# Colored wires and the bomb trope **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 13, 2010, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colored-wires-and-the-bomb-trope/528839 "2010-02-13T07:51:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colored-wires-and-the-bomb-trope/528839/61 "2011-07-22T01:54:03Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > Looks like I have to be careful with my “humour”. I was actually trying to be facetious about what might get wounded if it blew while you were “holding it behind oneself slightly below waist level while actually crimping”. Oh well. Oh, no worries. I was commenting on the wiki entry. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colored-wires-and-the-bomb-trope/528839/62 "2011-07-22T02:03:03Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > :eek: Never heard that before. Can you explain or give me a cite? I take it you’ve seen the cite provided. We used det cord made of RDX, not PETN. RDX is even faster than PETN, by my understanding. It’s interesting to note that the material does not burn, but rather “detonates”, where a physical shockwave travels through the material and the physical force is responsible for the reaction. I’ve seen an aerial video of a length of det cord that had been strung across a lake and then detonated. There was an instant “splash line” that appeared across the lake and one could not tell from which end the detonation occurred. It’s crazy stuff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colored-wires-and-the-bomb-trope/528839.md?page=3)