WW2JAKE Posted July 5, 2015 Share #1 Posted July 5, 2015 Im not sure why this popped in my mind today, but about 7 years ago I read a book which was a fictional diary of a vietnam war vet and at one point in the book he mentioned the guys in his unit didnt like how long it took and how poorly the "little blue tabs" worked and so they would put tiny bits of C4 on the bottom of their rations and light it on fire to warm it quicker sometimes resulting in a bit of a burned meal... is there any truth behind this or was it just an other fictional piece of the story? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sully Posted July 5, 2015 Share #2 Posted July 5, 2015 I've known many Vietnam vets that used C4 to heat rations. My uncle told me his unit went through so much C4 this way that their supply stopped giving them bricks. They then resorted to breaking open Claymore mines and eventually they started getting C4 bricks back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WW2JAKE Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share #3 Posted July 5, 2015 I've known many Vietnam vets that used C4 to heat rations. My uncle told me his unit went through so much C4 this way that their supply stopped giving them bricks. They then resorted to breaking open Claymore mines and eventually they started getting C4 bricks back. interesting, i guess they thought C4 bricks were safer than breaking open claymore mines... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gomorgan Posted July 5, 2015 Share #4 Posted July 5, 2015 It didn't take much, a chunk about the size of a quarter will do the trick, did it a lot back in the day, once lit burned pretty hot, guys would also jump on it with boot heal and it would go off and bounce them off the ground, had be careful though.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted July 5, 2015 Share #5 Posted July 5, 2015 It didn't take much, a chunk about the size of a quarter will do the trick, did it a lot back in the day, once lit burned pretty hot, guys would also jump on it with boot heal and it would go off and bounce them off the ground, had be careful though.. George My cousin said the same thing. Burned hot but dont light it and stop it out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firefighter Posted July 6, 2015 Share #6 Posted July 6, 2015 I never did it.But I've heard of guys doing it.It takes an electric charge to detonate C-4 and it makes one hell of a bang.I've also heard of guys dunking their lighters in JP4 for fuel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WW2JAKE Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share #7 Posted July 6, 2015 I never did it.But I've heard of guys doing it.It takes an electric charge to detonate C-4 and it makes one hell of a bang.I've also heard of guys dunking their lighters in JP4 for fuel. yeah c4 burns i know ive seen that but never knew if it was true they used it for rations or not. maybe it gave it an explosive flavor and ive heard that many times from vets ww2 included... not to take this one off subject but ive heard many different things were used in zippos from gasoline which apparently "smoked like hell!" to using alcohol stolen from the med station. but the jp4 ive heard the Vietnamese children would sell it as zippo fuel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted July 6, 2015 Share #8 Posted July 6, 2015 Spoke to a few Rangers and when they were in North Africa in WW2 there was a shortage of water and conservation was at a premium. To wash and delouse their clothing after weeks of wearing wool uniforms they washed them in gasoline........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WW2JAKE Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share #9 Posted July 6, 2015 Spoke to a few Rangers and when they were in North Africa in WW2 there was a shortage of water and conservation was at a premium. To wash and delouse their clothing after weeks of wearing wool uniforms they washed them in gasoline........... thats a bit strange i hope it didnt dry out their skin good thing after a while the vapor evaporates and it isnt flammable though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolf Posted July 6, 2015 Share #10 Posted July 6, 2015 C4 can only be detonated by two things: extreme heat and shock ... both accomplished by electrical and non-electrical blasting caps/detonators. However it can be ignited by a lighter or a match(more like the whole book at once) and will burn at an extreme heat as already mentioned. Vietnam urban legend has it that if a soldier tries to put it out by stomping on it then he has provided the shock and ... boom! As you have read in these illustrious pages, GIs would stick the C4 to the bottom of their canteen cup ... now who's going to stomp on their canteen cup? While there are numerous stories of GIs blowing their foot off by stomping burning C4 I have never encountered any eye-witneses to this event. It was always "Hey, I heard of a guy in A company (B, C, CSC or HHC) who .....".... you fill in the blank. Using C4 to heat up C rations is not an Urban legend and it happened but not often. Burning C4 releases highly toxic fumes. As far as taking C4 from a Claymore... really... what idiot is going to threaten his security for hot chow? With no Claymores you get overrun and Mr. Charles ends up eating your C rations with his fish heads. But then again who smokes dope on an ambush patrol, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryang Posted July 6, 2015 Share #11 Posted July 6, 2015 As a young Army Pathfinder (early 1980's) our NCOs were Vietnam Vets. They often spoke of using small amounts of C4 - sometimes from a Claymore - to heat their rations.We worked with Army aviation (helicopters) an often set up and ran landing sites. On FAARP sites (Forward Area Arming & Refueling Point) we would "borrow" some JP-4 aviation fuel and pour small amounts into a C-Ration can filled with sand. This created a rudimentary stove, over which we'd heat up our canteen cups and C-ration meals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolf Posted July 6, 2015 Share #12 Posted July 6, 2015 As a young Army Pathfinder (early 1980's) our NCOs were Vietnam Vets. They often spoke of using small amounts of C4 - sometimes from a Claymore - to heat their rations. Never, never trust old Pathfinder NCOs.......they lie.........and lie well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1SG_1st_Cav Posted July 6, 2015 Share #13 Posted July 6, 2015 Burning small pieces of C-4 or using gasoline in a C-Ration can filled with sand or dirt are very true. The common GI is very ingenious when it comes to his creature comforts! Fortunately we were able to get lighter fluid occasionally for our lighters. If not, we used C-Rations matches. We fought over C-Ration peaches and Pound cake! And Ham and MFers were the last resort! Sometimes when we were traveling on the road we would thro them to the kids on the side of the road who were begging. They would read the label on the can and throw them back at us! They hated them more than we did! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted July 6, 2015 Share #14 Posted July 6, 2015 Burning small pieces of C-4 or using gasoline in a C-Ration can filled with sand or dirt are very true. The common GI is very ingenious when it comes to his creature comforts! Fortunately we were able to get lighter fluid occasionally for our lighters. If not, we used C-Rations matches. We fought over C-Ration peaches and Pound cake! And Ham and MFers were the last resort! Sometimes when we were traveling on the road we would thro them to the kids on the side of the road who were begging. They would read the label on the can and throw them back at us! They hated them more than we did! Thats way funny...classic. Reminds me of the story my cousin told of buying stuff with monopoly money his brothers sent him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Third Herd Posted July 7, 2015 Share #15 Posted July 7, 2015 I heard that you could set the canteen cup on the C-4 because the pressure while burning would cause it to explode. In the National Guard I had an Avionics repair shop mounted on a 2 1/2 ton truck. I had a hot plate for cooking and a Mr. Coffee since we had electricity. While in the field in the Air Force we had a big coffee pot in my office in a teletype van and had fresh doughnuts delivered with the morning classified. We had two, two burner Coleman stoves one with an oven in our tent and fixed up C-Rats and real food. Hot roast beef from C-Rats on mashed potatoes, Frito pie, and even cake. We all had eaten cold C-Rats and my the guys I worked with made it a picnic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolf Posted July 7, 2015 Share #16 Posted July 7, 2015 Yep, I remember carrying my stove with me in the field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skautdog Posted July 7, 2015 Share #17 Posted July 7, 2015 We absolutely used small bits of C4 for heating C rations and/or water for coffee, etc. H/E we didn't put the C4 on the bottom of the can or canteen. We just put the C 4 on the ground and held the C Rats can (by the opened top) over the flame. Sometimes folks used small "stoves" as shown above and sometimes made a small firepit by putting the C4 between two parallel sticks or rocks. It was always great to have hot "meals". Ken 1/9th , 1st CAV (Airmobile), 62nd INF PLT (Combat Tracker) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFMike Posted July 7, 2015 Share #18 Posted July 7, 2015 There were folks who actually took bits of c4 from claymore , believe it or not. Seen it personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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