# Molotov cocktail questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 28, 2022, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molotov-cocktail-questions/960255 "2022-02-28T22:02:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molotov-cocktail-questions/960255/41 "2022-03-09T18:10:34Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > There are times when you need to drag a kid by the ear to his parents, and then there are times when it’s pretty clear to everyone involved that a lesson has been learned. Very much so. As said, I have loads of stories about those brothers. For example, do you know what happens when you drill out model rocket engines, put the resulting powder into a depleted CO2 cartridge, cap it with epoxy around a wick and drop it lit into a steel fence post? I do. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molotov-cocktail-questions/960255/42 "2022-03-09T19:25:56Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > There are videos of slingshot devices being tested to launch said cocktails. Primitive, but a volley at dismounted troops or soft vehicles could be effective. Guevara suggests launching it out of a sawn-off 16-gauge shotgun with a pair of legs added so as to form a tripod together with the butt. This apparatus will fire the burning bottles 100 meters or more with a fairly high degree of accuracy. I know it’s dated, but I figure even today all the kids read that book. ---
**Author:** ![Drsunflower1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drsunflower1/32/12711_2.png) [@Drsunflower1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drsunflower1)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molotov-cocktail-questions/960255/43 "2022-03-09T19:42:37Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > For example, do you know what happens when you drill out model rocket engines, put the resulting powder into a depleted CO2 cartridge, cap it with epoxy around a wick and drop it lit into a steel fence post? I do. Sounds a lot like what boys used to do in our neck of the woods when it was still allowed to have fireworks around New Year’s eve. The contents of a few cobra’s in a steel pipe has led to many a blown off limb in earlier days. And by Cobra I mean these: > **[Strijker (vuurwerk)](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strijker_%28vuurwerk%29?wprov=sfla1)** > > De strijker is een type vuurwerk dat tot ontsteking kan worden gebracht door het aan te strijken. Daarvoor wordt een strijkkop gebruikt, meestal gemaakt van fosfor maar soms ook van zwavel. Een strijker met een strijkkop van fosfor kan zelfs onder water branden, zolang het kruit maar droog blijft. Strijkers met een strijkkop van zwavel doven wel in water. Deze zijn van vergelijkbaar materiaal gemaakt als een luciferkop. Een strijker wordt tot ontsteking gebracht door het kopje langs een luciferdo... Apparently the wiki only has an article in Dutch. These things were always illegal but especially in the 80s/90s pretty much everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molotov-cocktail-questions/960255/44 "2022-03-09T20:17:29Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > There are videos of slingshot devices being tested to launch said cocktails. Primitive, but a volley at dismounted troops or soft vehicles could be effective. Now I’m picturing a Molotov atlatl. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molotov-cocktail-questions/960255/45 "2022-04-21T14:02:40Z")
I considered starting a new thread, but decided it made more sense to ask this here. At the start of the conflict, much was written about the huge numbers of Molotov cocktails being made. However, in the coverage I haven’t seen many photos or videos of them being used. Do we have any idea how effective these have been in the war? Are we not hearing about them because they aren’t getting the job done? Am I just not seeing it? Anyone know? ---
**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:** [April 21, 2022, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molotov-cocktail-questions/960255/46 "2022-04-21T14:07:13Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > Are we not hearing about them because they aren’t getting the job done? My belief is that Molotov cocktails are used by resistance fighters in cities, often against armour. Putin’s invasion turned into a real Charlie-Foxtrot, and the tanks didn’t roll into the major cities. I think we haven’t seen Molotov cocktails being used is that there hasn’t been that much opportunity to use them. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molotov-cocktail-questions/960255/47 "2022-04-21T20:24:31Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > I considered starting a new thread, but decided it made more sense to ask this here. > > At the start of the conflict, much was written about the huge numbers of Molotov cocktails being made. However, in the coverage I haven’t seen many photos or videos of them being used. > > Do we have any idea how effective these have been in the war? Are we not hearing about them because they aren’t getting the job done? Am I just not seeing it? Anyone know? Anther point is that, based on testimony about Bucha, the Russian soldiers were not reluctant to kill anyone on sight - torture optional. So this isn’t a case where soldiers were ignoring apparently harmless civilians until they are close enough for objects to be thrown, as is the usual case in insurrections. When human decency goes out the window, hand-thrown objects are less useful. Throw it from a building and the tanks will simply blast away at the building. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molotov-cocktail-questions/960255/48 "2022-04-21T23:43:24Z")
Molotov cocktails just aren’t very effective against modern armored vehicles. Apart from the aforementioned dangerous need to get within throwing distance, the primary killing/immobilizing effect caused by Molotovs during the Spanish Civil War and WWII was ingestion into the engines of tanks through the air intake vents. Soviet tanks going as far back as the immediate post-war T-54/55 were designed to prevent this from happening, and modern tanks have halon fire-suppression systems as well. A lot of the publicity surrounding civilians making Molotov cocktails was simply good propaganda, showing both the world at large and the Ukrainian population itself their determination to resist the Russian invasion. Here’s a video made a couple of weeks ago that despite its title is specifically about the vulnerability of modern Russian tanks and armored vehicles (T-72 & T-90 tanks, BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles and BTR-80 armored personnel carriers are looked at) to Molotov cocktails: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/VxOmp_5jXEo/maxresdefault.jpg "Are Molotov Cocktails effective vs Modern Tanks?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxOmp_5jXEo) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2022, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molotov-cocktail-questions/960255/49 "2022-04-22T15:42:49Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > I’m sure there’s other materials that would produce the same effect. Sugar works, too. Speaking from experience. ---
**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 22, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molotov-cocktail-questions/960255/50 "2022-04-22T20:52:21Z")
On the topic of expanded polystyrene vs. Styrofoam, most CD cases are also made of styrene, just the solid version rather than foamed. And it’s also the “S” in ABS plastic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molotov-cocktail-questions/960255.md?page=2)