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Buzzbomb, The Sonic Grenade

A non-lethal from of late night annoyance resolution.
 
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Everyone who has ever lived in an apartment complex can sympathize -- Its 3 AM, and the pool outside is filled with drunken fratboys with lukewarm IQs.. Cellphone-toting teens who seem to have been absent from school the day they taught "friendly neighbor" ettiquette. Imagine a scene....Half a dozen retarded knuckledraggers with baseball caps turned backward, brims meticulously bent, standing between you and a good night's rest... Surely there has to be a way to communicate your thoughts and feelings in a way Mr. Hip-hop Monkey Boy can understand -- PAIN.

Enter the Sonic Grenade. This buzzbomb could be purchased at any hardware store, and would be kept in the household in the event of an outside annoyance. Each grenade is essentially a large D-cell flashlight battery, connected to a string of piezo- electric buzzers that wrap around the outside, piezo buzzers similar to those found in smoke detectors, for example. The sound of only one of these buzzers is enough to disturb even the laziest monkeys -- A string of a dozen wrapped around the outside would be absolutely deafening.

The user sets the Sonic Grenade's timer by turning a small knob on top, to indicate how many minutes to wait before activsting. You pull the pin, and the timer begins to count away the seconds before the buzzers are activated. The duration of the noise is set via a second knob on the bottom of the grenade.

Imagine this scenario: Its late, its dark out. You dont want to confront the monkeys making the noise outside, so you grab your Sonic Grenade and set the timer for 20 minutes. You open your window, pull the pin, and toss the grenade outside so that it lands in the grass near the pool's edge. 20 minutes later, a painfully loud SCCHKKRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE sound erupts from the grenade---The pool party primates, upset by the noise, leave the area. Rather than risk serious dasmage to their hearing they will retreat back to their cages, putting an end to the monkey madness outside. As an added bonus, the police would probably be called by one of your neighbors, alleviating you from the task of reporting it yourself.

The backside of the packaging for the Buzzbomb Sonic Grenade would include easy-to-identify photos of your targets. Drunken frat boys. People who listen to rap. People with car subwoofers. Politicians. You name it -- Simply look up their face on the chart and learn what to expect from them after the grenade goes off.

Total construction cost: About $2 each Market cost: About $9 each

Reusable: Yes Portable: Yes Non-lethal: Yes Funny as hell: Yes

Bowie23, Apr 09 2002

alarmears http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/alarmears
[Bowie23]: You're in luck as [Delcan] has recently come up with a solution to your problem that doesn't involve generating yet more noise. [bristolz, Apr 10 2002]

EM Weapons http://www.infowar....s3_100997c.html-ssi
[dag, Apr 11 2002]

Can a noise be loud enough to kill you? http://www.straight...columns/010406.html
Sound at 160dB causes eardrum rupture. Suggests an air blast at about 200dB could cause lung rupture or embolisms, but this is from an explosion rather than a periodic sound. [pottedstu, Apr 12 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004]

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       Sounds like a rant.   

       Why not call the police? Are you *that* afraid of retribution? What stops the 'pool party primates' from kicking your grenade into the pool? That's what I'd do. How much more sleep are you going to get with this device going off versus listening to the people outside?   

       Still sounds like a rant.
phoenix, Apr 09 2002
  

       Buy earplugs.
calum, Apr 09 2002
  

       Sounds like a rape alarm. Only dumb.
pottedstu, Apr 09 2002
  

       I can see this having a military potential. Non-lethality is becoming more popular in some circles. Sound weapons already exist and more are on the way, but I can't say I heard of the remote grenade configuration yet.   

       The pain level is on your device is a little high compared to the threat (or annoyance in this case), and it would have to be more survivable as [phoenix] noted. Hearing loss is not a primary objective of a sound weapon. Instant migraines, and nausea are two of the most common objectives. More lethal levels can be obtained all the way up to scrambling someone's innards.
dag, Apr 09 2002
  

       I doubt there's anything on any official web pages to substantiate my claim, so my apologies there. I try to back up what I say, but in this case just extrapolate some of the non-lethal performance numbers and you end up with some lethal devices using current technologies.   

       The [link] doesn't back up my scrambling innards comment, but it is interesting and informative reading on RF (EM) devices (weapons).
dag, Apr 11 2002
  

       UnaBubba, I think the reason there aren't any links is because this stuff is mostly built out of public view and probably violates a treaty or two. As you said, the capability already exists, it's just not tailored for weapons use. Nasty stuff no matter what. Not sure if they have a web site, but research SARA Inc, out of CA, USA If you really want to dig.
dag, Apr 15 2002
  

       I've got a solution to your problems, phoenix.   

       First, to keep them from kicking it into the pool. Simply use some extra battery power to run some nice nichrome (aka toaster) wires that are wrapped around the outside. No one will pick it up with their hands; add some pop-up spikes to keep them from kicking it (remember, these people are inebriated slobs and won't come up with any creative solutions).   

       Then, to allow you to sleep: the frequency can be modified to whatever you want. Comes with a pair of headphones that generate a precisely opposite waveform to that that the grenade produces. The destructive interference cancels precisely the shrieking noise.   

       see? it's a good idea.
Macwarrior, Feb 07 2003
  

       Remington ( the firearms people) already make this item. I purchased 2 in a local mall on clearance for about $8.00 US. It is activate by squeezing and deactivated with a set sequence of your choice 2-fast squeezes than 1-long squeeze you get the idea. It runs on 4-AAAA batteries and produces an ear shattering tone that cuts right through you for up to 10' away.
wetmatch, Mar 29 2003
  

       (wetmatch)could you put a link up.Cheers
sufc, Mar 30 2003
  

       Looks like you missed that "friendly neighbor" etiquette class, too, Bowie.
yabba do yabba dabba, Mar 16 2004
  

       Each one of these guys buys a stock of them, and then every night go around throwing them in the neighborhoods where they don't live. The police are afraid of them. So they stop you instead and ask to see your driver's license or check if you put on a seat belt.   

       Sorry, technology is not the solution... (unless they don't know about it)
pashute, May 03 2011
  


 

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