5 Insane New Uses for Old School Military Weapons
Having a war is a little like having a baby; it requires massive stockpiles of all the best tools, toys and clothes to ensure the greatest chance of success, all the while knowing that the kid will outgrow everything within a year. War outpaces its own technology constantly and while the parents of a child can just carry the clothes and cribs to Goodwill after its all over, war leaves heaps of deadly equipment and weapons littered all over the world. Sadly, not even the Salvation Army will accept landmines.
The buckets just aren't big enough.
Even though the military can use some of its old advancements as hand-me-downs to the general public , more often than not it's stuck with massive amounts of rusting technology made obsolete by peace, or more likely, better technology. So what is everyone supposed to do with all the leftovers?The solution could be as simple as finding other questions that this technology can still answer. Granted, the new uses for old technology are not always benign. These were, after all, weapons originally designed to tear, poke or melt people to death, so some of the solutions are equal parts evil and ingenuity. Still, it's nice to see people recycle.Coming Home to a Nazi Bunker
Chinese Police Carry Crossbows
"Your tags are expired."
In cities around China, every level of law enforcement is rediscovering the advantages of a crossbow, from traffic cops to special units. In Xinjiang, riot police carry crossbows instead of beanbag guns and smoke bombs because China has no interest in messing around with nonlethal crowd deterrents when terrifying, medieval battle weapons are just as effective.
"What's up now?"
Before anyone tsk-tsks the Chinese government for shooting at crowds with crossbows, you should know that these aren't the usual burning-cars-and-looting riots we're used to seeing. Granted, China has aMilitary-Grade Metal in Your Bones
A whole thesis could be written on how much more gratifying it was to watch the Reds get slimed.
One of those challenges was stockpiling metal. Specifically, both sides hoarded as much titanium as they could find so the other side couldn't have any. It was the super metal of the '50s and '60s for its high strength-to-weight ratio made it intrinsic to the
Let's not kid ourselves.
Crop Dusting the Amazon with Agent Orange
But there are still a lot.
And now it's back in use. Ranchers in the Amazon have illegally acquired vats of Agent Orange and are using it to level sections of the rainforest for cattle grazing. The old "slash and burn" technique is much harder now because of laws and regulations designed to protect thousands of species of flora and fauna. But dropping Agent Orange from a plane is harder to detect and it requires less time to decimate entire swaths of land. Plus, the ranchers don't have to hire tree-cutters or pay for machinery; they only have to hire a pilot with loose morals. What's worse, the chemical doesn't just kill the pesky trees and vegetation; it also kills all the birds and insects and mammals and everything else that happens to be in the drop zone. It's a shortsighted and brutal repurposing of one of the most devastating weapons ever used in war. With any luck, we'll at least get to see some surprising animal mutations that- ugh, I can't even finish that joke. I warned you that some of these would be all-around awful.Making Music with Weapons
Solos will never be the same.
Since then, he's made several guitars out of inoperative guns and they have quickly become symbols of peace around the world. UN headquarters in New York, Vienna and Paris all have their own gun guitars on display. However, no one seems to be taking into account the inherent danger of combining the awesome power of a machine gun with the sexual magnetism of an electric guitar. Those two things were never supposed to belong together. This opens the door to teenagers everywhere, stumbling their way through the first three bars of "Smoke on the Water" on an M16, and every girl within listening distance bursting into lusty flames. It just seems irresponsible.
No, Kofi! Not Sweet "Child O Mine," you'll kill everyone!