brain after the impact. As the body is hit by a shock wave, the sheer amount of trauma inflicted causes massive organ failure, and it causes your brain to simply “shut down”.

The greatest evidence against the use of explosives against zombies is in the notes of reporter Max Brooks in his book chronicling the events of World War Z. When the US used thermobaric weapons against the North American herd after the battle of Yonkers, NY, the death rate was much lower than would be expected against living targets.

–Roy

By: skield

skield — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 06:27:32 +0000

“And a 2 kilogram grenade weighs nearly a pound.”

Kain, actually 2 kilograms weighs more around 4.4 pounds. The conversion is 1 kilogram to about 2.2 pounds.

“A propane tank (yes, it’s from the awful remake of Dawn of the Dead) when shot, would make a big fire ball…”

Beonist, propane tanks do not simply explode when shot (unless you have incendiary round available, which is extremely doubtful). The actors in “Dawn of the Dead” fixed flares to them and shot a hole close to the flare.

By: Dr Who

Dr Who — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 01:33:49 +0000

Against a living enemy explosives make wonderful defensive weapons in minefields and such, but as small unit, manportable weapons their usefulness is limited. This reverses against our dead foe. The defence utility of explosives should be used sparingly. Remember you aren’t the military and resupply is not a radio call away. Save AP mines and such for herding areas in a fixed defensive position. And on the defensive side you should remove ANY obstacle to vision so as not to worry about any nonstanding zombie whether you blew off its legs or someone else did a month ago. Pack the zeds as close in together using fences and place your mines there. With both defensive and offensive explosives there are ways to increase short range mortality though it decreases long range mortality. The military doesn’t do this because killing an enemy soldier take one out, wounding one takes out three (the other two to care for him). Where against zombies you want to create as much damage as possible. The concussive effects of explosives aren’t to be ignored either. Taking handfulls of BBs and using hot glue you can increase the effectiveness of your grenades and mines. Now as offensive weapons explosives come into their own again. On the offense and moving you get rid of the disadvantage of “ringing the dinnerbell” ring that bell and move. What better than to take down a crowd and the call the rest to your handiwork when you’re moving away from it. Here is where wounding them matters not. If you’re mobile taking out a zeds leg is just as good as killing it period. Mines can even be used offensively. Arm a pressure detonated one for that persuing horde. With an armored vehicle take a trip wire detonated mine, mount it atop a 2 meter tall pole and use these to keep your vehicle from being swamped. A good deal of these can make crowd clearing an easy, if messy, proposition. Used in the appropriate way and time explosives can be a great force multiplier. While they aren’t as effective against dead opponents as oppused to live ones they are still effective. And never forget the Chunky Salsa Effect, this is when you use explosive and fragmentary weapons in an enclosed space.