Watch The Largest Bridge Explosion In Texas History In Glorious Slow Motion

[George Wallace]

WHOA!


When I played with this stuff, FIB was Green, and "burned at a very fast rate".  It had to be timed before using.  DET Cord was orange, and it "detonated".  It could be tied in a thumb knot and used to initiate C4 or DM12 (that would be wrapped around the knot).  Det cord would also be used in making Ring Mains.  FIB was a "timed fuse" that would initiate a blasting cap or Det Cord, to initiate an explosive.

I can see where, over time and with newer products, FIB may have become FBI (a newer, better product or different manufacturer).  This does happen.





On an aside, you could take FIB and tie thumb knots in it every foot or so and lay it in a ditch, light it, and simulate MG rounds impacting in that location.

 

[57Chevy]

PDF from Chemring

Fuze Instantaneous L1A1
Stock Number rings a bell  :camo:

Application
Battlefield Simulation and inoculation, and field applications where minimum initiation delay is required.
Description
The fuze consists of a semi-fuze made from glazed Kraft paper twisted yarn coated with sulphurless mealed powder and then wound with yarn and protected by an outer light brown polyethylene covering. The fuze is supplied in 70 metre lengths on a metal spool and packaged in an H83 steel ammunition container. The diameter is 5.2mm with a small tactile marker along the length.

Specifications
Burning Speed not less than 33.5m/s at 16oC
Explosive Type Blackpowder
Explosive Quantity 2 grammes per metre
Storage Life 5 years
Outer Case H83 steel box,
30 x 19 x 16cm
References
NATO Stock number 1375-99-966-6092
UN Number 0066
Proper Shipping Name Cord, Igniter

 

[old fart]

WHOA!


When I played with this stuff, FIB was Green, and "burned at a very fast rate".  It had to be timed before using.  DET Cord was orange, and it "detonated".  It could be tied in a thumb knot and used to initiate C4 or DM12 (that would be wrapped around the knot).  Det cord would also be used in making Ring Mains.  FIB was a "timed fuse" that would initiate a blasting cap or Det Cord, to initiate an explosive.

I can see where, over time and with newer products, FIB may have become FBI (a newer, better product or different manufacturer).  This does happen.





On an aside, you could take FIB and tie thumb knots in it every foot or so and lay it in a ditch, light it, and simulate MG rounds impacting in that location.

Only safety or time fuze is timed George.....in-service colours, green and once upon a time black. 

FIB, FBI or FI (as shown in the pic)...all the same thing...and yes, can produce the MG effect etc in bat sim....but it has always been brownish...

 

[George Wallace]

Only safety or time fuze is timed George.....in-service colours, green and once upon a time black. 

FIB, FBI or FI (as shown in the pic)...all the same thing...and yes, can produce the MG effect etc in bat sim....but it has always been brownish...

Sorry.  I have to disagree with you.  You always cut off the first few feet of FIB before using it and then a few feet to check the time of the burn.  The ends may have collected moisture which would affect the burn, as well.  Unless you want to be like throwing a grenade and leaving the pin in.  It is a safety issue.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Sorry but you're wrong George, FIB burns too damn fast to time for one thing.  100 fps +/- would take a pretty decent stopwatch, and a damn good amount of hand eye coordination to work it. That's why it's not used in non-electric initiation, too much wiggle room with it.  It was an orange and brown weave at one time too.

 

[Mr.Neville]

Wow, that was pretty crazy, I'm surprised they let bystanders be so close in the water!

 

[old fart]

Sorry.  I have to disagree with you.  You always cut off the first few feet of FIB before using it and then a few feet to check the time of the burn.  The ends may have collected moisture which would affect the burn, as well.  Unless you want to be like throwing a grenade and leaving the pin in.  It is a safety issue.

Cutting off the end/ends and discarding due to possible moisture penetration....for all types of fuze and cord is something we do to mitigate failure.  Safety is also a key aspect.  Even then safety fuze can be problematic...but not so much with Canadian/Brits/US/Aus made stuff.  i can personally attest to a problem which was nearly catastrophic for me. 

The accessory in question here to the naked eye burns instantaneously.....no point attempting to time it.

It can't be used in a normal safety fuse role...

It is used primarily for Booby Traps and can be used in combination, fired non-electrically by F1A1 combination switch connected to a flash det (Non Electric (NE) Det)...although the flash det itself can be connected by direct insertion to the F1A1 coupling device and then directly inserted into the main charge or connected to the charge via det cord.  Horses for courses.

For bat sim we would use ISFEs fired electrically or F1A1s without dets or a main charge to state the obvious

When Kat says it can't be used non-electrically - I believe he means in conventional demolitions connected say to an M60 or lit by a match fusee....and of course i agree with that notion...

 

[Kat Stevens]

Cutting off the end/ends and discarding due to possible moisture penetration....for all types of fuze and cord is something we do to mitigate failure.  Safety is also a key aspect.  Even then safety fuze can be problematic...but not so much with Canadian/Brits/US/Aus made stuff.  i can personally attest to a problem which was nearly catastrophic for me. 

The accessory in question here to the naked eye burns instantaneously.....no point attempting to time it.

It can't be used in a normal safety fuse role...

It is used primarily for Booby Traps and can be used in combination, fired non-electrically by F1A1 combination switch connected to a flash det (Non Electric (NE) Det)...although the flash det itself can be connected by direct insertion to the F1A1 coupling device and then directly inserted into the main charge or connected to the charge via det cord.  Horses for courses.

For bat sim we would use ISFEs fired electrically or F1A1s without dets or a main charge to state the obvious

When Kat says it can't be used non-electrically - I believe he means in conventional demolitions connected say to an M60 or lit by a match fusee....and of course i agree with that notion...

I meant for normal demolition purposes, yes.  It's main value, in my experience, is as a training aid more than anything.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Anyway, bridge go boom, bridge fall down, Happy Kat.  I wish there was a video around of the Coquihalla trestle bridge demolition 1 CER did back in the mid 80s.  We watched from atop an adjacent mountain, it was most fabulous the way it jumped up off the piers and then fell down.

 

[Old Sweat]

Anyway, bridge go boom, bridge fall down, Happy Kat.  I wish there was a video around of the Coquihalla trestle bridge demolition 1 CER did back in the mid 80s.  We watched from atop an adjacent mountain, it was most fabulous the way it jumped up off the piers and then fell down.

Circa 1968-1969 there was a bridge somewhere up the Saint John from Fredericton that was scheduled for demolition (I think as part of Macquatac (sp?)) and 3 Brigade in Gagetown asked for and got the task. As well as a demolition, the brigade practiced the withdrawal of a guard across a reserved demolition and then the firing of the demolition with all the passage of code words and signing of orders to the demolition guard commander and firing party commander. It was written up in The Sentinel but I have no other information on it. Imagine what the environmental review process would be like if something like that was tried today.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Many years ago, one of the Ministry's decided that the dam built to supply the Britannia Mine had to be dewatered. The engineer told the blaster to use x amount of explosive and where to put it. The Blaster said "That's not enough" and added more explosive. On the film you see the initial explosion and then the full collapse of the dam with the guys saying "oh shit"  They had to race down the hill to warn the town, which ended up being flooded out by the oncoming water (and destroying the only set of plans for the mine). That film has never surfaced on youtube for some reason.

 

[AmmoTech90]

Nice bang.

Can I throw something else into the mix.  They probably used shock tube for the initiation set.  Much more reliable than FIB and the rate at which the demolition propagates is around right for shock tube.

Oh, and that does detonate, but stays intact.

Fuse Blasting Instantaneous, usually abbreviated to FIB or FBI or Fuse Instantaneous.  It's the army, it doesn't have to make sense.  However it is always Fuse, not Fuze.  Fuzes make projectiles go bang, fuse is a demolition store.

You can time FIB, I used to do it for lot proofs.  You soak it overnight, and use an apparatus made of a drum with a door in it and a panel that has a switch with I think a solenoid to start a stop watch.  You laid out the roll of FIB from the firing point down range and back up to the firing point.  The far end was in the drum with a training charge on the end.  You initiated the FIB electrically which also started the stop watch.  The FIB burnt down range and back up again, into the drum, initiated the training charge which blew open the door, which opened the circuit and actuated the solenoid stopping the stop watch.  Thus you got a time for the burn which should have been around 3 seconds.

But no, FIB is not timed by the user.

And here's a pictures of a good burn.