When I was 18 I went up to Meeteetse, WY to visit my uncle’s dad. He was semi-retired as a cowboy on the Antlers Ranch (aka May Ranch), and at this time he worked half-a-year doing irrigation.

That visit remains one of my fondest memories, and it wasn’t the last time I spent a few days with Grandpa Bill. I slept in the bunkhouse with the other cowboys, and there was a young buck mule deer that had somehow castrated himself (on a barbed wire fence?) and he would wander into the bunkhouse at night and nuzzle you like your dog would. Where the base of his antlers would be he had little buttons.

The OP was about blowing beaver dams though. As I said, Bill was responsible for irrigation on the ranch. In the morning we would saddle a couple of horses. Bill had a foam pad that he would throw over the seat of his saddle. He told me his butt had gotten too boney to sit on that hard seat. He filled his saddlebags with sticks of dynamite and we rode out looking for streams blocked by beaver dams. If you don’t think that was just about heaven for an 18 year old boy…

big bada boom

Might as well be wearing a Christmas sweater, wool socks and rubbing a cat on the side of the PVC while rapidly pouring in dry granular propellant...

(I learned things at Eglin at the blow-stuff-up facilty)

Is Tannerite sensitive to sparks?
I would bet a nickel that was what he used.

Walking a bit of a gray line there packing that into a pipe. The BATFE's definition of constructing a "destructive device" has some fluidity to it.

I'm glad he didn't show how he set it off if he didn't use a firearm; there are many ways it could have been done, but the last thing we need is more people trying this. In the video, the first shot sounds like 2 reports. Maybe the first was a rifle shot? He could have hit the top of the pipe from the upstream side.

We didn't have tannerite, and I've never messed with it.

So you take Paypal?

I re-watched and saw him walking with the rifle, I first thought it was a walking stick.

AT 0:56 it appears he is carrying a rifle.
The component looks like the Tannerite I have seen.

The jar in the lower left corner of the video, when he's pouring powder into the PVC, is a Tannerite jar.

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:
The jar in the lower left corner of the video, when he's pouring powder into the PVC, is a Tannerite jar.

Yup. Missed that.

As for what he did with the explosive, that was pretty mild as compared with what’s been posted in other videos. I really am somewhat surprised that the ATF has never made Tannerite and what people do with it a focus. Or perhaps I should say I’m really surprised by what people haven’t done with it.

That was an impressive explosion. I’m still surprised this stuff is legal. I thought the do gooders would have gone after it.

Get yerself some cannon fuse and a little plumbers putty to pack around the hole and you've got a basic pipe bomb. Works for beaver dams, stumps, and many things in between that need getting blowed up real good.

I could think of some ways to take out more of that dam with one shot. But I certainly would not post it on the internet.

You do have me wondering how sensitive tannerite is to static once the binary components are mixed.

What do y'all have against the lowly beaver? Seriously, why would someone want to go on a dam destroying expedition? I understand that they can be destructive of young trees, etc. but don't beaver ponds tend to be good for flood control, etc?

Generally speaking, Tannerite mixtures sold on the civilian market won't be dangerously sensitive to ESD (static). Even the more sensitive mixtures designed for pistol/rimfire shouldn't present a hazard from ESD during normal handling.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
What do y'all have against the lowly beaver? Seriously, why would someone want to go on a dam destroying expedition? I understand that they can be destructive of young trees, etc. but don't beaver ponds tend to be good for flood control, etc?

It all depends where the dam is. I’ve seen the County & State Hwy department go all out to remove beavers and their dams blocking culverts, anytime of the year, any methods.

Now if that dam & pond is on a stream in the woods, no biggie.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
What do y'all have against the lowly beaver? Seriously, why would someone want to go on a dam destroying expedition? I understand that they can be destructive of young trees, etc. but don't beaver ponds tend to be good for flood control, etc?

I'm no architect, or even a philospher, but aren't there two sides to every damn dam?

Joker King is just getting clicks by posting other's content. In this case, it's a YouTuber named David Ellis (aka Yawt Yawt). He's a professional trapper (feral hogs, beavers, etc) in MS and sometimes blows up beaver dams as they flood out homeowner's properties. I watch him occasionally and he comes across as a really good guy who genuinely likes helping people.

Here is the full length video if anyone is interested:

I have blown a lot of stuff up with TNT, C4, det cord, and other explosives, and am surprised tannerite is powerful enough to destroy beaver dams. But I have never used it and don't know much about it, thought it was just for making loud noises in safe places.