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Boom
A hand grenade was found Monday on 19th Avenue near a Shell station at Santiago.
That;s about two blocks from where we used to live, but that's not why I'm posting this. This is (from the story):
Police diverted traffic from several directions and evacuated people from the immediate area before detonating the grenade about 2 p.m., Tully said.
A hand grenade has a lethal radius of about 4 meters. Beyond that, the shrapnel density drops off quickly. (figure the surface area of sphere.. the intact notched-wire fragmentation portion of the device is about 5cm across before it explodes.) Add in the fact that the shrapnel is not very aerodynamic, and you can be a few dozen feet from a grenade and escape harm. The biggest danger is concussion, and that isn't that bad. (about 5kg of C-4) There isn't a hand grenade on Earth that will lift a man off his feet, even if he's standing on it.
Which makes the evacuation bit a little funny. Were they going door to door making people leave homes? How far down did the traffic diversion begin? I think maybe they over-reacted just a little too much.
That;s about two blocks from where we used to live, but that's not why I'm posting this. This is (from the story):
Police diverted traffic from several directions and evacuated people from the immediate area before detonating the grenade about 2 p.m., Tully said.
A hand grenade has a lethal radius of about 4 meters. Beyond that, the shrapnel density drops off quickly. (figure the surface area of sphere.. the intact notched-wire fragmentation portion of the device is about 5cm across before it explodes.) Add in the fact that the shrapnel is not very aerodynamic, and you can be a few dozen feet from a grenade and escape harm. The biggest danger is concussion, and that isn't that bad. (about 5kg of C-4) There isn't a hand grenade on Earth that will lift a man off his feet, even if he's standing on it.
Which makes the evacuation bit a little funny. Were they going door to door making people leave homes? How far down did the traffic diversion begin? I think maybe they over-reacted just a little too much.
no subject
What it really comes down to is CYA, though. You and I both know the weird tricks ballistics can play. If a wire fragment ends up flying 100 feet and putting out somebody's eye -- certainly not beyond the bounds of possibility -- do you want to be the SFPD field commander who decided to let the crowd stay that close to the grenade?
For clarification....
I think 11 lbs of C-4 would be a much bigger bang... and also a VERY heavy hand-grenade.. I couldn't throw an 11 pound bowling ball very far.... And I think it might lift me off of what *was* my feet.
I wonder if I can get the explosive force of c4 from googling? I shouldn't since I'm in C class. hmm seems appropriate C... C-4...
Re: For clarification....
Re: For clarification....
Re: For clarification....