# How dangerous is old dynamite? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 25, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414 "2009-02-25T20:18:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/21 "2017-05-01T22:53:55Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > No, TNT is more stable. Okay, ignorance fought. Which one has nitroglycerin capable of sweating out and crystallizing on the surface of the sticks? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/22 "2017-05-01T23:04:26Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Okay, ignorance fought. > > Which one has nitroglycerin capable of sweating out and crystallizing on the surface of the sticks? Dynamite, which is a trade name for Nitroglycerin soaked into diatomaceous earth as a stabilizer. [TNT](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TNT) is Trinitrotoluene, and can be used straight, or mixed with other explosives. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/23 "2017-05-02T14:28:22Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Is everyone talking about the same HE? AIUI, there’s dynamite, and there’s TNT, with dynamite being the more stable. dynamite is gelignite in British lingo. nitroglycerine was redundant as an explosive by WW II, WW II used TNT for explosions. Nitroglycerine was still made for use in gunpowder and smoke grenades and other uses, but not used as the explosive in shells and the like. In fact, TNT is made in all sorts of mixes too. TNT is more stable and doesn’t need to be soaked into sawdust or put into some sort of jelly… TNT is stable as a crystal, its not a touch powder… whereas pure nitroglycerine is easily set off by something like a touch. So back to the OP’s questions … perhaps the OP’s real situation is that the TNT is leaking and the substance is leaking or decomposing, and the fact its TNT is recognisable due to the crystals… Its the TNT being changed. They might have called it dynamite even though they meant a more modern mix … Well the TNT getting old and leaking and growing crystals does make it more dangerous, but its dangerous due to being TNT with a detonator somewhere there too. Also TNT is poisonous and a carcinogen, you don’t really want to be soaking it into your body. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/24 "2017-05-02T14:34:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > A teacher of mine in high school (no, NOT a science teacher) told us of a compound that one could paint onto the hinges of a locker, which, when dried, became extremely sensitive, such that opening the locker would blow the door off the hinges. I think that might be the same stuff, too. Old Popular Science magazines used to have ads for how to brew your own “contact explosives”. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/25 "2017-05-02T14:55:13Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > If you want another unstable as shit substance, try nitrogen tri iodide 🙂 > > I’ve played with it. Very pretty and very scary. > > Though McGyver couldnt get a big bowl of it to explode in one episode…the irony there burned… More likely [ammonium triiodide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_triiodide) as it’s easier to make. If McGyver couldn’t get “a big bowl” to explode, it’s likely because it wasn’t totally dried out. Like the other posters (and the wiki article), I’ll refrain from the recipe. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/26 "2017-05-02T16:50:16Z")
Okay, this leads to a new question–_could_ the goat on _Andy Griffith_ have exploded? ---
**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:** [May 2, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/27 "2017-05-02T16:56:27Z")
I should mention, by the way, that I’m not sure if the recipe the teacher told us would work or not. But I am sure that, even if it didn’t work, it’d probably still be dangerous to the one attempting the recipe, and likely to those around him (and if it _did_ work, it’d definitely be dangerous). The same attitude should also be applied to any other recipes one might encounter for explosives or other dangerous substances: Such recipes are often shared by idiots, and are likely not to do what they’re supposed to, but regardless of whether they work as intended or not, they’re probably dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/28 "2017-05-02T17:45:30Z")
My grandfather used dynamite to blow stumps. He had an ancient box filled with it, stored in the outhouse at the cottage in the country he built. It was lined with oilcloth, and as the years and decades went by, it started to weep liquid. As a kid, I one watched my grandmother very carefully mop up the liquid with a sponge from off the oilcloth. Presumably, if she hadn’t been careful, she could have been blown to smithereens - something I didn’t know at the time, of course. He stored the detonators separately, together with the hand generator and wires used to set them off - it was a sort of box with a crank that you turned a bunch of times to build up a charge. Edit: I think he eventually got rid of it by burning it up on a bonfire. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/29 "2017-05-02T18:20:28Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Okay, this leads to a new question–_could_ the goat on _Andy Griffith_ have exploded? One wrong move and KABLOOIE!! Best to lure it or of town with your harmonica. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/30 "2017-05-04T02:18:38Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > dynamite is gelignite in British lingo. > > . Dynamite, diatomaceous earth as a stabilizer. Gelignite, gelatinous stuff and more stuff and wood pulp. Major advantage is that it is less likely to sweat. Wikipedia says that it ‘does not suffer from the dangerous problem of sweating’; but it still can become less stable with age: I think that part of the advantage is that what sweats out is not pure NitroGlycerine. Do they still sell diatomaceous earth Dynamite in the USA? And crimping detonators with your teath would have the major advantage that you’d never have to live with a hand injury… ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/31 "2017-05-04T15:34:50Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I have personally detonated dynamite with a rifle shot. My understanding is that it needs to be at least 60% Nitro for this to work. So, **Bob H** is full of it, right? Everything in that wall o’text is wrong? What IS the straight dope? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/32 "2017-05-04T16:14:35Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > So, **Bob H** is full of it, right? Everything in that wall o’text is wrong? > > What IS the straight dope? Well, I can’t disprove most of his story, but I _can_ vouch for the fact that Dynamite (not TNT) can be detonated by a rifle shot (with no detonator attached), having done it myself. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/33 "2017-05-04T17:09:11Z")
Of course, it’s possible that what he actually had was TNT to begin with, not dynamite, and he just didn’t realize that there was a difference. Someone following safe procedures for TNT but who’s actually handling dynamite, or vice-versa, could end up in a world of hurt. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2017, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/34 "2017-05-04T18:29:29Z")
If anyone’s curious, I did an image search for “sweating dynamite” and found [fake sweating dynamite,](http://inertproducts.com/inc/sdetail/719) used for training purposes. So that’s what it looks like… ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@Bob\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_H)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/35 "2017-05-25T21:06:17Z")
I still have one of the empty boxes it was in, it was Hercules Unigel Dynamite, 65% strength Tamptite Fume Class 1. And I assure you, we shot it, threw it, banged on it and broke it in pieces, and it did nothing. We used double detonators because a couple times the single detonators weren’t enough to get it to explode. And we burned a lot of it, and all that did was burn brighter and smoke more. My friend said to make dynamite explode when you shoot it there has to be something like black powder or a stack of bullets attached to it so it can explode, just hitting it with a bullet won’t do it. Perhaps you were shooting black powder type of explosives, like oversized M-120’s, labeled as dynamite, Mexico does that a lot to sell more firecrackers. But not Unigel or other intro dynamite. Looking it up, 65% is pretty strong, but without detonators, its inert. This was at least 50-100 years old, Hercues hasn’t been around for a long long time. Maybe newer dyanamite is more explosive? All I know is what I witnessed and was part of, not theory or imagination. But Im not recommending anyone play with it if they find any, thats for sure. There are many manufacturers, types, and recipes. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/36 "2017-05-26T09:05:43Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Well, I can’t disprove most of his story, but I _can_ vouch for the fact that Dynamite (not TNT) can be detonated by a rifle shot (with no detonator attached), having done it myself. yes, I can see how a bullet can go through TNT, but there is no guarantee that the bullet won’t set off TNT. There could be so way, even if Jamie and Adam said they couldn’t find a way. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/37 "2017-05-26T13:03:34Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > yes, I can see how a bullet can go through TNT, but there is no guarantee that the bullet won’t set off TNT. There could be so way, even if Jamie and Adam said they couldn’t find a way. They shot C-4. I don’t remember any shooting of dynamite or TNT. ---
**Author:** ![Dana\_Scully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@Dana\_Scully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dana_Scully)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/38 "2017-05-26T14:46:50Z")
_ **call the cops and let them figure it out. For god’s sake don’t touch it !!!** _ ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/39 "2017-05-26T15:40:59Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Old Popular Science magazines used to have ads for how to brew your own “contact explosives”. I made some, maybe 60 years ago. Only two ingredients as I recall. One is a crystal. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414/40 "2017-05-27T01:04:19Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > …the French film **The Wages of Fear** )… Saw this in 6th grade. Amazed my heart even beats again, scene after scene. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-old-dynamite/487414.md?page=3)