Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Since the flare guns arrived, I’ve been wanting to pick up some 26.5mm smoke and flare cartridges. Not a big deal, I just have to sit down and order them. But I found an interesting tangent….trip flares.

Years ago you could buy surplus ‘boobytrap/artillery simulators’ that the military used. You nailed this little device to a tree, strung some wire and when someone stumbled across it an M80-firework type explosive went off. Great fun. Good for letting you know when people were sneaking onto your property. Like much fun milsurp they are no longer made available. Fortunately, a LMI who works at Home Depot wandered down the plumbing aisle and discovered, in theory, the correct combination of fittings to make a simple trip flare. I say ‘in theory’ because wandering through HD with a 26.5mm flare in hand and dropping it into various size pipe was not a really good idea.

He sent pictures and a parts list (including Home Depot SKU’s) and it appears to be a workable design (although heavily overbuilt since it uses steel pipe rather than cheaper, lighter PVC or plastic). As soon as I get some flares I’ll try building one. I was *going* to post the pictures but the thing looks eerily like a pipe bomb and we wouldnt want to offend the sensibilities of any self-appointed watchdogs.

So what is the purpose of the trip flares? Well, lets say Rancho Ballistica has a nice long driveway leading from the little-used road. Lets also say theres the typical old barbed wire fence surrounding the place. Its 3:30AM and I’m awakened by the seismic detectors going off or by the barking of the dog. Look out the window. Its pitch black. Sensor says that detector #3, the one at the northeast property corner, is going off. That covers a good bit of ground and doesnt say exactly *where* the intruders are or how many. At that moment theres a pop, a brief flash, and a streak of light shoots into the air and bursts, illuminating the ground beneath in time to see…..

Now nothing ruins the element of surprise more than ‘freezing’ as a flare goes off overhead.

Paranoia? Mmmm…maybe. But when telephones have been ‘iffy’ , the radio has had nothing but Emergency Broadcast info on for the last week or two, shortwave news reports tell you things that US sources dont, and theres been reports of looting and theft of peoples supplies it’ll seem like a good idea to have one of these babies wired across the accessways to the outbuildings and gardens.