RE: RE: [DL] Dyn-o-mite!

[Frempath2@netscape.net]

Or you could just buy the real world Ketcham grenade. During the american civil war 2 types of hand grenades were available, the Excelsior and the Ketcham.  

The Excelsior was an explosive charge with 28 spines.  Each spine was capped with a percussion cap. Then 2 halves of a metal sphere were screwed together (gently).  The sphere was then thrown your opponent. Contact then fired one of the caps and detonated the sphere, sending little metal bits through the opponent.

The Ketcham grenade was a better design, though a smaller charge.  The Ketcham charge was surrounded by metal and was similar in size and shape to a kiwi fruit.  To this is attached fins.  The whole affair looks much like a lawn dart.  The front of the device has percussion cap over the charge and a striker with a distk about 2 inches across attached to the striker. The idea was to throw the dart at a target. The contact would cause the striker to ignite the cap and charge.

   g'day
   frempath

(sorry about the 2nd post jim)
"Heivilin, Jim" <banzai@missouri.edu> wrote:

>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Ivan E [mailto:ivan_gaming@yahoo.com]
>> Subject: RE: [DL] Dyn-o-mite!
>> 
>> --- Matthew Hanson <deviantsevant@msn.com> wrote:
>> > For the purposes of simplicity you could simply rule
>> > that if someone chuckin' dynamite at his foes, they 
>> > go off when they hit thier target, 
>> > unless they botch, which would be bad.
>> 
>This particular rule, while simple, implies a number of things.  A) They
>know how to handle the explosives without blowing themselves and all in the
>immediate vicinity up, B) they know how long the fuse will burn for
>(exactly), C) they know how long it will take for the stick to fly through
>the air (including crosswinds and gusts) and D) they can cut the fuse, fit
>the blasting cap to the fuse, crimp it, insert the cap into the explosive,
>secure and throw it in 1 action.  I'd say if they have demolitions skill
>then fine but if not this is assuming a bit much for my tastes.  On the
>other hand it would be bad to slow down the action with (needless - to the
>story) detail.  
>
>> lol...I'm usually all for simplicity! Thanks to all
>> who have answered so far. Let me set the stage a
>> little better.
><snip>
>> fit better in the storyline to have him light it and
>> chuck it away), I'm not gonna have it go off in his
>> hand. But if he's carrying sticks of dynamite through
>>
>At a guess (I've never seen anything on the effects of this) I'd say it
>would take him arm off if not kill him outright.  His body probably wouldn't
>"disappear" but his arm would be gone and his chest would be *rather*
>mangled.  
>
>> the burning doors of a showring...I'll need an idea of
>> how much time he has before the sticks in his holsters
>> go boom.
>> 
>This is so far outside the realm of my experience that I wouldn't even want
>to hazard a guess.  I'm familiar with the effects of fire on most modern
>explosives but 19th century dynamite was *much* less stable.  And given
>differences in manufacturing I'd say that there wouldn't be a standard
>"response".  So basically what I'd suggest is whatever is most dramatic and
>makes the best story.  Just keep in mind that an explosion is basically just
>something that burns *incredibly* quickly.  And the big fireball is an
>expanding ball of hot gases from combustion.  And what we see in TV and in
>films isn't what *really* happens.  The FX people often (from what I
>understand) add gasoline to the charge to create the fireball since it looks
>*much* more dramatic.  
>
>Jim
>
>
>To unsubscribe, send a message to esquire@gamerz.net with
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>
>


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