I blew up a suitcase.

But that's probably not enough info.

Briefly - Tannerite is a legal binary explosive used in reactive targets for long-range shooters. When its two components are mixed, it is still stable, only detonating if struck by an object moving at 2,000fps or faster.

The charge in this video is a half-pound, the standard-sized charge. I had shot at over a dozen Tannerite targets prior to this shot, and while the explosions were loud, they weren't all that impressive. So when my neighbor gave me an old suitcase he was throwing out and I got the brilliant idea to put a Tannerite charge in there, I thought that, at best, it would simply tear a big ragged hole in the suitcase or something.

Had I actually taken a physics course in college, I probably would have had a better understanding about explosions and the expansion of gases and such. Hell - I even got CLOSER because I didn't think it'd be that bad. As you can see, this went way beyond a ragged hole in the suitcase - the whole damned thing blowed up, smacking me and my friend Jose with debris.

This was actually incredibly stupid and not something I'd repeat - at least not at such close range. We really could have gotten hurt.

That said - it's still funny as hell and I can't stop laughing about it.

Tags:   el grande boom-boom

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I seriously cannot get enough of that howl. Listen to it! I get goosebumps every time I watch this.

Tags:   F104 starfighter f104starfighter explored crap

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A brief, visual synopsis of last week's trip up to Vegas for Red Flag 09-3.

Tags:   redflag

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Video from the Blue Angels' afternoon practice on 26FEB2009 @ NAF El Centro.

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thenewarea51 poses for the best photo to come out of the El Centro photocall while an F/A-18F lands in the background.

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