A booby trap is a device designed to harm or surprise a person, unknowingly triggered by the presence or actions of the victim.

As the word trap implies, they often have some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. However, in other cases the device is placed on busy roads or is triggered when the victim performs some type of everyday action e.g. opening a door, picking something up or switching something on. Booby traps should not be confused with mantraps which are designed to catch a person. Lethal booby traps are often used in warfare, particularly guerrilla warfare, and traps designed to cause injury or pain are also sometimes used by criminals wanting to protect drugs or other illicit property, and by some owners of legal property who wish to protect it from theft. Booby traps which merely cause discomfort or embarrassment are a popular form of practical joke.[citation needed][why?]

Ray Mears suggested that the booby trap name came from the skill of catching boobiesa sea bird, when out at sea. Bait would be placed in the middle of a noose; when the booby landed on deck to eat the food, the noose would be tightened to catch the bird by the legs.[citation needed] Alternatively it could result from a derivative of the English usage of the term "boob": "an embarrassing mistake"[1] (Oxford English Dictionary).[citation needed]

] Military booby traps

A group of 105mm artillery shells with plastic explosive stuffed into their fuze pockets. Each of the 5 shells has been linked together with red detcord (held in place via duct tape) so they all detonate simultaneously. Concealing this assembly (e.g. by putting a bedsheet over it) and fitting an M142 boobytrap firing device completes the task.

Boobytrap firing devices, circa 1941: Press, pull and release switches; mass produced components intended for the construction of booby traps.[2] A military booby trap may be used to give away the location of an enemy by triggering a signalling device, or it may be designed to kill or injure a person who activates the trap. Most, but not all, military booby traps involve explosives. There is no clear division between a booby trap and conventional, mass produced land mines which are usually hidden under soil, but may be triggered by a tripwire or directional mine designed specifically to work with a tripwire. Other, similar devices include spring-guns and related mechanisms such as the SM-70 directional antipersonnel mine. What distinguishes a booby trap is that it is contrived to work in an unexpected manner that takes advantage of the victim's ignorance of the mode of operation. It naturally follows that booby trap designs must be many and varied and for this reason the traps are often at least partially improvised from some item of ordnance such as an artillery shell[3], grenade, or quantity of high explosives. However, some mines have features specifically designed for incorporation into booby traps and armies have been equipped with a variety of mass produced triggering mechanisms intended to be incorporated into booby traps in a wide variety of ways. A booby trap is generally concealed or disguised in some way so that it either cannot be seen or looks harmless. Typically, a booby trap will be hidden inside, behind or underneath another object. Part of the skill in placing booby traps lies in exploiting natural human behaviors such as habit, self-preservation, curiosity or acquisitiveness. A common trick is to provide victims with a

simple solution to a problem, for example, leaving only one door open in an otherwise secure building, thereby luring them straight toward the firing mechanism. An example that exploits an instinct for self-preservation was used in the Vietnam War. Spikes known as Punji sticks were hidden in a grassy area. When fired upon, passing soldiers unknowingly take cover in the booby trapped area, throwing themselves down on the spikes.[4] Attractive or interesting objects are frequently used as bait in order to lure victims into triggering the booby trap. For example, troops could leave behind empty beer bottles and a sealed wooden packing case with "Scotch Whisky" marked on it before leaving an area. The rubble-filled packing case might be resting on top of an M5[5] or M142 firing device,[6][7] connected to some blocks of TNT or to some C4 explosive stuffed into the empty fuze pocket of a mortar shell. Alternatively, the weight of the packing case might simply be holding down the arming lever of an RGD-5 grenade with a zero-delay fuze fitted and the pin removed. Either way, when the case is moved; the booby trap detonates, killing or severely injuring anyone in the immediate area. Many purpose-built booby-trap firing devices (e.g. the M142 universal firing device[8][9]) exist which allow a variety of different ways of triggering explosives e.g. via trip wire (either pulling it or releasing the tension on it), direct pressure on an object (e.g. standing on it), or pressure release (lift/shift something) etc.[10][11][12][13] Almost any item can be booby-trapped in some way. For example, booby trapping a flashlight is a classic tactic: a flashlight already contains most of the required components. First of all, the flashlight acts as bait, tempting the victim to pick it up. More importantly, it is easy to conceal a detonator, some explosives, and batteries inside the flashlight casing. A simple electrical circuit is connected to the on/off switch. When the victim attempts to turn the flashlight on to see if it works, the resulting explosion blows their hand or arm off and possibly blinds them.[14][15] The only limits to the intricacy of booby-traps are the skill and inventiveness of the people placing them. For example, the "bait object" (e.g. a cash box in a corner of the room) which lures victims into the trap may not in fact be booby-trapped at all. However, the furniture which must be pushed away in order to get to the bait has a wire attached, with an M142 firing device connected to a 155mm artillery shell on the other end of it.[16] A booby trap may be of any size. However, as a general rule the size of most explosive booby traps use between 250 g and 1 kg of explosive. Since most booby traps are rigged to detonate within a metre of the victim's body, this is adequate to kill or severely wound.[16][17] As a rule, booby-traps are planted in any situation where there is a strong likelihood of them being encountered and triggered by the targeted victims. Typically, they are planted in places that people are naturally attracted to or are forced to use. The list of likely placement areas includes:[18]

the only abandoned houses left standing in a village, which may attract enemy soldiers seeking shelter.

a door, drawer or cupboard inside a building that someone will open without thinking of what might be connected to it. If a door is locked, this makes people believe there could something valuable behind it so they are more likely to kick it open, with fatal results. vehicles abandoned by the roadside, perhaps with some kind of victim "bait" left on the back seat. natural choke-points, such as the only footbridge across a river, which people must use whether they want to or not. important strategic installations such as airfields, railway stations and harbour facilities, all of which the invading forces will want to occupy and use. anything of use or value that people would naturally want to possess or which makes them curious to see what is inside it e.g. a crate of beer, a pistol, a flashlight or a discarded army rucksack etc.

A booby trap does not necessarily incorporate explosives in its construction. Examples include the punji sticks mentioned above and deadfall traps which employ heavy objects set up to fall on and crush whoever disturbs the trigger mechanism. However, setting non-explosive booby traps is labour-intensive and time-consuming, they are harder to conceal and they are less likely to do serious damage. In contrast, booby traps containing explosives are much more destructive: they will either kill their victims or severely wound them.[18][19][20]

[edit] Effects
In addition to the obvious ability of booby traps to kill or injure, their presence has other effects. These include the ability to:

demoralize soldiers as booby traps kill or maim comrades keep soldiers continually stressed, suspicious and unable to relax because it is difficult for them to know which areas, buildings or objects are safe slows down troop movement as soldiers are forced to sweep areas to see if there are more booby traps. make soldiers cautious instead of aggressive and confident create no-go areas (real or imagined) after a booby trap has killed or wounded someone cause a section or platoon to have to stop in order to deal with casualties, thus slowing and delaying those troops create confusion and disorientation as a prelude to an ambush

Booby traps are indiscriminate weapons; like anti-personnel mines they can harm civilians and other non-combatants (during and after the conflict) who are unaware of their presence. Therefore, it is vitally important for any force which places booby traps to keep an accurate record of their location so they can be cleared when the conflict is over. During the Vietnam War, motorcycles were rigged with explosives by the NLF and abandoned. U.S. soldiers would be tempted to ride the motorcycle and thus trigger the explosives. In addition, NLF soldiers would rig rubber band grenades and place them in huts that US soldiers would likely burn. Another popular booby trap was the "Grenade in a Can", a grenade with the safety pin removed in a container and a string attached, sometimes with the grenade's fuse

mechanism modified to give a much shorter delay than the four to seven seconds typical with grenade fuses. The NLF soldiers primarily used these on doors and attached them to tripwires on jungle paths.[21] The CIA and Green Berets countered by booby-trapping the enemy's ammunition supplies, in an operation code-named "Project Eldest Son." The propellant in a rifle or machine-gun cartridge was replaced with high explosive. Upon being fired, the sabotaged round would destroy the gun and kill or injure the shooter. Mortar shells were similarly rigged to explode when dropped down the tube, instead of launching properly. This ammunition was then carefully re-packed to eliminate any evidence of tampering, and planted in enemy munitions dumps by covert insertion teams. A sabotaged round might also be planted in a rifle magazine or machine-gun belt and left on the body of a dead NLF soldier, in anticipation that the deceased's ammo would be picked up and used by his comrades. No more than one sabotaged round would be planted in any case, magazine, or belt of ammunition, to reduce the chances of the enemy finding it no matter how diligently they inspected their supplies. False rumors and forged documents were circulated to make it appear that the Communist Chinese were supplying the NLF with defective weapons and ammunition.[22] [edit] Northern Ireland During the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland, booby trap bombs were often used by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) to kill British Army soldiers and Royal Ulster Constabulary officers. A common method was attaching the bomb to a vehicle so that starting or driving it would detonate the explosive. According to the Sutton Index of Deaths, 180 deaths during the Troubles were the result of booby trap bombs, the vast majority of them laid by the Provisional IRA.[23] [edit] Middle East During the Al-Aqsa Intifada, some Arab-Palestinian groups made wide use of booby traps. The largest use of booby traps (between 2000-2005, the period of the Intifada) was in the Battle of Jenin during Operation Defensive Shield where a large number (1000-2000 according to Palestinian militant captured in Jenin during the battle [24] ) of explosive devices were planted by insurgents. Booby traps had been laid in the streets of both the camp and the town, ready to be triggered if a foot snagged a tripwire or a vehicle rolled over a mine. Some of the bombs were huge, containing as much as 250 lb (110 kg) of explosives.[25] To counter the booby traps, antitank and anti-personnel mines the IDF sent armored D9 bulldozers who set off explosions of explosive devices while sustaining no damage from the explosions. Eventually, a dozen D9 bulldozers went into action, razing the center of the refugee camp and forcing the Palestinian militants inside to surrender.

The typical configuration of anti-handling devices used with M15 anti-tank landmines. The upper diagram shows a pull-fuze screwed into a secondary fuze well in the side of the mine. Additionally, an M5 anti-lift device has been screwed into another fuze well, hidden under the mine. An inexperienced deminer might detect and render safe the pull-fuze, but then be killed when he lifted the mine, triggering the M5 pressure-release firing device underneath. The lower diagram shows two anti-tank landmines connected by a cord attached to the upper mine's carrying handle. The cord is attached to a pull fuze installed in a secondary fuze well in the bottom mine. An anti-handling device is an attachment to or integral part of a landmine or other munition e.g. some fuze types found in air-dropped bombs such as the M83, cluster bombs and sea mines. It is specifically designed to prevent tampering. When the protected device is disturbed it detonates, killing or injuring anyone within the blast area. There is a strong functional overlap of booby traps and anti-handling devices: a munition with an anti-handling device fitted has, for all intents and purposes, been booby-trapped.

Contents
[hide]

1 Purpose 2 History 3 Classes of anti-handling devices 4 Types of anti-handling fuzes 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Purpose

Anti-handling devices serve two military purposes:

To prevent the capture and reuse of the munition by enemy forces. To hinder bomb disposal or demining operations, both directly and by deterrence, thereby creating a much more effective hazard or barrier.

Anti-handling devices greatly increase the impact of munitions on civilian populations in the areas in which they are used because their mechanisms are so easily triggered. An unexploded bomb may or may not detonate if it is lifted or overturned, whereas an anti-tank mine with an anti-handling device fitted is almost guaranteed to detonate if it is lifted/overturned, because it is specifically designed to do so. Additionally, munitions fitted with anti-handling devices increase the difficulty and cost of post-conflict clearing operations, due to the inherent dangers of attempting to render them safe. Not all munitions will have an anti-handling device fitted or enabled. Perhaps one in ten antitank mines in a large defensive minefield will have boobytrap firing devices screwed into their secondary fuze wells. Even so, deminers and EOD personnel are forced to assume that all items they encounter may have been boobytrapped, and must therefore take extra precautions. This has the effect of significantly slowing down the clearance process, even allowing for the fact that the anti-tank mines in question may be interspersed with various different types of minimum metal antipersonnel mines such as the VS-50 or TS-50, some of which can also have anti-handling features.

[edit] History

Cutaway view of an M4 anti-tank mine dating from circa 1945, showing two additional fuze wells designed for use with booby-trap firing devices. Either or both fuze wells may have firing devices screwed into them if required

Side view of an M19 anti-tank mine, circa 1970s showing an additional fuze well on the side of the mine (sealing cap has been removed) designed for use with booby-trap firing devices. There is another empty fuze well underneath the mine Technology to incorporate sophisticated anti-handling mechanisms in fuzes has existed since at least 1940 e.g. the Luftwaffe's ZUS-40 anti-removal fuze (of which 3 slightly different versions existed)[1] which was used during the London Blitz and elsewhere.[2][3] ZUS-40s were designed to fit underneath most Luftwaffe bomb fuzes. When a delayed-action bomb containing a ZUS-40 was dropped on a target, the massive jolt after it hit the ground freed a ball-bearing inside the ZUS-40, thereby arming a spring loaded firing pin. However, so long as the main bomb fuze remained inside its fuze well, the cocked firing pin in the ZUS-40 was prevented from springing forward. ZUS-40s were often fitted underneath a type 17 clockwork long delay fuze, which gave up to 72 hours delayed detonation. Rendering safe a type 17 fuze was normally a simple and straightforward process i.e. unscrew the fuze locking ring, remove the fuze from its pocket in the side of the bomb and unscrew the gaine. However, fitting a ZUS-40 underneath a type 17 fuze made the render-safe process much more complicated and dangerous. Removing the main timedelay fuze more than 2 cms from its fuze pocket (without neutralising the anti-handling device underneath) automatically released the cocked firing pin inside the ZUS-40, which sprang forward to strike a large percussion cap, thereby causing detonation of the bomb and the death of anyone kneeling beside it. Because the ZUS-40 was designed to be concealed underneath a conventional bomb fuze, it was very difficult to know whether a particular bomb was fitted with an anti-handling device or not. In any case, many electrically-fired German bomb fuzes (which could be fitted above a ZUS-40) already had a tiny pendulum based "trembler" device inside them, which closed the circuit and triggered detonation if the bomb was subjected to rough handling. Some German anti-handling fuzes were even more sophisticated and therefore particularly dangerous to EOD personnel e.g. the type 50 and 50BY fuzes. These were normally fitted to 250/500 kg bombs and contained two mercury tilt switches which detected movement across vertical and horizontal axes. The fuzes fully armed themselves approximately 30 seconds after hitting the ground. Subsequently, if the bomb was moved in any way, the mercury switch completed an electrical circuit and triggered detonation. To complicate matters still further, German bombs could have two separate fuze pockets fitted, with different fuze types screwed into each one. As a result, one bomb could incorporate two separate anti-handling devices working independently of each other e.g. a type 17 clockwork fuze with a ZUS-40 hidden underneath it screwed into one fuze pocket, and a type 50BY in the other. Although the designs of these anti-handling fuzes varied, all were specifically designed to kill bomb disposal personnel who had the task of rendering them safe.

Allied forces developed their own designs of anti-handling devices during World War II. For example, the American M123, M124, M125 and M131 series of long delay tail-fuzes, or the British "Number 37 Long Delay Pistol", were used in air-dropped bombs. These were primarily designed to operate as chemical long-delay fuzes, with time settings ranging between 1 and 144 hours. However, they also contained anti-withdrawal mechanisms designed to kill anyone who tried to render a bomb safe: any attempt to unscrew and remove one of these long-delay fuzes from the fuze pocket of a bomb after it had been dropped would automatically trigger detonation by releasing a cocked firing pin which struck a percussion cap connected to an adjacent detonator.[4] The British nose fuze number 845 Mk 2 (used by RAF Bomber Command during World War II) operated purely in anti-disturbance mode. It contained a mercury tilt switch which triggered detonation if the bomb was moved after a 20 second arming delay, which started when the bomb hit the ground.[5] Since then, many nations have produced munitions with fuzes which have some form of antihandling function. Alternatively, they have produced munitions with features which make it very easy to add an anti-tamper function e.g. extra (but empty) threaded fuze wells on anti-tank landmines, into which the detonators on booby-trap firing devices (plus booster attachments) can be screwed.

[edit] Classes of anti-handling devices

US Army field manual FM 20-32 classifies four classes of anti-handling devices:

Anti-lifting devices. A device which initiates an explosion when a protected mine is lifted or pulled out of its hole. Anti-disturbance device. A device which initiates an explosion when a protected mine is lifted, tilted or disturbed in any way e.g. a notable variant of the VS-50 mine featuring an integral mercury switch. Anti-defuzing device. A device which initiates an explosion when an attempt is made to remove a fuze from a protected mine. Anti-disarming device. A device which initiates an explosion when an attempt is made to set the arming mechanism of a mine to safe.

[edit] Types of anti-handling fuzes

The different classes of anti-handling devices are normally created using a variety of fuzes. This is a list of the types of fuzes used as anti-handling devices:

Pull fuzes these are typically installed in secondary fuze wells located on the side or bottom of landmines. The fuze is normally connected to a thin wire attached to the ground, so the wire is automatically pulled if the mine is lifted, shifted or disturbed in any way. Simple pull-fuzes release a spring-loaded striker. More sophisticated versions are electronic i.e. feature a break-wire sensor which detects a drop in voltage. Either way, pulling on the hidden wire triggers detonation.

Anti-lifting fuzes these are frequently screwed into an auxiliary fuze pocket located underneath anti-tank landmines. The act of lifting or shifting the mine releases a cocked striker, triggering detonation. The M5 universal firing device is a classic example of an antilift fuze. Its standard gauge screw thread allows it to be fitted to various munition types.[6] Tilt/Vibration switches this is a fuze installed inside the device which triggers detonation if the sensor is tilted beyond a certain angle or is subject to any vibration. Typically, some form of pendulum arrangement, spring-loaded "trembler" or mercury switch is used to detect this. Anti-mine detector fuzes developed during the Second World War to detect the magnetic field of mine detectors. Electronic fuzes modern electronic fuzes may incorporate anti-handling features. Typically, these fuzes incorporate one or more of the following sensors: seismic, magnetic, light sensitive, thermal or acoustic sensitive. Potentially, such fuzes can discriminate between various types of mine clearance operations i.e. resist activation by devices such as mine flails, plows, or explosives, whilst still detonating when handled by demining personnel. Additionally, electronic fuzes may have an inbuilt self-destruct capability i.e. some form of timer countdown designed to trigger detonation hours, days or even months after deployment, possibly whilst people are attempting to render the device safe. Although fuzes with a self-destruct capability are not anti-handling devices per se, they do add an extra complicating factor to the EOD process.