Does dynamite "go bad"?

The old gentleman who lived across the street from me passed away some months ago at the ripe old age of 93. He had a little house which is situated on about a half acre of unfenced land. He was an absolute packrat and a collector of the most amazing assortment of items - bath tubs, lengths of wire fence, building supplies, metal wash tubs - you get the idea. Much of this stuff is just lying around outside his house. I sometimes take a shortcut across the upper part of his property when I'm walking back home.

Well, the other day, Starshine slipped off her leash and happily ran off to inspect the many treasures scattered around his place as we were going back toward my house. I finally managed to catch her when she had got into an old shed to chase after a ground squirrel. There was a punch of discarded lumber in the shed and 4 sticks (very old) of TNT.

I must confess that the thought of having my very own stick of dynamite had a certain allure, and the old guy wasn't going to be using the stuff, so I swiped one of the sticks.

I'm not planning on blowing anything up at the moment, but I'm wondering if the stuff would still work after 20 years or so of laying around? Does anyone know? I suppose I could go way up in the mountains somewhere, light the fuse and run, but is there any other way of finding out?

[blue]

I'm pretty sure that's the only way, let us know if it went bad.

[barefoot serpent]

umm... old dynamite is VERY UNSTABLE!!! if it shows any crystalline paticles on the wrapper that is NITRO GLYCERINE, it can explode on contact! But it can already have decomposed to Nitro on the inside so that the least shock can set it off.

My advice to you: Call the police and hope that they have a bomb squad.

Originally Posted by barefoot serpent

umm... old dynamite is VERY UNSTABLE!!! if it shows any crystalline paticles on the wrapper that is NITRO GLYCERINE, it can explode on contact! But it can already have decomposed to Nitro on the inside so that the least shock can set it off.

My advice to you: Call the police and hope that they have a bomb squad.

WOW! Does that mean that if the ground squirrel ran across one of the other three sticks still sitting in that shed, it could blow everything up? The stick I took doesn't have any crystalline particles on the wrapper, but I didn't inspect the other 3 that are still laying in there.

YIPES!

[BigV]

Dynamite does sometimes "go bad", but most commonly dynamite "goes boom"! Good dynamite can "go boom" and bad dynamite can "go boom". Sometimes "good dynamite" "goes boom" unexpectedly. This is the major reason for saying "Bad dynamite!"

Call the freakin bomb squad.

[barefoot serpent]

9-1-1

[dar512]

Originally Posted by marichiko

I must confess that the thought of having my very own stick of dynamite had a certain allure, and the old guy wasn't going to be using the stuff, so I swiped one of the sticks.

Understand, Mari, that I hold you in the highest regard when I say, "Are you nuts!!!???" This is like a poster-child example of making a bad decision. The concept is to think about the possible repercussions of your actions and the possible benefits before taking said action. In this case, you are risking your life and the life of your dog (and maybe the neighbors?) for the sake of being the first (well, second) on your block to have a stick of dynamite.

That's not to mention that the police tend to get all upset over private citizens having bombs in their homes.

Mari - you seem like a nice person. But this was a really really bad decision.

[lumberjim]

Originally Posted by gullible512

Mari - you seem like a nice person.

no. she seems like a big fucking LIAR.

the puppy 'slipped off his leash' as she was 'cutting through his property', and 'chased a ground squirrel into the shed'

give me a fucking break. you fucking people that believe this shit are nearly as bad.


you heard the old prick died, then went snooping with your dog. you stole a stick of dynamite from his estate. you're probably going to do something stupid with it, like blow up your exboyfriend's car and we'll have another drama.

or you made the entire thing up.
this smacks of an eposide of Little House.

[lumberjim]

must i remind you fuckers of her bullseye into the ex's PO box lock with a staple from a staple gun?

gah!

Originally Posted by dar512

Understand, Mari, that I hold you in the highest regard when I say, "Are you nuts!!!???" This is like a poster-child example of making a bad decision. The concept is to think about the possible repercussions of your actions and the possible benefits before taking said action. In this case, you are risking your life and the life of your dog (and maybe the neighbors?) for the sake of being the first (well, second) on your block to have a stick of dynamite.

That's not to mention that the police tend to get all upset over private citizens having bombs in their homes.

Mari - you seem like a nice person. But this was a really really bad decision.

Dar, I gotta agree with you. I acted on impulse. Also, I had no idea that the stuff actually could still be dangerous. Its very old and must have been laying around in that shed for years. I actually took it as a sort of joke to have around. Thank you all for letting me know that my "joke" could actually be a lethal one!

Upon due reflection, I am going to go back and carefully replace that stick where I found it with the other 3, and call the police to inform them that I chanced across 4 sticks of dynamite while taking a short cut across the old guy's yard. If I happened across them, someone else is bound to. I've already seen signs that some homeless person is sleeping in one of the old rusty cars that is part of the general junk collection over there.

The next person who chances into that shed may know something about explosives and have more sinisters ideas than I, and even if its just a ground squirrel that happens to ignite the stuff, the resulting exposion could send debris flying that would probably go pretty far and possibly hurt not just me, but any of the neighbors around here.

LJ, shouldn't you be watching one of your sales staff bang a customer's wife in the men's room?

[zippyt]

Mari , if this is true ( I don't doubt you but,,,,, )
DON'T HANDEL THAT STICK OF DINOMITE ANY MORE !!!!!
DO NOT FUCK WITH EXPLOSIVES IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING !!!!!!

1) Evacuate anything you love and want to keep from the imediet area ( at least 100 yards )
2) Old Dinomite leaches Nitro Gliseren , that shiney stuff that looks like sap on the out side , this can and WILL go BOOM just because it wants to !!!
3) call the cops to despose of what you found !!! I Guarantee it will freak them out !!!!!
4) DO ALL THIS NOW!!!!!!!!
5) hope like HELL you don't end up in jail for doing this DUMB ASS THING !!!!!!!

This is from a Former Marine trained in demolitions !!!!!!!

Well, I feel incredibly stupid. I guess I AM incredibly stupid about stuff like TNT. I thought the stuff became harmless after a few years. I really did. And I'm glad I asked about it, even if if I did reveal how dumb I am. Better dumb than dead. I already tippy toed over and put it back without incident, Zippy. I'll call the cops about the old guy's stash first thing in the am.

[lumberjim]

pathetic

Originally Posted by LJ

Pathetic

Are you referring to your penchant for having and viewing live porno shows at your dealership?

As for me, I've already admitted to being very foolish. What I'd like to know is what my deceased neighbor was planning on doing with 4 sticks of dynamite and why he'd leave them in a shed on top of a pile of old pieces of lumber. He was sharp as a tack right up to the end - worked in his yard, added to his junk collection and could talk reasonably about most any subject you cared to bring up. He'd been the town mayor years back. I wonder what HE figured to do with the stuff?

[Beestie]

Originally Posted by Marichiko

Marichiko lies and cheats

Some days the posts just write themselves.