# Can a "Bouncing Betty " be defused? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 25, 2023, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669 "2023-09-25T10:52:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chickenwrangler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chickenwrangler/32/91_2.png) [@Chickenwrangler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chickenwrangler)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/1 "2023-09-25T10:52:51Z")
“Bouncing betty” is the nickname given to a mine that when stepped on bounce up and detonate at about 3ft causing serious injury to anyone within range. Not very nice I’ve seen a couple of movies where some one has stepped on one of these mines heard the click and froze so the Betty couldn’t bounce and detonate. The end always seemed to be fatal as you can’t stand still for very long. Recently watched a movie Called “No Mans Land” “[No Man's Land (2001) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283509/?ref_=tt_sims_tt_i_4)” about the Serbian and Bosnian war where two soldiers one from each side are trapped in a trench in No Mans Land. There is also a body lying on the ground that has a Bouncing Betty under his body set as a booby trap. They thought he was dead when the bomb was set but he recovers and now can’t move because of the booby trap. It gets a bit involved with the UN, news crews and eventually a bomb disposal expert arriving to defuse the bomb. The bomb expert has a go at sorting the mine under the guy but when he discovers it’s a “Bouncing Betty” says this is not possible to defuse, nobody could do it, and gives up. So the movie ends as night falls with everybody just going home leaving the poor guy alone with the bomb under him to his fate. Would this happen, could it happen? If there is no way to defuse the mine what could anyone do.? [No Mans Land](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283509/?ref_=tt_sims_tt_i_4) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/2 "2023-09-25T11:06:06Z")
I too have wondered about this and have now been prompted to look it up. The folks at Quora seem unanimous in agreeing that it is “Hollywood nonsense”. This post seems to sum it up: > 1. the “ click+ stand on it” stuff is Hollywood nonsense. > 2. Most modern ones aren’t triggered by standing on them; they are triggered by brushing an offset trigger bar, or by tripwires. > 3. Even with a pressure operated one, you won’t hear or feel a click. You will just hear the “pop” as it jumps, followed by the large bang when it shreds you. > **[If you stood on a bouncing betty after the initial fuse has been triggered,...](https://www.quora.com/If-you-stood-on-a-bouncing-betty-after-the-initial-fuse-has-been-triggered-would-it-keep-the-mine-from-bouncing-up-therefore-making-it-safe)** > > Answer (1 of 8): > \> If you stood on a bouncing betty after the initial fuse has been triggered, would it keep the mine from "bouncing" up, therefore making it safe? > Chances are that you won’t even know you stepped on the mine and you’ll never get... ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/3 "2023-09-25T12:44:35Z")
@Tripler is a retired EOD guy. He may not choose to say it here, but I’m sure he knows the real answer. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/4 "2023-09-25T17:07:07Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I too have wondered about this and have now been prompted to look it up. The folks at Quora seem unanimous in agreeing that it is “Hollywood nonsense”. > > > 1. Most modern ones aren’t triggered by standing on them; they are triggered by brushing an offset trigger bar, or by tripwires. For ‘Bouncing Bettys’ it isn’t just modern ones, the original Bouncing Betty, the German [S-mine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-mine) from WWII used a triple pronged pressure fuse that could be attached to a trip wire. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/S-mine.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/S-mine.jpg) As for the click+ stand on it bit: > A common misconception prevailed that the S-mine would not detonate until its victim stepped off the trigger. This fallacy was propagated by incorrect United States [propaganda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda) during World War II. The mine would detonate whether the trigger was released or not. Standing still or attempting to run from the S-mine would be equally dangerous. The most effective way to survive the mine’s detonation would not be to flee but to fall to the ground lying face down as quickly as possible. As for defusing them, it was fairly simple to do as long as nobody had stepped on it yet: > Once an S-mine was discovered, disarming it was fairly simple. To prevent triggering while the mine was being planted, the German pressure sensor featured a hole where a safety pin kept the sensor from being depressed. This pin was removed once the mine was planted. If the discovered mine was fitted with the pressure sensor, the disarming personnel would slip a pin (such as a sewing needle or pin) into this hole. If the device was armed with a tripwire or electrical trigger, this could simply be cut. Germans were known to use [booby traps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booby_trap) to discourage this, so caution was suggested. The mine could then be removed carefully from the ground and the sensor easily unscrewed. If it was deemed necessary to render the mine completely inert, three plugs on the top granted access to the three detonators inside the mine. These could be unscrewed and the detonators removed. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/5 "2023-09-25T20:20:55Z")
And from Blown Away: > **[Blown Away (1994) - German S-Mine 35 ''Bouncing Betty'' Anti-Personnel Land...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgCg8cVH-bY%2F)** > > Plot: A mad IRA serial bomber (Tommy Lee Jones) escapes from prison and begins systematically picking off members of the Boston Police bomb squad.Trailer: ht... ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/6 "2023-09-30T01:23:28Z")
Thanks for the shoutout. Long story short, no. Once you ~~hear the click~~ activate the mine, it’s already too late. It’s Hollywood trope that you have time between “hearing” a click and detonation. I put heavy air quotes around “hearing” because the time between activation and detonation is so fast, what’s _left_ of you won’t have time to register what you’re hearing. There’s no point in giving anyone time to react to a mine–that defeats the entire purpose of laying the mine in the first place. Now don’t get me wrong. . . the [Valmara 69](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valmara_69) and [PROM-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROM-1) mines are still littered all over the place. The only way to “defuse” bounding AP mines (‘render safe’ in my vernacular) is to locate one “left of boom” and work yer magic. Tripler Delays after “clicks” are solely for plotlines. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/7 "2023-09-30T01:58:45Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > There’s no point in giving anyone time to react to a mine–that defeats the entire purpose of laying the mine in the first place. I vaguely remember a science fiction story with bullets designed to explode some time (like 30 seconds) after it hits you, specifically to give you some time to think about it. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/8 "2023-09-30T02:04:52Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > Delays after “clicks” are solely for plotlines. I suppose next you’ll tell me that nuclear weapons don’t have prominent half-inch tall 7-segment red LED displays on their exterior counting down the seconds until the really big Kablooey. And which countdown will conveniently slow down whenever the camera focusses on the spy trying to defuse it or the buxom chick watching anxiously, but speeds right back up whenever the camera is watching the countdown. Golly you’re a buzzkill. 😁 @LSLguy My job was to make 'em go boom right away, not prevent 'em from going boom later. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/9 "2023-09-30T02:53:07Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I vaguely remember a science fiction story with bullets designed to explode some time (like 30 seconds) after it hits you, specifically to give you some time to think about it. “I’m a 30-second bomb! I’m a 30-second bomb! 29, 28 27…” ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/10 "2023-09-30T02:55:37Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I vaguely remember a science fiction story with bullets designed to explode some time (like 30 seconds) after it hits you, specifically to give you some time to think about it. Maybe you’re thinking of Heinlein’s Starship Trooper? There’s this in [chapter 1](https://ludlownuames.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/1/1/38112367/starship_troopers_-_robert_heinlein.pdf): > I grabbed the first thing on my belt and > lobbed it in — and heard it start to squawk. As they keep telling you in Basic, doing something > constructive at once is better than figuring out the best thing to do hours later. > > By sheer chance I had done the right thing. This was a special bomb, one each issued to us for this > mission with instructions to use them if we found ways to make them effective. The squawking I heard as > I threw it was the bomb shouting in skinny talk (free translation): "I’m a thirty-second bomb! I’m a > thirty-second bomb! Twenty-nine!.. twenty-eight!.. twenty-seven! — " > [@LSLGuy](#): > > I suppose next you’ll tell me that nuclear weapons don’t have prominent half-inch tall 7-segment red LED displays on their exterior counting down the seconds until the really big Kablooey. My personal favorite Hollywood trope about nuclear weapons is that they come fitted with a self-destruct switch that the good guys can broadcast a command to stop them from going boom after they are accidentally launched. On preview, ninja’d by @gnoitall. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2023, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/11 "2023-09-30T02:56:05Z")
Which was from Starship Troopers, to jog @Darren_Garrison 's vague memory. If that was what he was remembering. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/12 "2023-09-30T03:02:56Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > On preview, ninja’d by @gnoitall. You took time for better context. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/13 "2023-09-30T03:52:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Which was from Starship Troopers, to jog @Darren_Garrison 's vague memory. If that was what he was remembering. Yes, that’s exactly it. I was actually googling for “30 second”, but I was going with bullet. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/14 "2023-09-30T13:49:10Z")
Could you slide something between the person and the mine to keep the switch depressed? Also, slowly carefully wrap the person in rope. Cover them with a ballistic blanket and yank them off of it with a jeep or something. Assuming, of course, that you have rope, a jeep and a ballistic blanket. I’m just spitballing. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2023, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/15 "2023-09-30T13:53:44Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Could you slide something between the person and the mine to keep the switch depressed? No, because neither the person nor the mine exist any more, both having been blown up. There’s no delay, and no “when the switch is released”. That’s just a Hollywood invention to make things more dramatic. As everyone has been saying in this thread, real mines don’t work that way. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/16 "2023-09-30T15:47:02Z")
So Danny Glover would have had his ass blown off in “Lethal Weapon”? Pulling him into the bathtub would have to have been done _ **really** _ fast anyway. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/17 "2023-09-30T17:10:34Z")
There was an episode of CSI Las Vegas with a similar plot line. One of the show regulars was kidnapped and placed atop a bomb that would trigger if his weight was later taken off of it, or too much more was added. Much implausible MacGyvering ensued to extricate him > **Major Plot Spoiler Ahead. Use Caution With Your Reveal!** > > successfully. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/18 "2023-09-30T22:06:02Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Could you slide something between the person and the mine to keep the switch depressed? Nope. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > I suppose next you’ll tell me that nuclear weapons don’t have prominent half-inch tall 7-segment red LED displays on their exterior counting down the seconds until the really big Kablooey. And which countdown will conveniently slow down whenever the camera focusses on the spy trying to defuse it or the buxom chick watching anxiously, but speeds right back up whenever the camera is watching the countdown. No, no LEDs, but what modern nukes _do_ have are beeping countdowns in their host-nation language. US nukes go “Beep” every 5 seconds, Russians go “Beep-ski” every 10 seconds, French ones go “Le BEEP!” on the 5s, the ones from the UK go “Beep beep cheerio!” on the 10s, and the North Korean ones just sound like a broken gong. Tripler I got trained in all of the beeps. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2023, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/19 "2023-10-01T02:17:08Z")
Did that happen on “Vegas,” too? I know it happened on “Miami,” because the unlucky soul was Rex Linn, the bald detective, who in real life has been the SO of Reba McIntire. ---
**Author:** ![Chickenwrangler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chickenwrangler/32/91_2.png) [@Chickenwrangler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chickenwrangler)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2023, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669/20 "2023-10-01T06:57:42Z")
Hollywood, great Ain’ it So in my movie “No Mans Land 2001” the Bouncing Betty under the soldier on the ground, could have been defused just by putting the safety pin back. Guess it wouldn’t have been so exiting, but still haunting final scene of the guy left all alone in the trench on top of the bomb as night was falling. Wonder if there has ever been a situation where someone is on a mine or bomb that cannot be defused, would he just be left by himself with the bomb till it exploded. There was a scene in The Hurt Locker where an local Arab had a bomb strapped to his chest that there wasn’t time to defuse, he was abandoned. Hollywood again ? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-bouncing-betty-be-defused/990669.md?page=2)