Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Heat and pressure. So does that mean you could possibly set it off by shooting it with a tracer from behind? jb Not very reliably.  You Might get one in 100 to detonate but that would be iffy at best.  Military explosives are SPECIFICALLY designed to resist detonation by gunfire, unlike Tannerite or even dynamite. Yes, most military explosives burn great BUT they can detonate en masse if there is too much in the fire or if you try to snuff out the fire with your boot.   Some trivia no one posted here...some servicemen found out chewing on a small pellet of C4 would make them "high".  Funny how the cyclonite (RDX if you are British) is a powerful neurotoxin, once used in rat poison.  Yes, using C4 to cook with gives off fumes which can be toxic, hence its use in closed mining is discouraged. You are suppose to wear gloves when working with it, the nitrogen is readily absorbed by the skin and will cause a hellatous pounding head ache.  I know everyone has probably handled it without, but when going through the demo package at school we were required to wear our black outserts. Not cyclonite but nitroglycerine.  Nitroglycerine is a powerful vasodilator, hence its use in cardiac patients (nitro pills, sublingual spray and more recently, the patch).  But those who handle nitroglycerine dynamite get a serious overdose, leading to increased intercranial pressure and that pounding headache. If you get sick from cyclonite (RDX, the main component of C4), you will have more than a pounding headache.  Convulsions, hypnosis and even death....

Your quite correct, I handled plenty C-4 with my bare hands and no headache, I do remember it giving my hands a "warm" sensation sometimes.  I had a friend whose face would turn red when he handled it without wearing gloves.

Nitroglycerin residue or vapor will give you one hell of headache, we opened up a jar that had decayed dynamite (we didn't know what the hell it was at the time), we got hit a very potent hit of vapor.

I would recommend wearing gloves when possible handling explosives, many of them are poisonous and quite a few like TNT can cause dermatitis.

Quoted: If you want to blow a claymore without caps pry the cover off, trying hard to keep the HE from sticking to the cover (much like an Oreo cookie). Scrape out some of the HE and then tie a yuley (sp?) knot of det cord after running the end through the cap hole. Put the knot in the divet you made in the HE. Put the cover back on and throw a few wraps of tape for good measure. Connect other claymores like this in a mainline or ring and you have a nice defensive perimeter...

It is true detonating cord tied in a knot is sufficient to set off C-4. However you still need a detonator to set off the detonating cord.
The ring -main series may allow you to set off multiple claymores with just one detonator. You better know what your doing when you hook it up. Its not the same as a simple ring-main.

Quoted: It is true detonating cord tied in a knot is sufficient to set off C-4. However you still need a detonator to set off the detonating cord. The ring -main series may allow you to set off multiple claymores with just one detonator. You better know what your doing when you hook it up. Its not the same as a simple ring-main.

Well, I think that's about as close an answer as he's going to get.

What makes it any more complication than a regular ring main... aside from the extra work of having to pry the covers off the claymores and do all that extra bullshit?

I went back and re-read your initial post . This is is the part I missed the first time around.  

Some guy was telling a story at the motorcycle shop today of how it will blow up if you try and take one apart

I signed nondisclosure agreements when I left the Army and Air Force. I can neither confirm nor deny that anything like this existed.

If you are a history buff, look at Operation "Eldest Son", "Italian Green", or "Pole Bean" from Vietnam. These were SOG operations that planted boobytrapped munitions behind enemy lines. Good background info and keep in mind that SOG used nonstandard equipment and munitions.

Now think about the claymore. Charlie had a habit of stealing them, turning them around and other assorted mischief. Wouldn't it be nice if the claymore had some feature that would make it go boom when Charlie messed with it?

If you are interested in answering your question ,I would suggest that you:

Google
Talk to some SOG veterans
Research Aerojet ordnance- They developed the M18A1 claymore
Maybe file some FOIA requests on the Claymore

Hopefully you will find what you are looking for and post results.  

U.S. LANDMINE, APERS, HE, M18A1

1. claymores won't blow up if you open the case

2. C-4 burns VERY well

3. C-4 will not blow up if you light it with a match

4. C-4 will not harm you if you play with it. just wash your hands before you put them in your mouth. C-4 tastes nasty. trust me. (yes, i am a Marine )

5. it's VERY difficult to set off military demolitions without a blasting cap. as was mentioned earlier, you can tie in det cord, but you have to use something to set off the det cord.

6. the military has this nifty little device called a M142 Multi-Purpose Firing Device. great little booby trap device. with a blasting cap and some good ol' american thinking using the GI issue M1 brain housing group, you can use it on just about any type of demo and land mine. you can set it for pressure, presure release, tension, or tension release. unfortunately higher wouldn't let us booby trap shit to kill haji.

Quoted: Quoted: It is true detonating cord tied in a knot is sufficient to set off C-4. However you still need a detonator to set off the detonating cord. The ring -main series may allow you to set off multiple claymores with just one detonator. You better know what your doing when you hook it up. Its not the same as a simple ring-main. Well, I think that's about as close an answer as he's going to get. What makes it any more complication than a regular ring main... aside from the extra work of having to pry the covers off the claymores and do all that extra bullshit?

Using a ring-main to set off claymores is possible. I would not recomend it for use for peremeter defense. Most det-cord used in the military is 100 gr. That calculates out to 1 pound per 70 foot. It is extremely loud and deadley when it is detonated. Det cord is susecptible to being cut off if it is bent in sharp angles. It detonates at about 23,000 feet per second.

It would be better to take thousands of feet of 100 grain det-cord a unspool it well outside your perimeter and set it off when your enemy is trying to get through it than using it to try to set off multiple claymores. However if thats all you have, it could be done. Just rember all Claymores on the main will go off instantly when it is iniated.

Quoted: i have heard salty types tell me that in desert storm they would pry the claymores open, cut the C4 into thin strips to cook with or help ignite wet wood. i cant verify it but the guys who told me arent typically prone to BS

I heard a similar story about using C4 for non-explosive purposes from my friend's dad who was in Vietnam

Quoted:   As stated before you need heat and pressure to set off C4. You can hit it with a hammer all day or set it on fire without detonation occurring. Do it together though and it will go off. You can even make playdoo guys out of it.  These properties are why the military switched from Dynamite to C4. The military still uses Dynamite but rarely.

Will a nine volt battery do???

No way. The explosives the US military uses are incredibly stable. Long shelf lives, impact resistant, moisture resistant, practically soldier-proof, etc. You have to make 'em go off.