Photo of a CO2 cartridge bomb, referred to by Harris as a Noisy Cricket

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Any questions you have, or observations you would like to make, about the Cricket bombs, can go in this thread.

Out of interest, how potent were these Crickets? Like, how injured would you be if one exploded at your feet?

I think taping match strikers to the underside of their forearms to instantly light these Crickets was very creative.

I made a few of these when i was teen and i'd say they are more like powerful firecrackers than bombs.

They would blow off your fingers if it exploded in your hand but probably wouldn't do much with it just being close - maybe some hearing loss.

sympathyforEandD wrote:

I think taping match strikers to the underside of their forearms to instantly light these Crickets was very creative.

How would that even work though? Like how does the match placement make it easier to light a cricket?

W.A.R. wrote:

I made a few of these when i was teen and i'd say they are more like powerful firecrackers than bombs.

They would blow off your fingers if it exploded in your hand but probably wouldn't do much with it just being close - maybe some hearing loss.

Nice. That's the kind of insight I was looking for. So the Crickets weren't intended to kill. They were more for causing confusion and flexing with the explosion sounds. Kind of a "shock and awe" thing. Definitely Eric's idea.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]: The match striker is the textured part of a matchbox that you drag the match along to light it.

sympathyforEandD wrote:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]: The match striker is the textured part of a matchbox that you drag the match along to light it.

Oh, okay, that makes a lot more sense, thanks for pointing that out.

I always thought the idea to tape the match strikers to themselves was a very clever one.

hvernon wrote:

I always thought the idea to tape the match strikers to themselves was a very clever one.

Mhm. Another clever thing Eric did was taping a laser pointer to his carbine to increase his accuracy. Not sure how helpful it would have been compared to a real laser sight, but it still shows his resourcefulness.

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Its also very interesting that between 4-20 to the evidence exhibit said laser pointer disappeared, as well as the duct tape grip on "arlene". 
Harris mentions getting batteries for the pointer too in his journal.

Subdomine wrote:

Its also very interesting that between 4-20 to the evidence exhibit said laser pointer disappeared, as well as the duct tape grip on "arlene".

Yeah, what was up with that?

Maybe one of the JCSO guys was an Eric fan, and took the duct tape and pointer home, to have something Eric touched. O_O