# Are IED's and Booby Traps the same thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 15, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ieds-and-booby-traps-the-same-thing/655783 "2013-04-15T19:18:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wei\_ji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wei\_ji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wei_ji)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ieds-and-booby-traps-the-same-thing/655783/1 "2013-04-15T19:18:33Z")
Is the U.S. military term IED (Improvised Explosive Device) a general updating of the old WW II term “booby trap,” or is a distinction still made between these two things in better ordinance disposal circles? It seems to me that a “booby trap” is a more limited device, something like a grenade, with the fuse trimmed back and the pin pulled, being left in a tin can to fall out or be pulled out by a wire and then to detonate nearly instantaneously. In WW II the Germans were expert at booby trapping all sorts of things, one writer with experience of them saying they had the grim quality of an ingenious practical joke. An IED would seem to be a more ambitious device, more carefully crafted, of greater power, and more strategically located, like an artillery shell in a roadway. There must be someone who can answer this with authority. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ieds-and-booby-traps-the-same-thing/655783/2 "2013-04-15T19:26:45Z")
As explained in the[wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booby_trap#Military_booby_traps): > [@](#): > > What distinguishes a booby trap is that it is contrived to work in an unexpected manner that takes advantage of the victim’s ignorance of the mode of operation. It naturally follows that booby trap designs must be many and varied, and for this reason the traps are often at least partially improvised from some item of ordnance, such as an artillery shell,[6] grenade, or quantity of high explosives. However, some mines have features specifically designed for incorporation into booby traps and armies have been equipped with a variety of mass-produced triggering mechanisms intended to be incorporated into booby traps in a wide variety of ways. So an IED is a type of booby trap. ETA: To clarify based on Machine Elf’s post - Some IEDs are a type of booby trap. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ieds-and-booby-traps-the-same-thing/655783/3 "2013-04-15T19:27:05Z")
Booby traps may or may not involve explosives. [According to Wikipedia,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booby_trap) booby traps are triggered by the action of the victim. IEDs always involve explosives. They may be triggered by the action of the victim, by a remote observer, or by a suicidal operative. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ieds-and-booby-traps-the-same-thing/655783/4 "2013-04-15T22:17:12Z")
A booby trap could be something as simple as a covered pit, with no explosives at all, nor any other technology more advanced than the paleolithic.