Do land mines explode immediately?
There is a common misperception that a landmine is armed by stepping on it and only triggered by stepping off, providing tension in movies. In fact the initial pressure trigger will detonate the mine, as they are designed to kill or maim, not to make someone stand very still until it can be disarmed.
Can you detonate a landmine?
Once it is armed, any pressure of at least 19.8 pounds (9 kg) can cause the mine to detonate. When the proper amount of pressure is applied it pushes down on the Belleville spring underneath the pressure plate.
What happens if you shoot a mine?
If you shoot through the explosive body of a mine, nothing will happen. Nothing will happen if you throw any landmine into a campfire. To start the explosive chains you need much higher temperatures. That would exclude IEDs etc rigged with time fuzes .
Can you disarm a landmine after stepping on it?
You don’t, it’ll disarm itself immediately. Unfortunately it does this by blowing up, so best not step on one in the first place. The only good news (for a very twisted interpretation of the term) is that landmines typically have small explosive charges and are designed to maim, not kill.
Is it possible to extract yourself from a minefield?
This is derived from Real Life military training on how to extract yourself from a minefield – except the part about using knives (or anything made of steel/iron): some of the larger (antitank) mines have magnetic-proximity triggers. Very occasionally, you’ll get both.
What do you do when you get hit by a mine?
That said, if the mine is a Bouncing Betty, the most effective thing to do is dive and duck immediately to receive minimum damage from the shrapnel, as it mainly spreads horizontally (at roughly crotch-height, so even if it doesn’t cut you in half, you may end up wishing it did. Yikes).
Do mines go off if you don’t release the button?
In reality, most personnel mines will go off whether or not you release the button. Which makes sense, if you consider that a pressure-release trigger would be more complicated and more prone to failure. Also, the only benefit from a mine following this trope is that a group of soldiers are delayed trying to help their friend.
How does the capitalist enterprise minefield work?
An oasis controlled by the Capitalist Enterprise is surrounded by a smart minefield. Actual mines are interspersed with duds to confuse detection while some mines are actually layered one on top of the other; if the top one is defused, the bottom one detonates.