The episode about explosives that they didn't air

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Speculation on my part, but there was something like a cleaning product reacted with some kind of kitchen supply or fuel inside a container, which turns into an improvised bomb when agitated. Dangerous because it doesn't always detonate immediately, so the creators may set it off when they go to see why it didn't work. Other people may instead discover a seemingly benign object left somewhere and set it off. Also, the chemical mix would spray everywhere and stick like napalm in addition to the explosion. If the mythbusters tested a recipe that creates such an item, the responsible thing was indeed not to show how such an item could be made.

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Master_Soup2396@reddit

My 5th grade teacher back in the late 90s had us do a science experiment reacting drano and aluminum foil inside a 2 liter bottle, which never ended up exploding, but she almost got fired for teaching us how to make a bomb and trying to explode it in front of the school lol. I think this is relatively well known explosive though?

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Pretty_Homework_6890@reddit

No. That didn't happen.

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mistahclean123@reddit

Might have. In high school I convinced my teacher to let some classmates bring some homemade "napalm" (gas and Styrofoam mixture) to class and light it on fire in the parking lot.

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JesusThe1stXfitter@reddit

I used to make these all the time. They would blow holes in the ground and blow up mail boxes. definitely not something you want going off next to you.

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kthuul-@reddit

Did this on 4th of July once.

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A55666@reddit

Are you talking about this?

Edit: Where Adam says that all footage was erased/destroyed and everyone agrees to never talk about it, in order to prevent the seedy underbelly of the internet to get their hands on the footage?

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PeteC123@reddit

It’s common flour dust.

Set up a candle on one side of the house, and a big fan on the other to blow flour dust into the air. Turn the fan on remotely.

Google mill explosions

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Oddest-Researcher@reddit

Can't be. They'd have shared it.

The point was "No good can come of sharing this knowledge." He used the example of exploring what would make a good silencer. It's an interesting question, but the answer isn't something that will do anything but harm if it's widespread.

If the substance was flour dust then sharing it absolutely does good. Informing the public that allowing quantities of flour or other small particles to aerate and ignite is a serious fire risk is a public benefit, and the only harm it can really do is inform mill owners how to do insurance fraud. There isn't really a scenario where people can set up 'bombs' or cause harm by prematurely spreading flour dust around a place.

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bighairyrat@reddit

Dust explosions are well known. I was in middle school when the fire department came to the class to demonstrate the power and danger of dust explosions.

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Far-Fortune-8381@reddit

the problem was it was so spectacularly destructive that it could easily and extremely effectively be used by anyone with bad intentions. by the way adam described it, that would outweigh the dangers of not informing people about aerated flour.

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Zandmand@reddit

there was actually a pizza place here en Denmark that had a large exposion a few years ago. Turnes out some kinds threw illigal fireworks into a large container filled with flour.

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Delicious-Chemical71@reddit

this or baby formula but i seem to remember them testing aerosoled formula, maybe they were testing flour in conjunction and decided the flour was a step too far? but then i'd imagine they wouldnt have aired the baby formula

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the_great_awoo@reddit

Yup definitely this

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Medium-Citron-9430@reddit

So anyone find out yet cause I just saw the interview too?

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the_great_awoo@reddit

Nah I get they had to sign an NDA and I guarantee nobody wants to talk about it

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Far_Collection1661@reddit

I'd guess the fact that the nitroglycerin in soap can be used to make a bomb, I mean, it checks all the conditions he sets, soap is a common product, extremely explosive, and no good can come from it (also bomb squads will be happy knowing ppl don't know abt it)

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thiowater34082@reddit

Yes, making nitroglycerine is very easy... provided you have access to the much more difficult to obtain white fuming nitric acid (nitric acid near 100%). You can get glycerine out of soap but its way easier to just buy it for dollars per Liter. But without nitric acid you cant make any nitroglycerine

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Inside-Cardiologist6@reddit

It was bathroom cleaner and tin foil

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andrewsad1@reddit

10/10 chance it was this. I don't think it was flour dust, because a) that's not an easy explosive to implement, and b) it's a net positive for people to know about powder explosions. I don't think it was gunpowder, because everyone knows it exists, and you can look up the ingredients on Wikipedia.

This particular explosive fits the bill perfectly. Easy to implement, extremely energetic, the materials are distressingly easy to procure, And it is 100% unequivocally a net negative for people to know about it. When assembled, it looks like an ordinary piece of trash.

It is such a net negative that I would hesitate to even hint at the ingredients. The metal part especially—I would just say the ingredients are bathroom supplies and metal.

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thiowater34082@reddit

Sodium Hydroxide and Aluminium in a 2L soda bottle? The burst pressure is only maybe 250 psi, hardly a powerful enough explosion to do any damage. Zero shrapnel or fire. I'd hardly call that a powerful or 'dangerous' explosive

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Inside-Cardiologist6@reddit

I don't give AF what you would or wouldn't put out

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divide_by_hero@reddit

I know they wanted to experiment with liquid oxygen, but it's basically so incredibly dangerous and explosive/combustible that they never filmed the episode.

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Worried_Place_917@reddit

This has been my theory for a while. LOX and basically any hydrocarbon gets big scary unpredictable and fast. It's simple, hard to regulate because Lox is so useful, and very very strong.
I think it was liquid oxygen on asphalt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFyqilT0ld0

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Worried_Place_917@reddit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxyliquit

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Opposite-Ad3801@reddit

i bet it was a drano bomb

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Sir-DerpyManYT@reddit

From what I’ve read and heard, it was Liquid Oxygen mixed with generic fuel

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PeteC123@reddit

LOX is not a common household item.

It was wheat flour.

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QuailLow1813@reddit

sugar and solidox a.k.a a sugar bomb Was used in the bombing of abortion clinics late 1970's and early 1980's

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gridsandorchids@reddit

Old thread, but other threads say it was flour. When it disperses its highly explosive.

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-tiberius@reddit

Could be, but that's a pretty well known phenomenon. Grain elevators accidentally explode on occasion when the conditions are right (wrong?).

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Significantlyontime@reddit

Makes sense. You can also firebreathe with cornstarch or milk creamer.

https://youtu.be/pgOyPzzqdZU?si=wBcPn2N4PUJqaOfZ

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amongnotof@reddit

No, they definitely aired that episode, and even turned it up from flour with coffee creamer as a FAE.

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Alexanderthesk8@reddit

Learned about coffee creamer from my older cousin in 1991...holy shit, if people knew what you can do with that stuff....jesus.....

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amongnotof@reddit

It’s literally powered vegetable oil.

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Alexanderthesk8@reddit

Rad. Ive blown nails through wood with $1 jar of non dairy creamer. my actual use of said products trumps your wordy words your typing, loser

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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Delicious-Chemical71@reddit

put creamer in balloon, fill balloon with oxygen. tie balloon. do not light this balloon on fire.

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New_Bodybuilder_5490@reddit

I'm pretty sure they was referring to triacetone triperoxide (TATP) also known as the mother of Satan or tri-cyclic acetone peroxide (TCAP) made from chilled acetone, peroxide, and HCl acid aka muriatic acid in a ice bath... It's a primary explosive and up until sometime after 9/11 there was no way to detect TATP not even dogs that was used to sniff out drugs and explosives could detect the presence of TATP... With it being 8 times as strong as TNT and it being very unstable is probably why they chose not to air it... Because TATP can explode from friction pressure electric shock or a fuse can be used to detonate the explosive.. also it's likely that for this reason along with the fact that the precursors required to manufacture it are easily obtained with little to no red flags for the purchase of the said chemicals that suicide bombers would use this explosive when making their suicide vests since they only needed to hit the vest with enough force to set it off or use a 9volt battery or a wrist watch to make it go off... It's super easy to make and just as easy to accidentally cause an explosion when putting it into whatever you're using to build your homemade explosive from because you can't pack it into whatever it is or you risk it exploding before you intend for it to do so.... The stuff makes a super loud boom and is great for the fourth of July if your into making your own fireworks but don't make to much only what you plan on using right away because it is a every unstable explosive... I can't stress that enough! I made some one time about 4 years ago for the 4th and thankfully no one was around where I put 3 homemade half sticks down at then walked back to grab my lighter but about half way back to them all 3 exploded still not exactly sure what set them off if anything at all idk my best guess is static electricity since I used 3in PVC pipe hot glue and quarter inch plywood.. maybe a rodent rubbed against one and that was all it took idk but if y'all gonna attempt to make the shit just be extra careful is all I can say and I'm not responsible for your shitty life decisions

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Ok-Satisfaction-7821@reddit

Probably involves stump remover or Solidox. Both featured in Anarchists Cookbook.

I can see not airing something out of that book.

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mwalimu59@reddit

I'd heard there was a myth that they wouldn't air, erased the tames, and refuse to discuss, but had no idea what it was about. Recently I came something that I'd thought might be the myth in question, that had nothing to do with chemicals or explosives.

My guess was that copies of currency made with color copiers or printers can sometimes fool bill acceptors commonly found in change machines, vending machines, self-checkout stations, and so forth. While it doesn't carry any risk of injury or damage, there is a very much a risk of being charged and convicted of counterfeiting, and could result in jail time and a felony conviction on one's record. I can easily see the being something the MB crew wouldn't want to happen to a viewer who tried it after seeing it on their show.

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HankG93@reddit

Watching Adam savages youtube channel rn and itbwas definitely an explosive. He said it was a commonly available item that was so scary that they agreed to never disclose their finding because it couldn't lead to anything good in anyway.

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KingOfOwls2021@reddit

Here's a more recent video of Adam talking about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ3MSPZqDps

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R67H@reddit

IIRC, they created nitrocellulose. Saw the episode, but they rightfully left out the process

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SomeDudeeduDemoS@reddit

nitrocellulose

That this is about the whole episode they just left people to se the internet to find out how to make it!

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MasterFubar@reddit

There are some simple formulas that they left out just because.

Like the piranha solution, made by mixing sulfuric acid with hydrogen peroxide, that dissolves living tissue. Everyone knows that, you can google it, you can find it on youtube.

There was an episode where they censored out the black powder components. I learned from my high school chemistry textbook that black powder is made of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal. Anybody who can read will be able to learn that at any public library.

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Jsmitty78@reddit (OP)

Im not talking about an episode where they blured stuff out. Im talking about an entire myth that they tested and filmed that was never released. Adam did an interview and talked about it. Said they all agreed to never speak about it again. Said that it was so simple and so powerful that they were just not going to tell people about it. I think I know what it was, but I have always been curious.

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MasterFubar@reddit

Maybe it was the episode where a cannonball went over the top of the barrier and hit a house in the street behind the explosives proving ground?

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Jsmitty78@reddit (OP)

No. I saw that one several times. It was an explosives myth. It was like if you mix this and this together and then do this, it becomes a powerful explosive. And it worked so well that they never aired it. According to Adam they never even edited all of the film. They just had a meeting and agreed to act like it never happened.

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Gem_Knight@reddit

I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates who said, I drank what?