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Railway dets (we just call them that, here - short for "detonators" ) are seriously bad news - but a way for society to cull the terminally stupid before they breed, usually.

You occasionally hear about a local teen who had decided that hitting one with a hammer was a good idea. Not that these local teens are what anyone would consider "bright" to start with.

Sometimes they survive (their mates, however usually aren't as lucky). Blind, deaf and often with fingers missing. These ones learn their lesson.

The dead ones can't be taught, but CAN serve as a warning.

I was working in an apartment building as an on-site supervisor (so the tenants would have someone to handle things in an emergency). Now, there's a walkway that runs the entire length of the second floor. My next door neighbor, incidentally, has an interior door to his apartment that opens up into the pizza parlor that shares the bottom floor with our apartments. (He was the owner of the restaurant.)

So one night, as I'm dozing off (in my boxers) I hear a huge crashing sound. Grumbling, I start to get up, thinking that some college student, drunk off their fanny, has fallen over the railing on the walkway. I slip on a pair of jeans and a hoodie to investigate, when I hear the wife of the restaurant owner scream "Get out! I'm calling the cops!"

So I grab the nearest weapon to hand (a home-made machete an eccentric older relative made from a leaf spring) and run outside, since I kind of feel like I have to. (Also figuring that by the time I get there, we'll outnumber any burglar 3 to 1, so he'll probably just run.)

What I did NOT anticipate or think about was the fact that the guy who owned the building as a whole was a lieutenant in the police force, so the cops were extra-quick to respond. Response time was about 27 seconds. So the cop who comes flying into the parking lot makes it in just in time to see me racing up from around the side of the building, in a hoodie and wielding a machete.

Sooooooo, some time later, the wife of the pizza shop owner comes out to assure the cops that I was not the burglar, and would probably appreciate being unhandcuffed and allowed to put a real shirt on. (It was the middle of February, naturally.)

That's the dumbest thing I've ever done, probably.

 chromedog wrote:
Railway dets (we just call them that, here - short for "detonators" ) are seriously bad news - but a way for society to cull the terminally stupid before they breed, usually.

You occasionally hear about a local teen who had decided that hitting one with a hammer was a good idea. Not that these local teens are what anyone would consider "bright" to start with.

Sometimes they survive (their mates, however usually aren't as lucky). Blind, deaf and often with fingers missing. These ones learn their lesson.

The dead ones can't be taught, but CAN serve as a warning.

LOL, I was plenty bright, even scored so high on the college entry exam I was investigated for possible cheating. I just took mostly trade classes like auto shop and welding but had super high scores in sciences and history, etc from my own readings.

Anyway, Not being bright isnt the problem, being bright, bored and unsupervised is what leads to problems. I did have sense enough to crumble off just a small amount. I mean really small piece, I can see someone getting killed for sure if they hit an intact one.

It definitely cured me for messing around with ANY kind of explosive. That was one area of trouble that I never entered into again. It is probably just as well because I earned a minor in chemisty in college but was never faintly tempted to make any kind of explosive fireworks from so many things you can buy at the hardware or grocery store.

I was behind and to the right of the guy that fired a AT4 into a mudhut.......couldn't move for five minutes....then the feeling started coming back to my body...

Watching the Star Wars prequels?

But, really, probably crashing my first car, rolling it over in the middle of the road, totaling it, putting 2 mates in hospital and causing a 5 mile traffic jam was pretty dumb

Riding down a steep hill in my early teens because I'm really a dog and love the wind in my face. After the fifth time doing so (not the dumbest part yet) I managed to almost crash my bike into a car that was going along the road that intersected the bottom of said hill. ...I then crashed into the railing at the edge of the road and flipped myself into the water. Oh, yes, this was next to the docks ...and I'm a terrible swimmer. ...And it was the bit of the docks where they seemed to dump all the old boats/wrecks.

...Luckily I can be oddly competent when my level of stupidity reaches a certain level, so didn't drown. The driver did slap me when I climbed back up though. ...And there was the awkward question of how I managed to get myself soaked when I came home. I think they put it down to "boys will be boys". =P

Holy Crap Bee. Were you drinking? Dropped a lite cigarette on your crotch?

JWhex wrote:


LOL, I was plenty bright, even scored so high on the college entry exam I was investigated for possible cheating. I just took mostly trade classes like auto shop and welding but had super high scores in sciences and history, etc from my own readings.

Anyway, Not being bright isnt the problem, being bright, bored and unsupervised is what leads to problems. I did have sense enough to crumble off just a small amount. I mean really small piece, I can see someone getting killed for sure if they hit an intact one.

It definitely cured me for messing around with ANY kind of explosive. That was one area of trouble that I never entered into again. It is probably just as well because I earned a minor in chemisty in college but was never faintly tempted to make any kind of explosive fireworks from so many things you can buy at the hardware or grocery store.

With ours, you CAN'T just "break off a small part" - they are encased.
Using enough force to get the casing off WILL have it go off in your face.
They will go off if you throw them at a wall.
They will go off if you jump on them.
They are designed to go off when trains go over them (they are a warning device for track maintenance crews, usually deployed in pairs).

Yours seem easier to get at the juicy bits. We like our people to work harder for the surprise. Gives them more time to wonder if it's really a good idea.

I left my car's sunroof open.

It hailed.

Can someone explain the function of the railroad torpedos/dets? What purpose do they serve?

turned down a scholarship to become an army ranger

dont regret it but life is hard here

Left the military. Should have just stayed and retired.

Yellow....have to ask...leave before ten years? Or after ten years?

 KalashnikovMarine wrote:
Can someone explain the function of the railroad torpedos/dets? What purpose do they serve?

They are a warning device for trains. Basically they attach to the rail and when the train runs over them they explode very loudly. This is a signal for the train to stop or slow down because of an emergency.

The ones chromedog is talking about are very different than the ones in the USA apparently. The ones in the USA were wrapped in cardboard and had a lead strap that attached it to the railroad track.

They have not been used by railroads in the USA for a very, very long time. Modern locomotives used in the USA are sound proofed to a high degree and so the warning explosion would not be heard.

Attempting to jump off a 15-20ft cliff on skis. Only to land and get chucked out of my skis because of shoddy bindings, fall forward, judo roll, smash my shoulder into an uncovered rock, dislocating it, and trapping my poll between my arm and ribs. Breaking a rib, puncturing my lung.

After a day in hospital I was urinating blood, found out I had a bruised liver and torn kidney. Spent 2 weeks in hospital and earned myself a nice $35000 CAD hospital bill, and out of work for 3 months.

Dumbest thing I've ever done? Buying cheap bindings.

Eldercaveman wrote:
Attempting to jump off a 15-20ft cliff on skis. Only to land and get chucked out of my skis because of shoddy bindings, fall forward, judo roll, smash my shoulder into an uncovered rock, dislocating it, and trapping my poll between my arm and ribs. Breaking a rib, puncturing my lung.

After a day in hospital I was urinating blood, found out I had a bruised liver and torn kidney. Spent 2 weeks in hospital and earned myself a nice $35000 CAD hospital bill, and out of work for 3 months.

Dumbest thing I've ever done? Buying cheap bindings.

Damn that is a harsh judgement the universe laid down on you. I have done many, many dumber things than that and never suffered such a horrific injury.

JWhex wrote:

Eldercaveman wrote:
Attempting to jump off a 15-20ft cliff on skis. Only to land and get chucked out of my skis because of shoddy bindings, fall forward, judo roll, smash my shoulder into an uncovered rock, dislocating it, and trapping my poll between my arm and ribs. Breaking a rib, puncturing my lung.

After a day in hospital I was urinating blood, found out I had a bruised liver and torn kidney. Spent 2 weeks in hospital and earned myself a nice $35000 CAD hospital bill, and out of work for 3 months.

Dumbest thing I've ever done? Buying cheap bindings.

Damn that is a harsh judgement the universe laid down on you. I have done many, many dumber things than that and never suffered such a horrific injury.

Worst thing was I nailed the jump, and my bindings just proceeded to reject me. Lesson learnt, Marker Bindings bought.

Following up on Eldercaveman's jump. One time on a float trip down the Current River in Missouri I jumped off a bluff about 35-40 feet into one of the many springs that feed the river.

It was in the middle of the summer and the spring water was extremely cold, I didnt check it ahead of time. The thermal shock caused me to completely cramp up and I nearly drowned. I really struggled to get to the bank which was not all that far away.

Just shows that even when you arent doing something just tremendously stupid its not that hard to kill yourself if the circumstances are right.

JWhex wrote:
Following up on Eldercaveman's jump. One time on a float trip down the Current River in Missouri I jumped off a bluff about 35-40 feet into one of the many springs that feed the river.

It was in the middle of the summer and the spring water was extremely cold, I didnt check it ahead of time. The thermal shock caused me to completely cramp up and I nearly drowned. I really struggled to get to the bank which was not all that far away.

Just shows that even when you arent doing something just tremendously stupid its not that hard to kill yourself if the circumstances are right.

Yeah cold water can send you into shock really quickly, and then you are screwed.

The worst thing about surviving my jump, I have yet to find anything (since then) that gets my adrenaline rushing, or makes me genuinely scared. Which I am sure will lead to more dumb things to come. I did the Nevis Bungy jump recently, and found it distinctly ordinary.

Sky Dive...

Eldercaveman wrote:
Yeah cold water can send you into shock really quickly, and then you are screwed.

The worst thing about surviving my jump, I have yet to find anything (since then) that gets my adrenaline rushing, or makes me genuinely scared. Which I am sure will lead to more dumb things to come. I did the Nevis Bungy jump recently, and found it distinctly ordinary.

Did you make a pact with Slaanesh while in hospital, so now you need more and more stimulation?

Jihadin wrote:Sky Dive...

Dreadclaw69 wrote:

Eldercaveman wrote:
Yeah cold water can send you into shock really quickly, and then you are screwed.

The worst thing about surviving my jump, I have yet to find anything (since then) that gets my adrenaline rushing, or makes me genuinely scared. Which I am sure will lead to more dumb things to come. I did the Nevis Bungy jump recently, and found it distinctly ordinary.

Did you make a pact with Slaanesh while in hospital, so now you need more and more stimulation?

Maybe I did without realising, it was pre-40k days (played when I was like 12, kind of) for me though. All though when I returned to the UK from Canada, I did have a strange to get my 10 year old 40k models out the attic, maybe I had already been tainted....

Actual Combat then. Nothing gets the blood going when lead fly's around and someone actually trying to kill you

 Jihadin wrote:
Actual Combat then. Nothing gets the blood going when lead fly's around and someone actually trying to kill you

Yeah maybe the next step, or base jumping.

Stick with base jumping. Trust me.

 Jihadin wrote:
Stick with base jumping. Trust me.

Haha yeah the old man was a Para, so I have first hand tales of 'trust me, stick with the base jumping :p '

I was at a friends house when I was young, and I shot a hornets nest with a paintball gun and got stung a bunch, then trying to run away, I jumped into an old nasty rain drain off, and got murky crud all over me that stunk for days. I also lost the paintball gun in the water. Needless to say, not a fun day.

Had unprotected sex with a chick I barely knew, got her pregnant, and thought we could hash out a relationship in 9 months.

not so much...

Also kind of feel like this needs to be posted in this thread....

/\ You know, I've actually done one of those things.