# Defusing the bomb **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [January 21, 2022, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143 "2022-01-21T03:45:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/21 "2022-01-21T23:36:59Z")
If you want to see what a real bomb looks like, take a look at the FBI’s recreation of one of Ted Kaczynsky’s bombs: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Unabomber_bomb.jpg/1280px-Unabomber_bomb.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Unabomber_bomb.jpg/1280px-Unabomber_bomb.jpg) > [@ThisOneGuy](#): > > And there were enough unexploded around for people to get experience in defusing them. In WWII, there were quite a few unexploded bombs, and people did get experience defusing them. But then German spies in England noticed that the unexploded bombs were themselves really good terror weapons. This set off a bit of an arms race between the German bomb makers and the English bomb disposal folks. The Germans would put fake switches, misleading wires, and all sorts of booby traps into the bomb, so that procedures that one English bomb export had figured out on one bomb might cause the bomb to explode on the next series of bombs. If you cut the wire going to the detonator, you might find out the hard way that the wire you cut was a fake and actually triggered the bomb to explode. One of the things the Germans put into a lot of bombs was a second detonator that used a timer. If for some reason the bomb failed to explode, the timer would wait 72 hours and would then set off the bomb. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/22 "2022-01-22T00:47:11Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > No one goes to the trouble of making fake detonators with secret continuity circuits. [This guy might have.](https://www.fbi.gov/video-repository/newss-harveys-casino-bomb/view) ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/23 "2022-01-22T01:34:58Z")
I’ve always been puzzled by the complaints of “cut the red wire,” as I always presumed it was, as someone noted above, a matter of “I’m a bomb expert, I’ve taken a look or noted your description of the bomb, and I think it’s the red wire that is the one to cut,” rather than “I’m the bomb expert so trust me, it’s always the red wire, so cut it.” I always loved Bob Newhart’s bomb disposal sketch: “One of the the wires is a bluish grey, the other one is a greyish blue…” ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/24 "2022-01-22T12:17:24Z")
James Bond in [“Goldfinger”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBIZQcVMaNo). Which wire should I cut? ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/25 "2022-01-22T12:33:21Z")
There was a “Six Million Dollar Man” episode where the wires were red, white, AND blue. The thing was that the bombmaker always put “obvious” solutions in his creations, and if the person defusing the bomb selected the obvious solution - bad things would happen. Sorry, I forgot how this was resolved - maybe there was a hidden GREEN wire. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/26 "2022-01-22T12:38:12Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > In WWII, there were quite a few unexploded bombs, and people did get experience defusing them. Indeed. There was a BBC Series “Danger UXB” about this. The book of the same title went into greater detail about the “arms race” of the fuse designers versus the people doing the defusing. One thing I thought showed great ingenuity was described - drill a hole in the bomb casing and insert a steam line to soften and extract the explosive - while not touching the fuse at all. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2022, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/27 "2022-01-22T13:48:38Z")
Another option is to remove the power source. You can make the electronics tiny enough to hide the “real” electronics anywhere, or to include fake ones… but there’s a minimum practical size for a battery, and without that, nothing’s going to happen. Yet another option is to cut all of the wires, all at once, very quickly, often involving another explosive or a firearm. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/28 "2022-01-22T14:18:30Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > There was a BBC Series “Danger UXB” about this. I watched that when it was broadcast on PBS Masterpiece Theatre. ---
**Author:** ![mjmlabs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mjmlabs/32/69_2.png) [@mjmlabs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmlabs)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/29 "2022-01-22T15:13:41Z")
[quote=“DPRK, post:19, topic:958143, full:true”] > [@Shoeless](#): > > > [@Czarcasm](#): > > > > > What is with the "Cut the red wire…No, the blue wire!! " crap? Are detonator wires really color coded that way? > > > [/quote] > > > > > > On the TBS series “Wrecked” (which was sort of a spoof of “LOST”) there was a character who had claimed to have seen every action movie ever made. There was one scene where he stepped on a land mine, and was talking another character through defusing it before he stepped off. He tells the guy “Cut the red wire. It’s always the red wire!” The other guy pops open the mine, and inside it’s just a tangle of red wires. 😅 > > The joke being that the land mine had wires in it? 🙂 … or that the land mine didn’t detonate immediately when stepped on. Outside of fiction, that’s how they work, AIUI. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2022, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/30 "2022-01-22T16:33:19Z")
Reporting for duty. And yes, Santo Rugger and I were friends through correspondence here. He too worked here at my “company” until his accident. I periodically hear from his mom, which reminds me, I need to drop her a line. . . > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Question: Why doesn’t anybody simply remove the detonator from the block of C4? Sure, an exploding detonator is dangerous; but at least the main charge wouldn’t explode Too involved (too many steps). Just cut the circuit wires leading to the detonator, one at a time (never both at the same time). Then, remove the block of C-4 with det in situ, and proceed to disposal. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > What is with the "Cut the red wire…No, the blue wire!! " crap? Are detonator wires really color coded that way? Nope. Color of wire is basically dictated by whatever the bomb maker\* has on hand. I’ve seen plenty of IEDs built with birds-nests of nothing but yellow lamp cord. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > But, myself not being a bomb expert, I look at the movie bombs and say, ‘Just pull out the detonating charge!’ But myself, having lots of bomb experience\*\*, look at the movie bombs and say, “Just put a charge on the damn thing, BIP\*\*\* it, and move on. . .” > [@ThisOneGuy](#): > > I always thought the “cut the XXX wire” would have come from defusing unexploded bomb in WWII where they would have come from a factory producing them by the 10,000 count batch. And there were enough unexploded around for people to get experience in defusing them. There’s good truth to this assumption. Render Safe Procedures (RSPs) are developed on known designs with practical testing done on them. Need me to RSP a certain Soviet fuze on a 250 kg bomb? We already know what the fuze contains, and there’s already a script for it. > [@Chronos](#): > > Yet another option is to cut all of the wires, all at once, very quickly, often involving another explosive or a firearm. Dude! Quit exposing my magic tricks! 💣 🧙 😃 Notes: - The bomb maker is not always the bomb _emplacer._ - I spent eight years in EOD. I have ‘experience.’ I consider those NCOs with 10+ years/multiple deployments the ‘experts.’ - **B** low **I** n **P** lace. Don’t mess with it, just detonate it, if the area can reasonably withstand a high-order detonation. Tripler It’s my birthday today. What a cool present: a thread I can intelligently speak to! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/31 "2022-01-22T17:20:11Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > I always loved Bob Newhart’s bomb disposal sketch: “One of the the wires is a bluish grey, the other one is a greyish blue…” I wonder if this was the inspiration for the (realistic) scene in **The Abyss** where, due to the lack of light at the deep depth, Ed Harris can’t distinguish the colors of the wires on the bomb. A twist since he’s been given exact instructions from the SEAL guy on which wire to cut. ---
**Author:** ![bleach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bleach/32/3106_2.png) [@bleach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bleach)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/32 "2022-01-22T17:23:52Z")
In that episode, _The Price of Liberty_, the explosive genius guy stole the Liberty Bell and rigged it with explosives. Chuck Connors, a Philly bomb squad captain, and Steve Austin had to defuse it. The last bomb came down to four wires, red, white, blue, and yellow. Chuck Connors figured out that red and white were correct. The bomber’s dying words were “Red, white and blue”. Steve Austin chose yellow instead of blue and saved the Liberty Bell and hence America. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/33 "2022-01-22T17:32:20Z")
I recall a scene from somewhere where the Hero is confronted with a nuke (I think it was an actual nuke, not just an ordinary bomb) in the back of a truck, with a timer getting very close to zero. He has no idea what to do, and no time to contact anyone who does, so he just grabs the whole birds-nest of wiring and yanks. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/34 "2022-01-22T17:39:56Z")
Castle - [Castle defuses the bomb. 3x17 - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCFdaNS2oJM) ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/35 "2022-01-22T20:16:15Z")
Occasionally in movies you’ll see a bomb that has weird liquids in the detonator, like when the bomb is getting ready to detonate you see a vial full of liquid suddenly start draining into somewhere in the bomb. Does anyone know what that’s supposed to be? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/36 "2022-01-22T20:39:06Z")
I’ve seen movie or TV bombs that have a vial or some type of clear glass container in which what looks like liquid mercury is in it. It’s a motion sensor trigger. Alternately, I’m not a chemist so I couldn’t say what, but there are certain liquids that, when mixed together, will cause an explosion or fire. That’s why we can only take no more than 3 oz. of any liquid on a plane. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/37 "2022-01-22T22:40:08Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I’ve seen movie or TV bombs that have a vial or some type of clear glass container in which what looks like liquid mercury is in it. It’s a motion sensor trigger. Those are not motion sensors. They are tilt switches: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Mercury_Switch_without_housing.jpg/800px-Mercury_Switch_without_housing.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Mercury_Switch_without_housing.jpg/800px-Mercury_Switch_without_housing.jpg) If you tilt the ampoule, the metallic mercury completes the circuit. > [@solost](#): > > Alternately, I’m not a chemist so I couldn’t say what, but there are certain liquids that, when mixed together, will cause an explosion or fire. That’s why we can only take no more than 3 oz. of any liquid on a plane. Well, I assume anyone who has completed high-school chemistry knows how to concoct primary explosives, redox reactions, etc. Mixing liquids in an actual improvised bomb sounds like a Rube Goldberg device compared to using a blasting cap or other reliable detonator, though. Mixing large tanks of liquids might be the Hollywood version of illustrating binary chemical weapons, though. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2022, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/38 "2022-01-22T22:56:27Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Mixing large tanks of liquids might be the Hollywood version of illustrating binary chemical weapons, though. Yeah, it’s in the Die Hard 3 movie. The bomb guy is analyzing circuits when the blue liquid starts infusing into the red liquid. We’re talking like 100 gallon plastic tanks. But the whole thing is safe until the fluids mix. Just cut the damn plastic tubing and let one fluid run out. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/39 "2022-01-22T23:43:18Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Those are not motion sensors. They are tilt switches: Well, that’s what I meant. Tilting is motion. They are sensors meant to detect if the bomb is being jostled around. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2022, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143/40 "2022-01-23T01:35:47Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > They got to the point where there were 2 wires, a red and a blue - one would defuse the bomb, one would detonate it. They had in the meantime captured the bomber (who turned out to be the bomb expert who had trained Richard Harris), and he told them to cut the blue wire. At the last second Harris cut the red instead, which turned out to be the correct choice. > > Here’s the [clip of the scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXoPEmh39ls). It also had a really young Anthony Hopkins & Ian Holm apparently. I hope this doesn’t ruin the movie for anyone, but I hate that scene. All of the bomb disposal techs are wearing headsets so they can talk to each other. The point of which is that if Harris makes a mistake and sets off his bomb, the others won’t repeat the same mistake with theirs. But that only works if he tells them what he’s going to do before he does it. For most of the movie, that’s exactly what they do. But when it gets to that final scene, he leads everyone to believe that he’s going to cut the blue wire, and then he cuts the red. If he’d guessed wrong, someone (maybe everyone) else would have also cut the red wire and blown up. If I was one of the guys who worked with him, I’d have beat the shit out of him for needlessly risking my life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defusing-the-bomb/958143.md?page=3)