Booby Traps.

The Philosopher Plato postulated in The Republic that "Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention". I postulate that necessity can be a mother.....

I'm sure many of us have, as children, done things like stretch a jump rope across the school hallway in an effort to ensnare a victim. In college, it was a favorite prank to charge up a large capacitor and wire it to a chair.

Relatively harmless fun.

But these types of pranks can evolve into much more nefarious and deadly traps.

During World War II, it was common for people to string piano wire across the narrow streets in European towns in an effort to decapitate those riding in open vehicles. Some people in Europe just can't seem to get away from this practice.

The North Vietnamese Army and, especially, the Viet Cong took devising and placing booby traps very seriously.

Here in this short segment of a BBC video production, you can see some of the novel and inventive methods they employed, using common materials, in an effort to maim and capture enemy soldiers.



The activities were of such concern that the US Army wrote a classified document (now declassified) detailing the activities and methods of construction used by the Viet Cong.

Just so you know, Americans also prepared booby traps in response. My dad took great delight in detailing how he would prepare Zippo Lighters to explode. Zippos were prized by the Vietnamese fighters.

This manual is now available for download in the "File Of The Day" section at the right. I hope it stimulates the thought processes of the more inventive and creative evil geniuses out there who may one day find themselves facing a larger, better equipped force.