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Anyone ever made a caltrop? by Tansin A. Darcos (TDARCOS) 10/18/2011, 2:34pm PDT
Caltrops were a medieval anti-personnel and anti-cavalry weapon. You take a ball of something that can hold things together, like mud, or if needed, you bent sticks and tied them together. You use 4 sharp, pointy objects into the ball: sticks, sharpened bamboo, or anything else which will cause the intended target to "get the point" and to make it correctly, each point is inserted at a 45-degree angle from all the others. Or you can tie together two sticks which have been bent at a 45-degree angle.

What you end up with is a device which has 3 legs and a standing point. No matter how you drop it, one point is always standing up.

This is a nasty weapon. Step on it barefoot and you'll notice, and even if you're wearing shoes they won't help if it's hard enough and sharp. Rows of them will take out horses. Made of steel, like the picture above, and you take out most vehicles with tires, too.

Cover the points with shit, when a victim steps on it, not only do you put a real shit load of pain on the recipient, you also give them a literal shit load of infection, too.

Became less effective in warfare with the development of the tank, but were still used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.

To see why they work you can make a caltrop with four toothpicks and Play Doh or clay, and notice that if you make it correctly with the 45 degree angle, no matter how you drop it, one end always points up.
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Anyone ever made a caltrop? by Tansin A. Darcos (TDARCOS) 10/18/2011, 2:34pm PDT NEW
    Correction: Alternative is 3 bent sticks instead, not two NT by Tansin A. Darcos (TDARCOS) 10/18/2011, 2:37pm PDT NEW
        Look, I understand your knowledge of stepping on things is purely theoretical... by Murex ferreus 10/18/2011, 4:33pm PDT NEW
    A keyboard is a matrix of buttons, you press them to make letters appear on a by computer screen. 10/18/2011, 3:57pm PDT NEW
        Yeah, and we suffer the results by Tansin A. Darcos (TDARCOS) 10/18/2011, 6:46pm PDT NEW
            Is this seriously happening? NT by mark 10/18/2011, 6:56pm PDT NEW
            No, it just says that Dvorak was a fat worthless piece of shit by like you 02/08/2012, 9:24pm PST NEW
    Yes. A caltrop story on OMM is where the site name came from NT by Entropy Stew 01/06/2012, 7:59am PST NEW
        Link? NT by Mysterio 01/06/2012, 9:03am PST NEW
            *snotbubbles* *NUKE* No link. by Chet 01/06/2012, 9:05am PST NEW
            Re: Link? by laudablepuss 01/06/2012, 10:09am PST NEW
                Nope. by Fussbett 01/07/2012, 12:25am PST NEW
                    Re: Nope. by laudablepuss 01/07/2012, 5:57am PST NEW
 
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