Smoke Bomb Goes Off in Phoenix Hotel - Weapons Found

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/11/30/smoke-bomb-goes-off-in-hilton-hotel-weapons-found-phoenix/ ^ | 11/30/08

[Sammy67]

This is an incident report and there is no information indicating that it is terrorism related. Additional details will be provided as they become available.

Guests were evacuated Sunday night when a smoke bomb went off on the fourth floor of the Hilton Garden Inn, 1940 W. Pinnacle Peak Road in northwest Phoenix.

Officials found other weapons in the room where

[Red Badger]

...guns and bullets were also found in the room

Not Guns 'n Roses?..................

[papertyger]

Where the hell can you get saltpeter these days?

Now that i think about it, a few smokes would be pretty handy to keep around. Does anyone know if civilians can own smoke grenades?

[WayneS]

In Jr. High School I duct-taped a “tennis ball cannon” to the plastic stock from an NJROTC drill rifle and made a quite effective and “aimable” weapon out of it.

In the days of straight-sided, steel soda cans with welded/soldered seams, the tennis ball just fit PERFECTLY.

Unfortunately it is very hard to find that type of can in the correct size any more. When you do find a straight-sided steel can, it is usually a bit larger (or smaller) in diameter than a tennis ball (that is why we had to use an odd-sized foam ball with the “bean can cannon”).

[WayneS]

Most pharmacies still carry it. It’s not as cheap as it used to be.

[Islander7]

“...However, the class bullies and football players did not always like my tricks...”

We were nerds before there were nerds.

I put a small amount hydrochloric acid in test tube and covered the end with a balloon. I suspended it over a small beaker of iron sulfide. About an hour later, poof! Hydrogen sulfide gas stinks! It wasn’t enough to hurt anyone, but we got two days out of school! I was sweating that stunt.

Man, how I loved science lab!

[Centurion2000]

I once caused my High School to be evacuated. VERY hot sulfur in the heating/ventilation system causes unpleasant fumes.

My personal favorite was butyric acid in the HS air conditioning system. Of course this was AFTER you left the building for the day (Had a set of campus buildings).

[WayneS]

You mean there ISN’T a terrorist under every bed?

[Centurion2000]

Now that i think about it, a few smokes would be pretty handy to keep around. Does anyone know if civilians can own smoke grenades?

Sure are. Unless you live in a nazi state like Massachusetts or Illinois probably.

[Skid Marx]

With a little naptha-based lighter fluid and one of his foam rubber balls, we were able to make quite a racket.

Double Pringles can launchers and tennis balls down a 75 foot hall. Tried to grab them with a catcher's mitt. Those things were lethal.

[brytlea]

The authorities pretty much always DO say it wasn’t terror related. In most cases they are correct, but they do seem to say that before they could know it’s the case.

[Hatteras]

Who were the Suns playing?

[1rudeboy]

The article said guns and bullets were also found in the room.. seems officials are quick to say that it was not terror related...this always is the case....

. . . there is no information indicating that it is terrorism related. [emphasis added]

Am I the only one on FR who understands the difference?

[Islander7]

Cheap-Chemicals.com

You can usually get small amounts at a drug store, but it is very expensive. This site has it for $6.55 a lb. You will need to mill it to a very fine powder.

Smoke Bomb

Adding a little Vaseline slows the burning time and increases smoke production. A little dab will do ya!

Potassium nitrate "sugar" propellant latest target of ATF scrutiny

PAULLINA, Iowa USA — So you thought all along that experimental and amateur rocketry endeavors were safe from the ever-outstretching arms of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), right? Think again. An amateur rocketeer in Paullina, Iowa has found out otherwise.

Scott Fintel, a champion of potassium nitrate rocket motors, more commonly known as "sugar" propellant, has found out that the experimental formulation is considered within the scope of explosive mixtures the ATF has included in their "List of Explosive Materials," a list mandated by Congress that the director of the ATF must publish and revise at least once per year.

Fintel has maintained a well documented web site in addition to an online discussion forum for the purposes of sharing his success and failures experimenting with the potassium nitrate formulation. Like ammonium perchlorate composite propellant (APCP), potassium nitrate composite propellant is a fast burning solid but not generally considered by users to be an explosive.

-------- snip

Be careful!

[Skid Marx]

AND, I once made a remark in a HS chemistry class which the self-proclaimed school genius took seriously.

Hell, I made a thermite flare and got the teacher to light it in the sink. Burned clean through the porcelain crucible and burned a hole in the granite. It was great.

[Myrddin]

My German teacher was also a chemistry teacher. She was always incessantly pacing around the room. One day I spiced up the German class by sprinkling bits of wet contact explosive on the floor. As the class progressed, the little spots dried. Her pacing started making little pops. She caught on quickly and had the whole class walk to the front of the room to pick up some soon to be discarded German textbooks. The floor was crackling like a giant bowl of Rice Crispies. I made sure the "bits" were just enough to pop and not enough to cause any problems.

[Myrddin]

My chemistry class collected red rust and clipped aluminum cans into fine chunks. Our thermite reaction was initiated on top of a sand surface with a little commercial grade thermite and a magnesium ribbon. The blob of steel that resulted was about the size of your fist. The amount of commercial grade thermite used was about a teaspoon of powder. The rest of the material was from the collected rust/aluminum cans. We knew what was going to happen before it was initiated, thus the sand box surface.

Years later, the same chemistry teacher made a little potassium perchlorate and sugar to create the classic purple volcano. That didn't turn out well. It detonated and blew off the edge of the lab table.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

a quick look in a search engine and I found:

http://www.cheap-chemicals.com

carries it. I haven’t bought from them....

[metmom]

But it’s not terrorism related. Nosirree bob.

It never is.

[TexasRepublic]

“You and I could have been best friends!”

Ditto, although WayneS was definitely crazier than I was/am.

[WayneS]

I’m glad you said WAS...

...my therapist says I am doing VERY well...

;^)