A co-worker just told me a story about one of his friends who has been having wood stolen from his piles. Supposedly the guy now bores out a few pieces of wood, fills them with black powder and plugs the hole. I guess that when you hear about someone in town whose stove blew up you know who was stealing your wood and will have probably taught them a lesson. Sounds a bit dangerous to me, you could maim or kill someone that way and I have no idea what the legal ramifications of that are. In theory though it's a hilarious idea.
Here's one way to deal with wood thieves
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LLigetfa
Minister of Fire
JustWood
Minister of Fire
I've split alot of logs with black powder and there is a little more to it to get an explosion than just dumping powder in a hole and sealing it.
If not packed it will just flash off . Might put some excess pressure in the stove . Pressure I'm sure the stove wood handle but maybe not the stovepipe.
If packed and fused correctLEE a pop bottle cap full can do some major damage.
It's nothing eye wood want to chance even though a thief is one of the lowest life forms. Never know, that thief might sell the wood to someone else for cash.
If not packed it will just flash off . Might put some excess pressure in the stove . Pressure I'm sure the stove wood handle but maybe not the stovepipe.
If packed and fused correctLEE a pop bottle cap full can do some major damage.
It's nothing eye wood want to chance even though a thief is one of the lowest life forms. Never know, that thief might sell the wood to someone else for cash.
Somehow I bet the thieving bass turd could sue your friend.
I like the idea, though I can forsee your friend accidently putting one of those 'special' pieces in his own stove :roll:
I like the idea, though I can forsee your friend accidently putting one of those 'special' pieces in his own stove :roll:
Flatbedford
Minister of Fire
quads
Minister of Fire
One problem I could see with that though, is what if the guy's 2 year old daughter is setting by the nice warm stove when it goes off? Better to try to catch the guy in the act, I think.
Fsappo
Minister of Fire
It's been done. I would love to do it, but I think "what if the scumbag has a baby living with him" or something like that. Id just assume have a hidden camera that is motion activated. Have it hooked to a laptop near the bed with a sound notification. You know the thief is there, but he doesnt know you know. The rest requires being very sneaky and having a fake gun to plant on him in the event the blow to the head kills or seriously injures him.
lexybird
Minister of Fire
DBoon
Minister of Fire
devinsdad
Member
When my piles were pilfered I called the cops. But I knew who took it. Now I have a camera set up so I can PROVE who took it.
ansehnlich1
Retired Hearth.com Member
uh, me thinks this story has made the rounds before.
like the "how to get your wood split for free" story.....have a bud call the cops and tell 'em YOU have a bunch of weed packed in some bucked rounds in a pile out back of your house
like the "how to get your wood split for free" story.....have a bud call the cops and tell 'em YOU have a bunch of weed packed in some bucked rounds in a pile out back of your house
LLigetfa
Minister of Fire
Boys will be boys. One time I put a bullet into an open fire. Now I thought I was being smart to stand so the bullet was pointing away from me but when it went off the casing wizzed by me. DOH! Learned Newton's third law that day.peterc38 said:LLigetfa said:
I'm afraid to ask how you know this!
burntime
New Member
Did the same as a kid with lower caliber and they just fizzed, sorta bang, but never really went far... Now I don't do things like that...ammo is too damn expensive
savageactor7
Minister of Fire
I dunno... booby trapping is like asking for bad karma, sure thieves are rat bastards. And when confronted they should have severe violence visited upon them. Booby traps are indiscriminate, they may have a place but not here...like that.
burntime
New Member
Your right Savage, but the stories are soooooo goood! :lol: By the way, I need a compact tractor like in your avitar. I secretly dream of a kubota b7600 or larger...someday...
I knew a trooper I worked with who recovered a stolen radar detector that blew up in his face when he plugged it in to see if it still worked. It caused some serious facial and eye injuries. Turns out the victim had 2 radar detectors stolen previously and booby trapped this one assuming the thief would become the victim. He was convicted of a felony and did 2 years in the Maine state prison. I would love to do the same thing for stolen wood but the ramifications could backfire, so to speak.
scotsman
Feeling the Heat
There are a number of non-lethal, but effective ways of spiking wood. Sulfur packing comes to mind. Not lethal, but when burned will cause mulit-hour evacuation of premises, hopefully into the blinding snowstorm. I found this out when a football buddy of mine and I lit off a "home-made in a pipe" solid "rocket" in the chemistry lab, having no idea that our 6 lag bolts would not prevent it from exiting the room through an outside brick wall just three seconds later, taking a majority percentage of the lab counter with it. For some reason, Mr. Koonce was not happy and somehow knew who to call to the office over the PA. And we had hidden pretty well, too! This was during our lunch and the whole school was evacuated the rest of the day because of the smell of sulfur. THAT'S how I know about that!
If interested in a variety of methods, consult your chemistry savvy friends for suggestions. Can't remember the compounds, but there are two that are indisguishable from skunk spray, but about 3 times more intense. Try airing out the abode in 15 F weather after that. Any thief burning/peddaling such will get double negative input, to put it mildly. It's always good to have a friend well-versed in chemistry. I think ethyl mercaptans are also very effective, but harmless.
We like to have fun down here in Texas!!
If interested in a variety of methods, consult your chemistry savvy friends for suggestions. Can't remember the compounds, but there are two that are indisguishable from skunk spray, but about 3 times more intense. Try airing out the abode in 15 F weather after that. Any thief burning/peddaling such will get double negative input, to put it mildly. It's always good to have a friend well-versed in chemistry. I think ethyl mercaptans are also very effective, but harmless.
We like to have fun down here in Texas!!
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
Seems like we always hear of this . . . but I have yet to hear of a member here who has actually done this . . . seems to me this is one of those "Well this is what I would have done" (or "This is what I heard one co-worker/friend/family member once did") stories/myths.
This one's true...
When I was a kid, we used be able to buy cookies after lunch in the school cafeteria. My favorite was Oreos. They were 2 cents apiece, and my Dad would give an extra dime in my lunch money to buy 5 of them. I was a bit of a runt back then, and there was one particular guy who picked on me all the time. One day he decided he would snag an Oreo off the top of my little stack as he walked by. Soon it became a daily habit. I wasn't too bad with my fists, but this guy was way bigger, so I just kinda endured it.
One day I told my Dad what was happening, and how big the guy was, and he came up with this great scheme to doctor up an Oreo with red pepper flakes. He took apart an Oreo from the pack we had at home, hollowed out the center of the cream filling, put the pepper flakes in the hole and put the top back on.
The next day, after I bought my Oreos, I slipped the loaded cookie on top of the stack and waited. I kept looking out the corner of my eye, and sure enough, I saw him making a beeline for my table. Just as he was ready to grab it, I looked him right in the eye, and he hesitated and then walked on without taking it. I was really disappointed, even though I was pretty sure I was going to get an ass kicking over it. I really wanted to see his face when that pepper hit his tongue. It would have been worth the beating.
After that, he never tried to snag another cookie again. And about a year later we started to hang out and we got to be friends.
When I was a kid, we used be able to buy cookies after lunch in the school cafeteria. My favorite was Oreos. They were 2 cents apiece, and my Dad would give an extra dime in my lunch money to buy 5 of them. I was a bit of a runt back then, and there was one particular guy who picked on me all the time. One day he decided he would snag an Oreo off the top of my little stack as he walked by. Soon it became a daily habit. I wasn't too bad with my fists, but this guy was way bigger, so I just kinda endured it.
One day I told my Dad what was happening, and how big the guy was, and he came up with this great scheme to doctor up an Oreo with red pepper flakes. He took apart an Oreo from the pack we had at home, hollowed out the center of the cream filling, put the pepper flakes in the hole and put the top back on.
The next day, after I bought my Oreos, I slipped the loaded cookie on top of the stack and waited. I kept looking out the corner of my eye, and sure enough, I saw him making a beeline for my table. Just as he was ready to grab it, I looked him right in the eye, and he hesitated and then walked on without taking it. I was really disappointed, even though I was pretty sure I was going to get an ass kicking over it. I really wanted to see his face when that pepper hit his tongue. It would have been worth the beating.
After that, he never tried to snag another cookie again. And about a year later we started to hang out and we got to be friends.
varna said:I was waiting to read that YOU ate the top cookie after he walked away
Ha, ha!
I was so nervous that I probably came close.
Flatbedford
Minister of Fire
Just knowing you had that top cookie gave you balls to stare him down. Bullies usually need that. You made him move on to an easier target.
Shwammy
Member
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