Were there alternate words for 'grenade' before people started calling them that?

is it true that you can stop the grenade from exploding by reinserting the pin, like in the movies?

Prior to releasing the spoon, yes. After that, no.

>震天雷, "Sky-shaking Thunder

>The word "grenade" derives from the French word for a "small explosive shell". Its first use in English dates from the 1590s. It is likely derived from Old French pomegranate (influenced by Spanish granada), so called because the many-seeded fruit suggested the powder-filled, fragmenting bomb, or from similarity of shape.[1]

Were there even grenades in English speaking countries before the 1590s?
If not, then they were never called anything else

The soldiers known as 'grenadiers' specialized in their use.

I assume the yellow stripe is a color code. Anyone know what it means if so?

I think I will buzz over to /k/ and ask there. Will borrow your pic OP.

i don't know what a spoon is

>Were there alternate words for 'grenade' before people started calling them that?
Exploding thunder.

That it's live. That if you pull the pin, toss the spoon and wait 6 seconds, you'll see God.

It's the thing that looks like a handle.

I've read a bit about Medal of Honor recipients, and a couple of them are people who would jump on a grenade to take the blast. Some died expectedly, while some didn't. Most of these dudes who didn't die apparently covered the live grenade with their helmets and then covered it with their body. Just how common does this happen and what are the chances of you surviving, with a helmet or, just for curiosity's sake, without the helmet?

There were no grenadiers until the mid 17th century though

I doubt the survivors of such a heroic act would be better off than the dead.

For controlled fragmentation.
You mean handyblast blammies.

Hand grenades come in different strengths. Defensive grenades are more powerful than offensive grenades. A good helmet could withstand the blast of some types of offensive grenades and direct the blast. Still would hurt.

During their training SS officers were made to stand at attention while wearing a helmet. They would then pull the pin on a Mills bomb (English offensive grenade), release the spoon, and then balance the grenade on top of the helmet. If they stood perfectly still while it went off they would receive only minors injuries. If they dropped it they died.

If the helmet took the blast undamaged, you would still get blunt trauma by having a helmet blasted against your body. Would probably cause fractures and internal bleeding.

>If they stood perfectly still while it went off they would receive only minors injuries. If they dropped it they died.
Is that true? How would having a grenade explode upon their heads not kill them?

It is from the autobiographies written by two SS officers. Mills bombs are basically glorified flash bangs. They produce shrapnel but the explosive charge is weak.

The idea behind offensive grenades being weak is that the offensive troops are up and moving around during an attack. They need a grenade that won't throw shrapnel back at them. Defensive troops are in foxholes etc. and can use a more powerful grenade since they have good, prepared cover.

>It is from the autobiographies written by two SS officers.
Where can I buy them? Are they available in English?

Granadoes/Grenados or whatever other godawful non-standardised spelling.

A metal ball filled with powder, with a fuse poked in the top, much like the old-fashioned cartoon bomb.

Sorry but I am not at home. They are available in English, one of them by a Spanish publisher. Do not recall their names, but both were published in the 1980's, with the German editions years before. Beware of SS autobiographies published by European publishers.

>Beware of SS autobiographies published by European publishers.
Thanks for the information. Can I ask why you say to beware though?

I think you're referring to wonkytonk boomies.

>Things that never happened, the post.

Some of the autobiographies of former SS officers published by French and English companies (three that I am aware of) turned out to be frauds, probably with the collusion of the publisher. German publishers have to be very careful because of anti-Nazi laws. Best to find something Spanish or South American.

Try googling to find the name of the guy in charge of training SS officers (not enlisted) in the thirties. He wrote about his training program and practices. According to him part of their training involved defeating trained attack dogs without harming them. Graduating from that part of the course involved being put into a pit with a German Shepard that was then given the command "Kill".

that sounds fucking retarded, just like the other thing.

I've read these external grooves actually didn't improve the fragmentation pattern, so I imagine they just made it easier to grip when muddy and wet.

Kind of wrong.

Fragment is when the casing shatters (fragmentation grenade) and shrapnel is when the explosive is carrying bits of metal internally.

So an HE ammunition can kill someone via fragmentation but not shrapnel whereas a shrapnel ammunition can kill by fragmentation and shrapnel.

There is a difference between the 2.

So a shrapnel grenade is different to a fragmentation grenade.

Fragmentation. Too bad they didn't work. Newer grenades have internal frag sleeves that are much better.

Hand bomb in the 12thC.

Hand-thrown explosives have been around since antiquity. The Byzantines would throw greek-fire filled grenades, and black powder-filled clay bombs show up in the late 12thC.

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