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Let's be clear from the start. It is illegal in most, if not all jurisdictions, to set booby traps that are designed to harm or kill. Everything that we are going to discuss with you today is regarding the hypothetical, though possible scenario, that law and order has broken down and survival is the order of the day. You cannot replace your "Beware of Dog" sign with a claymore mine in modern society and escape the legal repercussions. If governments and legal authorities have disappeared for a year in the wake of an EMP blast and you have to decide what's best to keep your family alive, that's what we are talking about today. Prepping is about getting your family ready for the scenarios for which you can imagine, but its mostly for the scenarios you can't even comprehend. So, let's talk about the infamous booby-trap.
What is a Booby Trap? Understanding the Meaning
A booby trap can be most aptly defined as a concealed device designed to cause impediment, injury, or death to a person who unknowingly triggers the device. To best understand each aspect of that definition, we'll breakdown every part of that definition in detail using both historical and popular culture references so as to make this article relevant to all.
A Device Placed for the Purpose of Impediment
The definition of impede means to slow down or obstruct. In the legal sense, it may very well be legal for individuals to set up such contraptions in modern society. If we think back to the popular Christmas movie, Home Alone, young Kevin McAllister was a master at the art of impediment. He wasn't really trying to kill anyone.
Pouring water on a freezing set of steps seemed to be designed to slow entry. Warming the doorknob with a heater was designed more to slow access than cause permanent harm. Clear saran wrap covered in honey with a fan set to blow feathers upon the criminals afterwards wasn't lethal or harmful. His goal was to slow down so that he might execute his plan. One can make the case that impediment is legal today, but conduct your own research before you fortify your house as such.
An Invention Placed for the Purpose of Bodily Harm
In the Vietnam War, the Vietcong would place hidden pits of sharpened punji sticks throughout the jungle. The purpose wasn't to ensure that any who fell upon the trap would wind up dead. Rather, the purpose was to maim, wound, and cause resources to be spent on their extraction.
Fear is a powerful force in warfare and if you can make others afraid to breach your perimeter, that can be as effective as killing them. The flame thrower to the head in Home Alone and the pipe swinging down from the stairs was clearly intended to do harm. If the intent of harm can be established, one would face legal trouble in modern society.
A Contraption Placed with the Intent to Kill
Finally, devices placed with the intent to kill match the definition. Extremely illegal in modern society and extremely effective in warfare and other survival situations, specially wilderness survival. Mines are perhaps the most popular and well-known example. You don't know you've triggered until you become a pink mist of body body parts. Killing was the entire point all along.
In every single case, all three meet the definition of a booby trap. Impede, harm, or kill is all by design and which one you choose depends on for which purpose you have created it. A simple string tied across the bottom of a likely point of access is enough to trip someone up and by virtue of that impediment is a trap.
How Do Booby Traps Work? Exploring the Mechanism
Another key aspect of the definition is that the device must be automatically triggered. It's a trap set in a defined area and when the bomb goes off, only the enemy need be present. Back to popular culture, One Eyed Willy from the movie Goonies had been dead for over 100 years when his devices gave those kids a run for their money. You need a device that will work when you are far away or sleeping in the dead of night.
Trigger Mechanisms and Trip Wire Systems
Perhaps the most popular mechanism to set off such a contraption is the trip wire. It can be defined by the word itself. You trip over it. In fact, the definition has even been used in modern business as it defines an element after which you cross over or click on, it triggers a cascading series of sales funnels and other emails designed to get you to buy a product. That just need you to click or trip over the wire but once and they've got you.
In terms of combat and person defense, it makes perfect sense. On a combat patrol, one's eyes are constantly surveying the perimeter. Watching for ambushes, keeping an eye on the Marine to your front and to your back. Your eyes are rarely watching your feet. Go for a jog or walk and pay attention to how many times you actually look down as opposed to around. That is the virtue of this mechanism.
The All-Powerful Land Mine
As mentioned earlier, an explosive device placed in a container that is designed to explode when triggered. In the 20th century, upwards of 1 million civilians and military individuals are thought to have been killed by land mines. Much like easter eggs, once you hide them, it is not always easy to remember where you placed them.
A land mine can easily be described as an invention created for the purpose of both maiming and killing. When one blows off the lower leg of a combatant, it takes two additional men to drag him off the battlefield. Wounding is as effective as killing as without a lower leg, that soldier is permanently out of the fight.
Remote Detonated Traps
Finally, in the age of electronic warfare, devices can be rigged to be detonated by electronic means. This can be done with a simple cell phone and enough explosives to send someone into the stratosphere, figuratively speaking. The Global Wars on Terror saw insurgent use these effectively against coalition forces and they were detonated by both human and autonomous means.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Rig a Basic Booby Trap
Once again, we are talking about the hypothetical apocalyptic scenario. Do not take this information and deploy it today unless you are prepared to face the legal consequences. As such, we're not going to teach you how to make a booby trap. Rather, we're going to teach you the basic elements for getting your assembly ready for the day that most people dread.
Gathering Materials and Planning Your Setup
Items you might need to construct such inventions in a post-societal environment include the following. Metal wire and lots of it is a good item to stockpile. It is durable and will not break easily over time. Remember you might set up a trap today, but it could be months before it is needed. Small ball bearings or pellets are good to have on hand. Packed next to an explosive, they can do a great deal of damage. Explosives of any sort are also a key element.
However, much like the Vietcong, you can go old school. Sharpened sticks, wooden twine and a shovel can be all you need to create a trap designed to protect your family. you don't have to go high-tech on this. Back to popular culture, the Ewoks set up swing logs to take down the Empire in Return of the Jedi. Use your imagination and stockpile what is needed.
Easy Steps for Secure Assembly and Placement
The next thing you need to consider is having a safe place to assemble the device, particularly if you are dealing with explosives. Constructing your device around the kitchen table is a sure fire way to injure those you love. Practice assembling each element time and time again before trusting the device to work when it is completed.
Moreover, before actually assemble the device, practice placing a dummy model in its intended location. You want to place it in anticipated avenues of approach. Doorways, windows, and create obstacles that will funnel the enemy towards the trap. Practice, practice and then practice some more.
Setting Up Trigger and Connection Points
Perhaps the greatest aspect to practice and ensure you can get right is the trigger. There is nothing worse than for an enemy to trip the wire or step on the mechanism and for nothing to happen. All that work and they rolled over your trap without so much as acknowledging that it was there. Dry fire your traps over and over until you are confident that the mechanism which set off the chain reaction will work 10 times out of 10.
How to Identify and Clear Booby Traps Safely
Finally, let's talk about how to keep you safe if your adversary has done as much research as you on booby traps. This means that they know what it means to impede, harm, or kill. They know how to practice assembly until perfection is reached. This means that your life is in danger if you don't know how to recognize the threat.
Recognizing Signs of Nearby Traps
In Iraq and Afghanistan, US troops learned to recognized elements on the streets that seemed out of place. Perhaps it was a peculiar and out of place pile of garbage or a piece of recently disturbed ground and dirt. Any indication that would should naturally be occurring has been disturbed is a reason for pause.
Not to mention, step carefully and look down at your feet as you move. Service members in Vietnam learned to look down as often as they looked out and about towards their perimeter while on patrol. An ingeniously placed booby trap is not easy to identify, but there is no reason that you should make yourself an easy target out of complacency.
Safe Clearing Techniques for Different Trap Types
During the GWOT wars, service members would call in Emergency Ordinance Disposal (EOD) to clear these devices as they were the experts. In a survival scenario, you will have no such resources at your disposal. The best advice is to steer clear of the device if it is not a continued threat to yourself or those you love. This is particularly true for explosive devices.
If you find yourself in a scenario where you must clear a device, patience is the better part of valor. Make sure you understand each triggering element and anticipate that others may have set a trap for those who tried to disarm it. Ensure that only necessary individuals are in the area. However, if you can avoid playing with a trap designed to maim or kill, discretion the becomes the better part of valor.
A Summary Review on the Use of Booby Traps
We're going to say it again. Using such traps is illegal in the United States. Using such traps when the United States no longer exists is an inevitability. Understanding them in order to wield them effectively or defend against them is good prepping advice. They have been used throughout the history of warfare and there is no reason to expect that to change anytime in the future.
Likely any prepping plan one should practice, train, and practice some more before expecting that you can deploy them with any effectiveness. Booby traps are just one element of a plan and are not a comprehensive plan for survival. Study them and deploy when the time comes. Until then, leave the Goonies and Kevin McCallister to do all the trickery. Stay frosty friends and continue to prepare for the day that most people dread.
