The flameless ration heater that comes with every Meal, Ready-to-Eat contains a fine powder of iron, magnesium and salt, which gets hot when it gets wet.
You are supposed to put some water in the heater packet and then lean the MRE pack against, famously, a rock or something, while it warms up. The reaction shouldn't take more than a minute.
What, young soldiers with little to do have doubtless asked many, many times, would happen if you were instead to collect the powder from several ration heaters and put it in a sturdy sealed vessel, with some water?
Why, this would, thanks for asking!
Unlike relatives like the dry ice bomb, the heat of these "MRE bombs" will soften plastic, allowing the impressive inflation seen above.
If this just isn't dangerous enough for you, you could always use a metal canteen instead of a plastic bottle!
Note also the suggestion of putting the MREs' Tabasco sauce in the bomb, to add a chemical-warfare tang to the operation.
29 November 2012 at 1:33 pm
I think that looks like a plastic canteen in the last video, there.
29 November 2012 at 2:27 pm
Yeah, definitely plastic, judging by the threads.
29 November 2012 at 6:17 pm
Soldiers + boredom = danger.
This here is a relatively minor example, as soldiers usually have access to far more (intentionally) dangerous toys to play with when they have nothing more constructive to do.
29 November 2012 at 8:03 pm
I wonder why you'd even bother given that these guys most likely have access to actual explosive materials. :)
30 November 2012 at 6:00 am
I have a feeling that those actual explosive materials are a bit more tracked than a few MRE's. Plus, while this probably isn't exactly quiet, I'm sure it pales in comparison to the "real" stuff that may initiate an investigation if not full scale alarm.