Coke Bottle Shaped Charges: How to Recycle Bottles Into Explosive Penetrators

[@crimsonhalo13]

> "my mom was always worried the FBI was watching us" *ATF giggles emanating from nearby bushes*

[@jlambuth]

She legit was worried in all hispanic mom style. We just watched the movie Seven and there was a scene where Pitt and Freeman use book lists to find their suspect and question the legality of that. Mom looks at me and is like "aye hijo, I hope the FBI doesn't track me!" Oh how times have changed.

[@southern_merican]

Yeah, the bushes are digital now.

[@marvindebot3264]

@@jlambuth The Improvised Munitions Handbook is a prohibited publication in Australia so yes, here they would be watching.

[@jlambuth]

@@marvindebot3264 Ol Oz is getting crazy these days.

[@earlwyss520]

He should try the Coffee Can shaped charge from that same book.

[@lairdcummings9092]

Rather better than I expected, and it's nice to see that the old Paladin Press books had somewhat functional advice.

[@DEATH_TO_TYRANTS]

It's been a long time since I've seen your comments. I don't remember where I used to run across your comments, but I remember you for sure.

[@joshuagibson2520]

@@DEATH_TO_TYRANTS I see Laird on forgotten weapons and other places around the YT. He's a good dude.

[@lairdcummings9092]

@@DEATH_TO_TYRANTS I get around. 😉 Look for me in odd places, like Justin Johnson, or Lost in the Pond, or My Name is Andong, or... You get the idea. If you don't expect me, I'm probably there anyway. 😁

[@lairdcummings9092]

@@joshuagibson2520 thanks, mate! 👍

[@DEATH_TO_TYRANTS]

@@joshuagibson2520 Forgotten weapons would make sense. I haven't been watching anything gun related in quite awhile. Hence why I haven't seen Laird in awhile. Cheers

[@eyeofjake]

I know my dentist warned me that coke is really destructive, but this takes it to new levels.

[@pauljones9746]

Shaped charges are fascinating. Making a hard object turn into itself and become high velocity super hot liquid able to penetrate just about anything is just cool as F

[@wacojones8062]

It actually is an extrusion copper does not have time to melt same to some extent with glass. The final third of the liner can be vaporized as the shockwave is pinched between the liner and the outer surface. This can widen the hole a bit and provide behind the armor effects. For more ideas look up the Dart missile and Maverick warhead designs.

[@Matt-xc6sp]

Jake got that deployment tan

[@jlambuth]

You know it

[@ernieu4]

Miss them days

[@user936]

@@ernieu4 living out of a few bags - a simpler life.

[@idk-pf3fc]

I heard it right? 6:06

[@jlambuth]

We started this video series back in 2019. Deployment and a bevy of other issues delayed us. We finally got it out for you though.

[@DJTheMetalheadMercenary]

New hairdo is looking fresh man, I approve haha

[@jlambuth]

@@DJTheMetalheadMercenary thanks my man. My barber wasn't happy but the wallet digs the savings.

[@DJTheMetalheadMercenary]

@@jlambuth Easiest hairstyle in many ways for sure can relate hahaha

[@johnnybagofdoughnuts4193]

Great vid

[@Warhawk76]

Great video!

[@thunderclipper]

I like how the limiting factor on making a shaped charge was “making enough TNT” not “making TNT”

[@robertdinicola9225]

Ahh! The good ole days! I had a chemistry set in the 60s. I never even opened it untill the 70s. I discovered when i was 12, i could make black powder and the fuze could be bought at the hobby shop!c

[@AndrewH76251]

LOL! At 8 y.o. , The very first thing I made with my set was Poudre Negro. I made my fuse by impregnating string with the powder. It worked, but could have ended badly. At least I wasn't using match heads like other dweebs my age ! Times sure were different back then. Not even once was it ever discussed or even thought to harm anyone or anything. Then again, we had no video games...

[@themanhimself3]

@@AndrewH76251 "Then again we didn't have video games" Shut up boomer, that has nothing to do with it.

[@robertdinicola9225]

@@AndrewH76251 yes sir! My mom was wondering why i went through so much sulphur and salt peter! Every two weeks she was taking me to the pharmacy to get more. My dad asked what i was doing with it and i said making fire works. Shrugged is shoulders like yeah, right. Ok.

[@AndrewH76251]

@@robertdinicola9225 hee-hee those were the days indeed ! My Dad then taught me to make flashpowder 😁

[@WhuDhat]

@@robertdinicola9225 i can relate, just a few decades after. Begin a search to make explosive pellets, ended up on a recipe for low grade napalm, polystyrene and a couple liquids, was mixing some in the backyard in a Mason jar and my older brother comes out to smoke a cigarette, sees me on the side of the house and asks wtf I'm doing, I explain, he says I'm huffing glue, I re-iterate, he lectures me on huffing glue, to this day he's still convinced I was huffing glue... haha

[@boschelling6893]

The bottom half of monster cans work extremely well with about 1/4 to 1/3 a stick of c4. As long as you pack it well and get all the air pockets out, and have the right standoff, they make perfectly concentric holes. We used them on steel I beams with great success.

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

Try the steel cans that are used for aerosol sprays, they make a decent EFP.

[@hanelyp1]

I can see the domed bottom of cans designed for pressure being a not terrible refractive surface for a shaped charge. The possibly tricky part is getting a good combination of geometry and detonation velocity including that dome.

[@worlore1651]

Where tf you guys getting c4 from

[@jlambuth]

I'm trying this out

[@worlore1651]

@@jlambuth how do you get the c4

[@bradhunt120]

We did the wine bottle one on my combat engineer course it worked great

[@CBB-dg9jy]

As did i

[@Jack-Surreal_Panes]

We used coke cans and used the cans to make the cone. Made a nice enough hole to take out engine, radio, etc...

[@christhirion9474]

So did we a life time ago.

[@Bearded_SARTECH]

We added a penny to the wine bottle...

[@bradhunt120]

@@Bearded_SARTECH hmm I gotta try that now

[@ETC_Rohaly_USCG]

I like how you just keep rolling, even when stumbling through the speaking. It’s refreshing. So many creators are hung up on “getting the perfect take”. This feels real, and genuine

[@worlore1651]

I was thinking this but im high so it felt weird

[@Markojaydog]

We did water bottle shaped charges in the US Army back in 2003. Fun stuff! Thanks for making the video.

[@davidbuchanan6719]

Welcome to the atf watch list. Everyone take a number and have a seat please. Seriously though, good job on the video guys!

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

Considering that the bottom of the bottle creates a design constriction by fixing the standoff distance and potentially hindering the penetrator itself, seems like the "scribe a line into the glass->pour hot water->dunk on ice bath" method of getting a clean cut of the "cone" and then using measured sticks for proper standoff would yield even better results.

[@alna2530]

Was just going to come say that myself.

[@FishFind3000]

Agreed.

[@DJTheMetalheadMercenary]

Hah awesome, definitely a cool updated take on the coke bottle charge, I remember Paladin Press among others that had such great stuff!

[@TheMajorActual]

Long ago and far away, I used to trade emails with a person who was an armorer at Aberdeen Playground. I asked him about the manual mentioned in the video -- he replied that they tested every formula in the book, and they all worked...however, he advised - and I quote - "...Don't shoot the red or white propellant in any firearm you want to keep, because it corroded the bottoms out of the buckets we mixed them in..."

[@CJ-nt4cs]

Coke is woke and that's why KZbin allowed this video.

[@benjammin1304]

Three days later and it's age restricted

[@bigdaddytee7203]

Idk they need to be less white

[@Warhawk76]

So damn cool that you are able to make a piece of glass smack a steel plate hard enough to leave dents that match the glass bottle bottom!!

[@will9357]

That's actually how shaped charges were discovered. Not with coke bottles, but with text molded into the explosive becoming imprinted on steel that was under the explosives.

[@csjrogerson2377]

Brits have sometimes used the bases of wine bottles to provide a shaped charge. Cut the wine bottle about 1/3rd up from the base and put PE4 inside. Add detonater and place charge on layers of foam to achieve desired standoff. Bit big, but it works. However, the much smaller and very effective X1E1 was readily available from stores and preferred. The old 5Kg behive charge (bit excessive) was also available. (Brit CMD/EOD/IED operator from 1985-1999)

[@ctrip34]

You guys should do more experiments from that improvised munitions handbook. I've always wanted to see the bag of flower on a tuna can or whatever it was. I'll have to go dig up my book to see what they were actually using.

[@jordanevans3735]

I enjoy your pronunciation of “centimeter” and “adhesive”. I’ve never heard the them said that way and it seems to add an aura of class to your bomb channel.

[@mahbriggs]

I was going to suggest wine bottles and martini glasses, but you brought them up there at the end. I have made in the past, various black powder formulations, and once a very small amount of nitro glycerin. Never tried shaped charges, I was just playing with stuff that went bang. Amazing what you can learn from the 1911 edition of Encyclopedia Britannica! And yes, I also had some of the Paladin Press books and pamphlets, but my main source was the Encyclopedia.

[@tokencivilian8507]

Great stuff. The only additional thing I'd suggest is an equal weight of non-shaped explosive as a point of comparison. In the case of that first block, it probably wouldn't have even scratched the surface. That would really illustrate the effect of shaping on the outcome.

[@bobshore9529]

I have done several wind bottle shape charges. As a combat engineer officer in the army I learned many improvised explosive techniques. While in Iraq I saw first hand the effects from enemy EFPs. Would be happy to work with you should you need any ideas or help with your Lab projects.

[@ladder81capt79]

Can you guys try the cartridge case blasting cap as shown in the Army’s Improvised Munitions book in ANFO?

[@stefanmolnapor910]

Thank you for taking the time to explain what and why you are doing this for people like me, that do not know anything about this but are fascinated by this👍

[@kreator5092]

so happy to see another vid! ;D

[@samsham8218]

Can't wait for the next one!!! I love to see stuff out of the improvised munitions handbook. Well done Y'all!

[@Monestary_Warrior]

You guys are awesome! I remember the Anarchists Cookbook. My mon thought the feds were coming when I bought that in the mid nineties. 😂 great video once again! 🤠

[@mattfleming86]

If you couldn't hide that sh*t from momma, then I'm sure they were watching you (too). JollyRoger shakes his head.

[@joshuagibson2520]

95% of it is was bunk or outdated. Even back then. Was still fun reading though. Someone needs to make a 2021 version.

[@ayylmao7666]

Alot of the pdfs of it nowdays contain stuff thats meant to hurt the reader. The book is shit anyways theres a bunch of us army books out there

[@earlwyss520]

I bought my copy while on active duty in the USAF. The sections on mines & shaped charges changed how I did my job as a Security Policeman. I was assigned to an ICBM Squadron, and had to periodically go check on the Launch sites. What I read about in that book opened my eyes to potential threats that everyone else didn't see, because they had their heads firmly stuck in the proverbial "box" that free thinkers think outside of.

[@joshuagibson2520]

@@earlwyss520 indeed. Free thinking is rather important. In all aspects of life.

[@TheBryce98]

5:36 Cen-timeters?

[@davidduafala3050]

These videos are both entertaining and educational. Great job.

[@fishcumber4548]

Best channel

[@bagibadoo439]

When I was in the military we were taught to use c4, some coins and a 1.5 L PET bottle. You cut the bottle where the conical section ends, put c4 on the the outside of the conical part until it becomes shaped as a cylinder. Also put some in the bottom of the other half. Put a stack of copper coins on the top (where you drink), rotate it 180 degrees and insert into the other half. Creates a pretty good shape charge with items you would have access to in war.

[@DevilMann454]

I remember the days when I was a kid buying those books at gun shows. Awesome video guys!

[@brianv1988]

I love the kind of videos that explain exactly the chemistry and physics behind explosive

[@madcapmagician6018]

so I read in the US improvised explosives manual ... lol that they did this with the same sort of set up EXCEPT.. they had cut the bottle at where the bottle flares out and used that alone as the shaped charge... they had a sleeve and all that but just the upper portion of the bottle, and they used pencils as legs taped to the device to give standoff... would you guys be able to recreate this and make a video on it? I have always wondered how well it would work and judging by your success here i wonder if you might have even more with this process =) thanx for the awesome vids guys always entertaining. =) TWO OPPOSABLE THUMBS UP! =)

[@reggiep75]

Paladin Press.. Now that brings back memories of Commodore Amiga floppy disks being handed around late 80's/early 90's.. Good times!

[@RolandtheThompsonGunner]

Yes, there are definitely other uses for explosives that are not nefarious. For example, when you try getting a rusty rotar off a car from the "rust bucket" and even the sledgehammer doesn't work.

[@WvlfDarkfire]

Beautiful! Science, mythbusting, and improvised explosive devices. ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!?!

[@pillscottvt6628]

We did that in Desert Storm with plastic water bottles & M118, it worked OK on the plastic (Valsella) land mines.

[@ConservativeVoicesUniversity]

Well done gentlemen, stay safe and keep up the great work 🇺🇸

[@bangsdagong]

i just watched this for the 1st time with no sound. that one that went through a shitton of steel and made a big hole in the ground.....that was AMAZING!! Gonna rewatch this with sound so i can understand what i think i saw?? cool video!!!

[@aleks138]

what about a funnel? they usually have a small lip at the top that might help with alignment what about cutting pacmans out of copper sheet and forming it into a cone? as always love the content

[@will9357]

The book he references actually has instructions for creating shaped charges out of funnels.

[@pacman10182]

@@will9357 there's a book that explores IRA "devices" including funnel shaped charges

[@Borsia]

I used to have a improvised explosive and sabotage handbook that was distributed during WWII by the Special Opps, later to become the CIA I believe. The book called for using French style wine bottles with high dome bottoms to make penetrators for use against hard targets. So I am eager to see your video on wine bottle charges. It seems like you would have had better results had you cut the bottom of the Coke bottle down to give about 1-2"of standoff and cut the top down to the arc of the bell.' But that's just MHO Cheers

[@chrisfarr6955]

I have pictures of what an EFP shaped charge can do…. Damn thing hit right behind the seat of my truck, right through the armor plate in the drivers side and out the passenger side.

[@XxXx-dk3wb]

Improvised Munitions was my first handbook as well.. the shaped bottom of wine bottles were good for Thermite standoffs.. I believe... Thx for the memories

[@michaelvangundy226]

I watched a professor do this with a copper sheet. He had dies to press the sheet into a cone. It would make a plasma jet that traveled a meter before penetrating a tank armor.

[@vigunfighter]

Partisans and Jedburgh teams in western europe in WWII used wine bottles to fashion shaped charges. I believe the idea of shaping a charge was relatively new at that time.

[@420BulletSponge]

Could powdered metal be used to form a shaped charge? Like Magnsesium?

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

I think powdered magnesium is what's used to create incendiary effects, so you probably don't get the plasticity effects if the powder "catches fire".

[@alna2530]

They have one on the market for use in defusing IEDs. Basically burns through the outer shell and burns up the explosive filler. I think it's magnisium based cone but it been a while since I looked it up.

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

Yes, liners like that are called reactive liners. Magnesium, aluminum, even steel will burn and punch through a target.

[@Tomartyr]

iirc mining shaped charges use powdered copper for the liner.

[@WineScrounger]

Does it need to be powdered? At these velocities and pressures it’s basically a fluid in any case.

[@Veptis]

The power of that shaped charge is astounding

[@marcribaudo1965]

When I was younger a friend's father had the Anarchist Cookbook. We were successful at some and not others where you need items not readily available.

[@Boss_Man1371]

We always went with wine bottles for ours they have the concave bottom you can stuff c4 in the bottle and duct tape sticks for the legs for standoff it worked everytime we did it. Improvised arts and crafts was always my favorite lol I'd love to see a Frankenstein and some Improvised claymores and bangs. Engineers up!

[@brett4200241]

In 2011, I was packing a noise canon. It was a 4" metal pipe with a 1" hole in the center with a small hole drilled at the bottom for fuse, welded to a thick metal base. It fired while I was packing it with a wooden broom stick and wooden rubber mallet . Lost the 3 middle fingers and use the thumb on my left hand . I'm right-handed, thankfully. It's been so long since I don't remember life with two hands. But if y'all read this comment, I would like to get an answer to some questions I have on why it happened. Thanks . And I love the content..

[@ianvital8834]

Physics and Chemistry really go together

[@geodkyt]

I'm curious as to how the glass affected the jet performance versus pure shaping without a liner, or a proper copper liner shaped exactly like the bottle.. I would like to run the same test with a few extra variations using the same *shapes* and *explosives* . Control: Same design as you chose (even if using a different high explosive as the charge, such as a castable solid explosive). Variations that exactly duplicate the explosive charge type, priming, amount, and shape: 1. A Coke bottle with the base below the explosive cut off and the stand-off created by taping dowels so the bottom half of the bottle doesn't potentially disrupt the jet be acting like spaced armor. 2. Molding the thinnest possible plastic copy of the Coke bottle shape to minimize the "liner" effect. (You could skip the plastic altogether and use a negative cast of the bottle if the explosive was a cashable solid, but with a liquid or room temperature malleable explosive, not so much)... 3. As for #2, but with the bottom cut off and stand off legs as used in #1. 4. Replicate the same bottle shape as #2 with the bottom "cut off" and stand off legs as in #1, but using a thin copper liner instead of plastic. That would require machining a die set duplicating the Coke bottle shape, which would be pricey. Sadly, I *don't* have a licensed explosives company and an experimental/marketing budget to do this kind of science with... 😔

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

Glass liners actually work pretty well, not as well as copper, but way better than nothing.

[@Laugh1ngboy]

@@chemistryofquestionablequa6252 Out side of the fact they are 4 inches away from the surface. The copper actually turns into a projectile and pushes through the armor. You also have the issue of brittle materials like glass are really good at absorbing the force from the blast. Either way the cascading effect is the more important part of cone shaped charges.

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

@@Laugh1ngboy I'm well aware of how shaped charges work, but thanks. They were definitely need a longer stand off.

[@Laugh1ngboy]

​@@chemistryofquestionablequa6252 I was thinking they didn't achieve proper compression becasue they used a liquid explosive. I believe it is why the mining charge was more effective.

[@HydraX_pain]

Jake is a monotone voiced comedian 🤣

[@jlambuth]

My ex says the same thing.

[@trashcompactorYT]

@@jlambuth ouch

[@HydraX_pain]

@@jlambuth im saying it as a good thing im trying to gain information off you and Shawn but you guys keep saying hilarious stuff

[@boltvanderhuge4858]

@@jlambuth you should bring her on the show lol

[@FixitFrank]

Jake you are getting really good on camera :) You're giving me more confidence to do it myself. Thanks

[@jeffro5180]

Loving the WV rep!!!!!

[@25centsapop]

What did you learn today jimmy? I learned how to manufacture shaped charges with just coke bottles and pvc pipe!

[@boltvanderhuge4858]

I honestly thought this was a joke until the first boom. Didn't think you could make a shape charge this way.

[@greylensman2834]

Good to see / hear that you are also covering wine bottle shaped charge. in my youth I would use bottles with a very deep punt and glue a (real) copper penny into the punt in the hope it would help cut what I was working on.

[@jeckol3200]

I am sure I am on list for watching this but this is cool stuff.

[@springbloom5940]

I made those perforators, at Schlumberger. They are *beasts*

[@mikevandenbroek2366]

Awesome video love the improvised shape charges. A suggestion for another shaped charge is the ammo can rail charge for cutting.

[@828enigma6]

I perceive the more dense a material used for a liner, the deeper the molten slug will penetrate. Would a dense material like tungsten or depleted uranium , for instance, penetrate deeper than steel?

[@lahaya237]

if you leave the bottle full, what effect will it have?

[@jlambuth]

I don't know. Good question though. I'll have to see.

[@j.s3612]

It wouldn't be a shapted charge then . The glass is only used to focus the rapidly expanding explosive . Is bottle is full it wouldn't focus the hot gass

[@thierrylaskartlicensedtour6108]

Champagne bottles and tolite would give similar results, great video as always

[@zakgalt308]

A lot of good work here. Great job

[@MarshallRauch-ty1wu]

Says coke is bad for you and doesn't drink it, proceeds to manufacture high explosives. I feel ya dog I feel ya

[@exo068]

Can you please try it with champagne glasses!!

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

Former 4H rocketry person here, I knew it could be done, I just hadn't figured out the mechanics!

[@paulhelberg5269]

I look forward to the wine bottle charges, my personal favorite improvised container.

[@BattleGn0me]

we fashioned shaped charges with c4 and tin cans in demo specialist(0351) section of infantry school using sticks, pencils or dowels for standoff. The more you manipulate it, the less potent it is, but still effective against concrete, plate steel and hardened road surfaces.

[@dustyak79]

This makes me think the logic of an RPG or Bazooka needing to be de milled. The feds are afraid someone will make a rocket with a shaped charge to shoot out of it or somehow source a 75 year old bazooka rocket or somehow find a RPG 7 rocket in the US. If you are able to do that you can easily make a freaking tube with a BBQ igniter trigger and if you can find or source the rockets id imagine you could source the tubes.

[@alna2530]

IRA recoiless mortar launcher with a shape charge projectile with a proper fuse mechanism. Bin the BBQ igniter idea as it's gimmicky trash at best unless you really know what you're doing and have no other choice but to use them.

[@antkoz6370]

Silicone caulking tubes, tips loaded with a rimfire round. .22 tracer worked great.

[@dustyak79]

@@alna2530 BBQ lighter was just an example that if someone can make a functional RPG style rocket I’d imagine they could figure out a good launcher for it too. That’s the easy part .

[@bodyno3158]

3D printed mechanical fuzes let's goooooooooooooo

[@bodyno3158]

3D printed fuzes let's goooooooooooooo

[@rogerlibby14613]

"Pyrotechnics in Industry" is a good "read". Yes, the ATF was watching you kid!

[@officialdirtmcgurt]

Hell yeah

[@joelmcintyre3061]

I remember those books. I had the black paperback anarchist cook book. I had it long enough before my parents found it to realize there is just enough info to hurt yourself.

[@tinfoilhat3268]

Doing the Lord's work

[@Kongfufrank]

I studied the same book you got the I from.

[@sski]

Love to see what you could do with a bottle cutter and copper foil ;)

[@gregkral4467]

Desert publications and paladin press did have fascinating books.

[@TheSpookiestSkeleton]

you put one of those on something important like a fuel stockpile or something and you've got an effective way to sabotage on a budget

[@calebthomas6385]

I love how he’s always out there repping WVU ha

[@jekekefe5923]

Lol you guys are crazy who tf would sponsor this. Stay safe and god bless America

[@berryreading4809]

Jake while playing with explosives: "careful, drinking soda is dangerous" and statistically he's atleast 99% accurate 😄

[@Tomartyr]

Thank goodness he found a safe use for that soda.

[@KaletheQuick]

Now to see how well you can improvise a shape charge.

[@wilemelliott]

silly question, could you use cut coke bottles as a mold for a liner and cast the liner out of aluminum? Not sure the material would be up to it, but it was just a silly thought that occurred to me

[@wacojones8062]

Tape the bottle to provide a ledge to set the pipe on with a second wrap matching the inside diameter of the pipe to get it as close to concentric as possible. A little longer pipe might also help with the upper end reinforced with a firm tape wrap down to mid height to get a better focused shockwave. Look up the Zuni US Navy 5" Rocket HEAT-Frag warhead design Very long with a thin shell with a plastic liner with little squares embossed to get the fragmentation effect. Very long liner on the Zuni. I think a wooden rod or plastic pipe just inside neck diameter inserted one inch in may also help keep the shockwave from zig zagging before reaching the glass.

[@biggin2155]

cen-TIM-itters threw me for a loop. I've never heard that word pronounced that way.

[@КотБегемот-в3и]

Будет ли улучшение пробиваемости, если отпилить от бутылки нижнюю часть, как написано в инструкции?

[@crabbiboi5528]

Whats your guys background? I'm attending a militarry school that this channel is very applicable to keep em coming

[@teamseshmason]

Hmmm... I wonder if it is possible to 3D print a shaped charge cone, and how well would it perform being only plastic?

[@Robert-qm7yi]

Being plastic you could use it to cast a metal cone assuming the cone is thick enough to be casted

[@OnTheRiver66]

You can use plastic. They have flexible linear shaped charges that are basically a flexible plastic angle with explode around and above the plastic that can be formed in shapes to make the penetration in the shape you want. Check it out in Wikipedia.

[@number6mbw]

Those conical Dr Pepper bottles would be neat to see

[@cascadianrangers728]

Oh man I used to love Paladin Press!

[@freedomfalcon]

Literally got an ad for plastic bottles right before this video lmao

[@tsclly2377]

Use the bottle as a form with copper wire and plastic explosive.. Ideally the wire would be on the inside of the glass, as the glass acts as flux on the copper and definitely cut off the bottom if using the glass as a finished form as with the coke bottle, the hole indicates that the thick glass bottom is acting to unshape the charge effect (like water does to a water jet).

[@briancombatengineer12b91]

So the PLX used looked like a lot of powdered aluminum mixed. Whats the best ratio of AL to the NM?

[@rob7566]

You can make a really easy improvised cutting charge with a length of aluminium angle about a kilo PE7 and a sandbag to lay on top. Works a treat on gurder bridges.

[@meansartin]

It's crazy that the glass would be that effective

[@surplusdriller1]

i did one 30mm plate + one 10mm plate with a cm of airgap with only a 3cmwide 3g copper cone 42degree angle and cast about 30-35g of ETN back in the day as a kid. if was impressing. i think i still got the 3cm plate with an 9 to ca 7 eft hole laying in my parents garage. ahhh sweet memories