Instant Caltrops
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By TimAndersonwww.mit.edu/people/robot Follow More
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Tim Anderson is the author of the "Heirloom Technology" column in Make Magazine. He is co-
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In this instructable I'm going to teach you how to make your own caltrops.
Caltrops are an ancient weapon like a metal sandburr. It's a nail with multiple points that has
at least one point upward no matter how it lands. They are also called "star nails". This is the
quickest way to make them.
Warning:
Some people consider caltrops a political weapon in this era of wars for oil for vehicle fuel.
If you are such a person you should pursue your ends by peaceful means instead.
Remember Noam Chomsky's advice:
"If you fear the government the proper response is to get more involved in government, rather
than less so, because the Government really is the institution that represents you."
Watch the movie "Weather Underground" to find out what some famous political vandals wish
they'd done instead.
I think it was Bill Clinton who said, "It's best to conclude that bad policy is caused by ignorance,
not malice."
Safety Warnings:
Flying sharp metal will hit you in the eye.
If someone steps on one of these they'll get hurt.
Excellent photos by theinfonaut
Step 1: Nicaraguan Caltrop
Caltrops in the Gallery of Heroes and Martyrs in the town of Masaya, Nicaragua.
These look like barbed wire barbs cut off and welded together, but they're much larger than
any barbed wire I've seen. These were used in the revolution against Somoza in the late 70's.
Nicaraguans threw them onto roads in front of troop truck convoys to delay them with flat
tires.
Somoza was a ( yawn, yet another ) U.S. supported brutal dictator.
By the way, a recent issue of Time magazine reported that Nicaragua now has the lowest risk of
terrorism in the hemisphere.
Step 2: Chicken Wire Ain't Chicken No More
Cut off some cross-shaped chunks from the chicken wire using a bolt cutter.
Then cut the ends off again at an angle to make them sharp. Watch out for flying bits of sharp
metal hitting you in the eye.
Following
Step 3: A Tripod and a Spike
Bend the sharp wires as shown. You're done!
Be super careful with these nasty things and don't leave them lying around.
These are only to carry in your pouch at the renaissance festival as part of your costume.
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That's not chicken wire nor rigid enough to pierce a tire. Costume worthy only, indeed.
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buy heavy staples
backinstead open them to a 90° angle and weld, big truck tires
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need much more, All use 1/4 inch hydraulic tubing, cut into 4" lengths bend and weld,
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sharpen, even3D better is make big caltrops from 1/2 " rebar with 6" legs
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Since it's so easily bent with your hands and a tool, wouldn't the weight of a vehicle just
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"Warning: Some backpeople consider caltrops a political weapon in this era of wars for oil for
vehicle fuel. IfAll
you are such a person you should pursue your ends by peaceful means
instead." It would
Art seem to me that anyone using these for such a purpose would also want
to weigh up this 1) Will
Books cause the car owner to go and purchase a new tyre - more
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Although I guess the tyre could be easily repaired 2)If more than one tyre is
pucntured it would
Cards mandate a pickup truck call-out, more gas consumption 3)Very
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We would likePrintmaking
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That's NOT chicken
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What do cops back
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do a lot of damage to tires. http://www.abodegroup.com.au
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couldnt you just Design
a sharpened jack? or a unsharpened jack. it will still hurt but wont
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btackett1 13 years ago
these can also be used as a project for school if your school has you do a project that
requires you to research on something from ancient times
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BenEatsNails 14 years ago
if you can bent it with a set of pliers then a car or even a shoe is gonna bend it.
but this work in bigger scale
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weldmeshfence 13 years ago
http://www.generalmesh.com
http://www.weldmeshfence.com
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AXHEJAZ 13 years ago
simply awesome! thanks man, i'm going to try to get thicker wires though to make the
caltrop stronger!
Reply
ninja patrick 14 years ago
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wow it is assum
youTeachers
are briliand
it is so easy and cheap
but is it strong enough?
don't it breack whan a human stand on it?
Reply
tsukiyomaru0 14 years ago
Ah, I knew I'd see something that thought like me... This might work great if you're
running from someone that you believe that may want to harm you in any way. Team it up
with CD kunai or Shuriken for MASSIVE DAMAGE!
Reply
Jesus10555 17 years ago
lol, if they are only for pocketing at the renaissance festival, why do you have pictures of
them situated under a tire, lmao
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