Smoke Grenades

[mkjredemption]

I noticed at most of the airsoft fields i go to have old smoke grenades scatterd throughout the forests (btw pick up your trash!) when looking at the playfields it says "Smoke/Fire laws are in effect just like any forestry/BLM land"

Can anyone translate this? can i use them or not? i dont want to shoot one off and have any problems with the law

[Carpet]

It is on an event by event basis, ask the event coordinator. I believe the local fire Marshall has to clear it.

[CommonSnipe]

If they are orange signs they go up every summer around mid July and ae taken down in October. The orange signs are just up for the fire season.

[STRIK3]

Smoke from smoke grenades is toxic, and the grenade gets scalding hot when it emits smoke. They make grenades that stay cold and emit non-toxic smoke called smoke bombs, but they are more like fireworks and don't emit nearly as much smoke.

Because smokes get hot, I would be very careful using them in the woods, especially with the fire danger so high this time of year.

[Mobius]

Actually Panzer there are cold smokes that are used for marine applications and are used frequently for airsoft that produce a reasonable amount of smoke.

The only problem is they're pretty spendy I hear.

[midnight_commander]

You think they would allow the use of homemade smoke bombs? Essentially just sugar and potassium nitrate.

The down side with that is when you ignite it it dose produce a good amount of smoke, but it turns into a giant fireball because theres usually nothing but a piece of cardboard to contain it...

[Steve]

I think the forest service will be able to tell your event organzer whether or not it is freakishly risky to use pyro depending on the weather and such.

If the organizer needs / wants to use smokes in a scenario for a particular event on a private field, but is concerned about the risk, there are safety measures he can use. Half of a 55 gallon drum, half buried in the ground open end up with any detritus cleared for 10 feet or so and a couple of gallons of water poured into the surrounding sand / dirt / clay around your burn point works to mitigate most of the risks (aside from the trip hazard, of course, but engineer tape and some stakes will take care of that). At the appointed time, the ref can pop smoke and drop it in the barrel. Just check the wind when you are laying it out so that you obscure whatever it is that you want to obscure. We used similar pits for dropping arty simulators into, and if it will work for that, a smoke grenade should be fine.

Come to think of it, an old charcoal grill would work much the same way for the non-explosive smoke grenades. Set it up where the ref is going to deploy smoke, pop the can, and drop it in the barbeque. When you are done, carry it off the field and home with you. No significant environmental impact from the burning smoke grenade and no worries about leaving discarded smoke grenades littering the field.

[quigly]

Nice site. It seem like this would only be SEMI dangerios if you had a non flamible container to hold a SMALL amout of the compound in.

[lilwil]

Nice site. It seem like this would only be SEMI dangerios if you had a non flamible container to hold a SMALL amout of the compound in.

Semi dangerous is still dangerous. If a minor (ie you) hurts himself because of what is said on these forums you will make more bad publicity for airsofting as a whole. Use your head and be safe.

[Eyes On]

Post deleted due to content. Craig, we appreciate the effort, but we don't link to sites like that for our own peace of mind. Sorry bro.

[Blizzard]

Out of curiosity, does anyone have any idea what they use over in Scotland? I've seen several YouTube vids by scoutthedoggie and it seems like they chuck those smokes and flashbang trainers around like Halloween candy! Even the guys with just an AEG, hi-cap, and BDU seem to have them, let alone the other gearwhores.