SHEER WIRE, SPRING & RUBBER BAND INITIATED DEVICES

IEDs and boobytraps are triggered by many possible systems and operating principles.

The shear wire initiator is a device using a wire holding a spring-loaded firing pin or striker under tension. The spring is maintained in compression or tension until the wire is cut or corroded, causing it to release the firing pin. Some systems use a vial of caustic chemical to corrode the tension wire.

Spring-loaded devices include mousetrap switches, (torsion springs) clothespin switches, (torsion springs), umbrella switches, (coil compression springs) hand grenade fuzes (torsion springs), boobytrap leaf spring devices, coil stretch springs, etc.

Certain devices, especially improvised ones, may make use of rubber bands or sections of tire inner tube material as a source of stored energy for a firing pin or a switch.

Securesearch manufactures devices using all of these items to operate impact strikers and firing pins, and in several types of electrical switches to forcefully close the contacts.