The Darwin Awards Countdown to Extinction Part 10

CHAPTER 5.

EXPLOSIONS: TICKING TIME BOMB.

"Viva la muerte!"

Boom! Bang! Whoosh . . . ! Boys love toys that go Boys love toys that go boom boom, and true to form, we present myriad tales of bomb botches, dynamite disasters, carbide calamities, tobacco tragedies, and fuel fiascos. By some fluke, many explosions were not eternal rest bringers . . . this time!

Payback * Dynamite Rancher * Carbidschieten Carbidschieten A Really Bad A Really Bad Commute * Anchors Away! * Killer Fuel Economy * Mortar Fire *

A Cushioned Blow * Homemade Howitzer * Nitrating the Unknown * Against the Odds * Caps'n'Hammer Kid *

The Mettle of the Kettle * Boom Boom Bees [image]

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Darwin Award Winner: Payback Confirmed by Darwin Featuring criminals, money, and an explosion

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be; for loan oft loses both itself and Friend."

-Polonius, in Hamlet

27 DECEMBER 2008, SERBIA Wanted in Croatia for murder and robbery of a post office, twenty-three-year-old Strahinja R. had good reason to leave the country. Fortunately for him, even bad guys have good friends. Aided and abetted by a friend who lent him 15,000 euros, Strahinja jumped the border and fled to Serbia, successfully evading prosecution.

Some loans can never be repaid. This was such a loan. Finding himself unable to earn or steal the funds needed to reimburse his benefactor, Strahinja attempted to end the matter in another way-by murdering him.

He crawled under his "friend's" Jeep to plant a powerful Repayment-brand explosive. However, the m.u.f.fler was still hot, and the heat set off the bomb while Strahinja was beneath the vehicle. He died in the hospital in the capital city of Belgrade, vividly ill.u.s.trating the truth of Shakespeare's warning, "Neither a borrower nor a lender be."

Reference: SETimes.com, eupm.org, tportal.hr Even bad guys have good friends.

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Darwin Award Winner: Dynamite Rancher Confirmed by Darwin Gun + dynamite = explosion

8 MAY 2009, UTAH Fifty-nine-year-old Brent L. found a suspicious stash of dynamite in a shed on his five-thousand-acre ranch, located three miles south of the ATK Thiokol testing area where booster rockets for the s.p.a.ce shuttle are designed. Details about this stash are scarce. Did it belong on the ranch? Was it hidden by thieves? Is it coincidence that the ranch is close to ATK Thiokol Ground Zero? Chief Deputy Potter said, "Whether the dynamite was his or whatever, that's yet to be determined."

Whatever its origins, the rancher was alarmed. He had good reason to worry. Old dynamite starts to sweat nitroglycerine, nitroglycerine, and once it starts it is unstable and can pop anytime. This well-known fact was surely known by the rancher. Fortunately the dynamite was not an old, sweating pile of unstableness. This stash of flash was something he felt he could deal with on his own. and once it starts it is unstable and can pop anytime. This well-known fact was surely known by the rancher. Fortunately the dynamite was not an old, sweating pile of unstableness. This stash of flash was something he felt he could deal with on his own.

"This stash of flash was something he could deal with on his own."

Concerned for his family's safety-but his own, not so much-the rancher removed the dynamite from the shed, placed it in a field of knee-high gra.s.s, grabbed his shotgun, and backed away about forty yards. One would like to think that he stopped to consider his next action, but the evidence suggests otherwise. He aimed and fired. Guess what?

The dynamite exploded! Shrapnel hit the rancher squarely in the head. The man was airlifted to the hospital, where he pa.s.sed away.

Oddly enough, the Box County Sheriff's office refused to confirm the circ.u.mstances, saying they were "still looking into it" and the dynamite exploded "for some reason." But the first medical teams on the scene reported that the man shot the dynamite from forty yards. And, frankly, a man oughtn'ta.

Reference: Ogden Standard-Examiner Standard-Examiner, Deseret News Deseret News, The Tremonton Leader, standard.net [image]

Reader Comment

"What gets into a guy's head to make him shoot at a high explosive . . . I guess the answer is shrapnel."

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Darwin Award Winner: Carbidschieten Carbidschieten Confirmed by Darwin Featuring holiday explosions

1 JANUARY 2010, THE NETHERLANDS Every now and then a completely new window into the world opens before our eyes. Here we have rural Dutch families enjoying their traditional winter sport, carbidschieten carbidschieten, or carbide shooting. This diversion involves a ridiculously dangerous machine akin to a potato gun, designed to hurl projectiles from the mouth of a metal milk can.

Carbide shooting, that wacky Dutch New Year's celebration, begins with moistening calcium carbide (Ca2C) and placing it in a large milk container. The damp Ca2C emits acetylene (C2H2) gas that builds up inside the closed container. Then a spark is supplied, causing the pressurized gas bomb to blow the lid blow the lid (or packing) off the milk jug. (or packing) off the milk jug.

Our nominee, a fifty-four-year-old male, was having the time of his life-right up until the moment he poured a container filled with liquid oxygen liquid oxygen over a fire to "flare it up." The container obligingly exploded. He cashed in his chips, having ended with a flair. over a fire to "flare it up." The container obligingly exploded. He cashed in his chips, having ended with a flair.

Reference: www.nu.nl [image]

Reader Comment

"Proof that Dutch should stick with gasification instead of trying oxyfuel."

At-Risk Survivor: A Really Bad Commute Confirmed by Darwin Featuring an explosion, work, and do-it-yourself

AUGUST 2008, THE NETHERLANDS A thirty-three-year-old man was carpooling to work in Hindeloopen when he mentioned to his colleagues that he was carrying a self-made bomb. The driver immediately stopped the car and ejected the lunatic.

Outside the car, the lunatic-er, bomb maker-tried to disarm the device in an attempt to wheedle his way back into the vehicle. There was nothing to fear, everything was perfectly safe . . . until the bomb builder crossed the detonator wires. The dastardly device exploded, blasting away several of his nonvital body parts.

Police describe the hapless carpool driver as "shaken but unharmed." The bomber could be described as "shaken and unarmed."

Reference: spitsnieuws.nl [image]

Reader Comments

"Disarmed."

"The malice of inanimate objects!"

"That was a really bad commute!"

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At-Risk Survivor: Anchors Aweigh!

Unconfirmed

AUGUST 2006, KARELIA, RUSSIA Shiver me timbers! A man SIA Shiver me timbers! A man from Logmozero, a village located on a lake of the same name in northwestern Russia, was brought to the attention of police when concerned neighbors realized he was using a World War II aviation bomb as an anchor for his boat. Bomb experts said the twenty-five-kilogram curiosity was in working order and easily could have been triggered by an incautious action-such as weighing anchor-sending shrapnel flying five hundred meters from the epicenter. The detonator was missing and a metal hook had been hammered into the device hammered into the device by the owner, so that he could attach an anchor chain to it! by the owner, so that he could attach an anchor chain to it!

Darwin says, "Considered semi-confirmed because the media source is a website, 'Only in Russia,' about the strange things Russians do. A web search found no other sources. Additional confirmation is sought."A metal hook had been hammered into the WWII device.

Reference: englishrussia.com [image]

Merits Discussion: Killer Fuel Economy Confirmed-But Is It a Darwin Award?

Featuring explosions, cars, and do-it-yourself innovation

7 NOVEMBER 2008, MALAYSIA In the town of Batu Berendam, in the state of Malacca, Mohd H. was killed by an explosion at a petrol station while filling his van's tank with compressed natural gas. What made the normally routine process of fueling a vehicle go so badly wrong?

The answer begins with another kind of fuel: cooking gas.

In most Malaysian households, liquid petroleum gas (LPG) is purchased in tanks for use in the kitchen, instead of being drawn from a pipeline to the house as is common in America. The problem was that the man had converted his van to use cleaner-burning compressed natural gas (CNG) by hooking up an LPG cooking gas tank, cooking gas tank, rather than having the vehicle properly converted. rather than having the vehicle properly converted.

LPG tanks and CNG tanks are very different. LPG is a liquid while CNG is a compressed gas. CNG tanks must be able to contain one hundred times more pressure than LPG tanks.

Mohd's desire to economize on fuel was driven by practical reasons. The self-employed electrician ran a family business involving the repair and resale of secondhand electrical appliances. This business required frequent travels to Singapore and Johor, and much would be saved by converting the van to use a more economical fuel. Since twenty-five-year-old Mohd was knowledgeable about machinery, he decided to do it himself.

Somehow, the electrician managed to drain the fuel, remove the old tank, and weld a new tank into place without incident. No doubt pleased by his handiwork, he filled the tank with gas and turned the key. . . .

The LPG tank had been installed beneath the driver's seat, and the ignition system triggered an explosion that shattered the front portion of the vehicle and blew out two of its doors, killing the unwitting creator of the car bomb.

Reference: The Malaysian Insider The Malaysian Insider DARWIN SAYS, MERITS DEBATED!We are divided about whether to give this man a Darwin Award. Local news reports indicate that inept do-it-yourself vehicle conversions are a national problem fueled by a lack of knowledge lack of knowledge about combustion differences between CNG and LPG. On the other hand, this skilled electrician was about combustion differences between CNG and LPG. On the other hand, this skilled electrician was handy with tools handy with tools and knowledgeable about machines. Was he the engineer of his own demise, or simply a victim of circ.u.mstance? and knowledgeable about machines. Was he the engineer of his own demise, or simply a victim of circ.u.mstance?An ancillary question is, how did he manage to drive the vehicle to the petrol station?

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At-Risk Survivor: Mortar Fire Unconfirmed Personal Account Featuring acetylene gas and a can of c.o.ke

2009 This moment of blissfully pure and unadulterated stupidity happened while I was managing a successful franchise exhaust shop a few years back. I had won a contract to build custom exhausts on a series of hot rods. Due to the exacting workmanship required, I did these jobs after hours when I wasn't distracted by customers and staff.

Tired and a bit bored one evening, I took a break, swigged some soda, and set the c.o.ke can down on the pipe rack. It fell neatly into a length of exhaust pipe. This raised some intriguing possibilities. I wondered if a small acetylene explosion would launch a can from the pipe. As it happened, an acetylene set was ready to hand, and I proceeded unimpeded with my experiment.

I welded a plate over one end of the tube, and bored a small hole in the side, just above the plate. I dropped an empty can down the pipe and introduced some acetylene and oxygen though the hole. Test #1 went well. My trusty Zippo ignited the gas and there was a loud pop-but the can launched a measly ten feet in the air.

I proceeded unimpeded with my experiment.

Being a perfectionist, I knew I could do better. The empty can was slightly smaller than the three-inch pipe, and much could be gained by wrapping the can to fit the pipe. Test #2 was better. The pop was louder, and the can launched upward with enough force to dent the tin roof of the building.

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At this point I realized that I could do some damage, so I moved my enterprise out back behind the shop before proceeding with Test #3. I carefully wrapped a full c.o.ke can with a rag, oiled to reduce friction. I rammed it hard down the pipe, but could only get it down about one foot. I aimed the tube straight up (to maximize alt.i.tude) and filled the three remaining feet with oxygen and acetylene. I must confess that I experienced a brief flash of doubt, but I overcame it, knelt down a careful eighteen inches from the pipe, and lit the mortar.

I experienced a brief flash of doubt, but overcame it.

The result was considerably more violent than the prior launches.