# Most powerful homemade explosive **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 4, 2013, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103 "2013-11-04T23:43:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qwertol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Qwertol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertol)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/1 "2013-11-04T23:43:43Z")
What is the most powerful explosive you can make at home with commonly available materials? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/2 "2013-11-04T23:49:54Z")
Fuel-air explosive. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/3 "2013-11-04T23:51:40Z")
FAE has a wider reach but not anything as powerful as ANFO or nitro. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/4 "2013-11-04T23:55:07Z")
And… why do you want to know? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/5 "2013-11-04T23:56:50Z")
Just tell him which, not how to. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/6 "2013-11-05T00:01:37Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Just tell him which, not how to. [Moderator Instructions] I agree. Let’s not give instructions in how to make it. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Qwertol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Qwertol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertol)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/7 "2013-11-05T00:02:01Z")
Just curious. Also I would clarify I mean most powerful per volume. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/8 "2013-11-05T00:02:57Z")
Ammonium nitrate bombs like the one used for the Oklahoma City attack are fairly easy to make (but still much easier to make a dud don’t if know what you are doing) and scale up to indefinite size. The limit is how much material you can obtain and the fact that buying large quantities of the amount needed for a very large bombs will trigger warning flags if you don’t have a good reason for needing it (own a large farm basically). ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/9 "2013-11-05T00:11:43Z")
Based on the OP’s clarification, I don’t think an ammonium nitrate bomb would be in the running based on volume or weight. You need literally hundreds to thousands of pounds of ingredients that can fill up a vehicle to get a large explosion. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/10 "2013-11-05T01:03:14Z")
And, at that volume, they’re not commonly available. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/11 "2013-11-05T01:13:23Z")
I’d wager that those guys at the Boston Marathon were near the upper end of a man portable device. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/12 "2013-11-05T04:06:09Z")
Maybe some homemade thermite? ---
**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:** [November 5, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/13 "2013-11-05T04:17:49Z")
Thermite’s not an explosive. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/14 "2013-11-05T04:39:21Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > FAE has a wider reach but not anything as powerful as ANFO or nitro. Disagree. FAE is incredibly powerful. Both the MOAB and FOAB are FAE. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/15 "2013-11-05T06:28:24Z")
^ You’re probably thinking of another bomb. MOAB/GBU43B is filled with 8.5 tonnes of H6, which is equivalent to 11 tonnes of TNT. H6 is a mix of RDX, TNT and aluminum powder. Don’t know what the Russian FOAB contains but it’s probably a high explosive, not fuel air. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/16 "2013-11-05T06:42:57Z")
Based on availability, it’s probably ANNM, with ANFO lagging behind. Both are common commercial explosives and are relatively easy to make. Ammonium Nitrate is explosive all by itself under certain circumstances (the West, TX explosion and Texas City disasters are examples). I hope this sates your curiosity. Do yourself a favor and let it stop there. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/17 "2013-11-05T07:58:12Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > ^ > You’re probably thinking of another bomb. MOAB/GBU43B is filled with 8.5 tonnes of H6, which is equivalent to 11 tonnes of TNT. H6 is a mix of RDX, TNT and aluminum powder. Don’t know what the Russian FOAB contains but it’s probably a high explosive, not fuel air. Wikipedia describes both MAOB and FOAB as [thermobaric](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermobaric_weapon) and lists FAE as another term for thermobaric: > [@](#): > > A thermobaric weapon is a type of explosive that utilizes oxygen from the surrounding air to generate an intense, high-temperature explosion, and in practice the blast wave such a weapon produces is typically significantly longer in duration than a conventional condensed explosive. The fuel-air bomb is one of the most well-known types of thermobaric weapon. I admit I may have oversimplified in lumping them together. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/18 "2013-11-05T08:06:52Z")
It’s is right in that MOAB has aluminum powder, so it needs ambient oxygen. But it’s not propane/butane gas like the usual fuel air weapon. ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/19 "2013-11-05T09:58:15Z")
Not only will I tell you about a powerful explosive, I’ll provide the exact recipe. USE WITH CAUTION. 1 cup dry dog food. 1 hard boiled egg. A dash of meat drippings Mix ingredients in a bowl, feed to my dog. In about 2 to 4 hours, everyone in the home will not be dead but definitely will yearn to be. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103/20 "2013-11-05T10:20:13Z")
How does TATP and other organic peroxides compare (instability notwithstanding) to ammonium nitrate explosives? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-powerful-homemade-explosive/673103.md?page=2)