# Tool Talk >  Homemade Syrian weapons

## Jon

A controversial topic, but if you run any sort of DIY or manufacturing website and you're ignoring this, you're doing an intellectual disservice to your audience. Basic geopolitical background and 20+ photos below.




Wars are often difficult to parse, and the situation in Syria is one of the most confusing in history. There are hundreds of different groups of rebels, and multiple forces against which to rebel. Even mapping the conflict is challenging, with all of the different fighters and factions, many of whose names are difficult to even pronounce.




Western nations universally want to combat the ISIS presence, but there is disagreement over how to handle Assad. Borders with neighboring countries are blurring, and nobody knows what do to with millions of refugees, mostly decent people, but among whom are hidden terrorists plotting for maximum destruction at any cost.




Obviously, countries looking to address the problem prefer to limit involvement by training and equipping the foreign forces fighting as proxies on their preferred side. There's no lack of this activity by the US and allied nations (Syrian Train and Equip Program, Timber Sycamore), but, thus far, it hasn't been particularly successful.

In contrast to the confounding geopolitical complexity, Syrian rebels engaged in combat are fighting an extremely basic battle for their lives, their families, their future. Bread, water, shelter. Men. Metal.

Like the situation in Cuba in the 1990s, Syrians have few resources besides the pre-existing remnants of technology, and their own ingenuity. However, while war was widely feared in Cuba, it never happened, so Cubans could remain focused on things like powered bicycles, lunch tray antennas, and hearing aid rechargers. Syrians are not so lucky; for them, this ingenuity means homemade weapons.

The photographic record is an extraordinary mix of homespun and repurposed materials, and gives a fascinating view into wartime rebel manufacturing as opposed to peacetime fabrication.

Medieval siege weapons. One is braced with an old appliance weighted with rocks. Another uses 1,000+ year old technology, and is recorded by a rebel holding a sleek modern video camera.








Politicians no doubt swearing up and down that they never supplied the rebels "weapons", but of course everyone gets a free military vest.




Gunsmithing is probably too advanced, and ammunition hard to come by. But shotguns can be converted to ad hoc explosives launchers, and anything can become a makeshift bomb or missile, right down to an ornament ball.








The vehicles.










A video game controller used to fire from an armored vehicle.




Soda bottle gas mask.




A smartphone app compass used to aim homemade missiles.




Cigarettes, sparks, sandals.








At the heart of it all, the old machines. Sometimes it's swords-to-ploughshares, and sometimes the other way around.








Bright eyes, dirty teeth.




Previously:

Cuban homemade tools and technological disobedience
WWII German military helmets repurposed into colanders
Armored bulldozer rampage in Colorado
International Harvester towed mine planter
1940s Frigidaire factories converted to wartime production

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blkadder (Mar 5, 2017),

dubbby (Jul 28, 2020),

Scotsman Hosie (Mar 13, 2019),

Seedtick (Mar 3, 2017),

Toolmaker51 (Dec 26, 2018),

wolfpaak (Dec 30, 2018)

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## blkadder

Seeing these pictures (and paying attention to what goes on in the world) reminds me of what the British did in WWII, producing StEN SMGs by the thousands. The French resistance was also adept at making what they could to stop the German army. One only has to look online for about ten seconds to see how you can make an improvised SMG using nothing more than plumbing parts and a bit of square tubing. In a world gone pear shaped, those who wish to fight for their freedom do what needs to be done. I hope people will look on Jons post not through the eyes of being on one side or the other, or even being pro gun or not, just look at what people that have nothing are willing to do to protect themselves.

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high-side (Mar 5, 2019),

MeJasonT (Dec 25, 2018),

Toolmaker51 (Dec 26, 2018)

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## Frank S

As it has been said there is no way of knowing how future technology will come into play in the next World War should there be one., But it is a well understood fact that the very last war will be fought with sticks and stones.
For some of the conflicts which are continuing around the globe today all one has to do is look at the situations many face today in them and it would be hard not to think that the folks in those situations are facing their final war.

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MeJasonT (Dec 25, 2018),

Toolmaker51 (Dec 26, 2018)

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## Jon

Found this GIF and remembered that unusual propane tank cannon.



Your browser does not support the video tag.



Also found more confirmation of the anachronistic practice of aiming projectiles by physically placing a computer on them.

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baja (Dec 24, 2018),

high-side (Mar 5, 2019),

Seedtick (Dec 24, 2018)

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## high-side

Their's an app for that...

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MeJasonT (Dec 25, 2018)

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## MeJasonT

How much money has the governments of the west spent or to be more accurate wasted on protecting themselves using tax payers money. Its not cheap building nuclear shelters and the like. They think that after they have caused or been inefficient at preventing a third world war that we would want them alive to govern us in the aftermath. 

In this season of goodwill it is those with least who will give the most. We should consider when we make our resolutions for the new year that we do so for the good of all mankind and not for selfish desires. At least if you give up smoking here will be less CO2 in the atmosphere.

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Toolmaker51 (Dec 26, 2018)

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## Jon

Your browser does not support the video tag.

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baja (Mar 5, 2019),

Scotsman Hosie (Mar 13, 2019),

Seedtick (Mar 5, 2019)

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## MeJasonT

What i hit

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## MeJasonT

There is a pile of burning golf balls on his own doorstep.

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## Jon

3-man slingshot firing some sort of explosive. These guys look like they've done this before.



Your browser does not support the video tag.

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baja (Mar 14, 2019),

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Seedtick (Mar 13, 2019),

Toolmaker51 (Mar 16, 2019)

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## VinnieL

I'm disappointed..there are no plans.... Just kidding of course, but I do wonder what they were using for the stretch-material on the slingshot. That was pretty neat.

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Jon (Mar 18, 2019)

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## ranald

wouldn't want that bungee to break or drop it after lit.

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## Toolmaker51

3 guys; one is the 'primer', one with good grip the trigger, one the sear. 
They have to work in sync, not only the obvious premature or un-launched detonation, but prevent trigger re-designated projectile, or suicide paratrooper...

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## PDXsparky

Just look at the smiles after the explosive has been launched. They sure look happy that it’s gone.

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## Jon

The salient feature of the weaponry in this conflict seems to be that it is so anachronistic - chronologically out of sync. Like in a movie, when a time traveler goes back to the 1800s and pulls a cellphone out of his pocket. For example, the juxtaposition of medieval siege weaponry with computer tablets for tracking.

Here we see the classic Syrian "Hell Cannon", but it actually looks like its construction standards have advanced, and it's hooked to a nice looking tractor.



Your browser does not support the video tag.

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baja (Apr 4, 2019),

ranald (Apr 4, 2019),

Scotsman Hosie (Apr 7, 2019),

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## ranald

> The salient feature of the weaponry in this conflict seems to be that it is so anachronistic - chronologically out of sync. Like in a movie, when a time traveler goes back to the 1800s and pulls a cellphone out of his pocket. For example, the juxtaposition of medieval siege weaponry with computer tablets for tracking.
> 
> Here we see the classic Syrian "Hell Cannon", but it actually looks like its construction standards have advanced, and it's hooked to a nice looking tractor.
> 
> <video controls autoplay loop>
> <source src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/hmt-forum/tractor_pulled_syrian_cannon.mp4" type="video/mp4">
> Your browser does not support the video tag.
> </video>



LOL>Reminds me of Peter Sellers wearing a gold wrist watch in a movie set a thousand years ago then a Jet flies over the scene.

The tractor looks cool! I was at an plant auction when a tractor with less than 1 hr on the clock was driven in at almost break neck speed and almost rolled when turned for inspection of the crowd, creating much laughter in the buyers ring. It was a Chinese one. Don't know why the owner was selling.

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## MeJasonT

Scary, what can i say

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blkadder (Jul 2, 2019),

ranald (Apr 19, 2019),

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## Jon

For the record, since repeated cries of "Allahu Akbar" are not my preferred form of audio entertainment. In the context of nearly all of the nations whose people visit this board, the people pictured here (I believe?) would be considered the "good" guys; or probably the "less-bad" guys is more fair.

More importantly, the post-apocalyptic technological and military environment on the streets in Syria is rare, and, while I do pass on a lot of war videos, there is valid ingenuity and unusual (if sparse) construction on display here, and this is our only chance to observe it.

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ranald (Apr 19, 2019),

Scotsman Hosie (Apr 7, 2019),

Toolmaker51 (Apr 4, 2019)

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## Toolmaker51

Odd as it sounds, whatever freedom means, it varies among different people. 
And those who sit back and enjoy it, are worst at defining it.

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blkadder (Jul 2, 2019),

ranald (Apr 19, 2019)

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## MeJasonT

People are people wherever they live. I was watching Kusrk the other night and was pleased to see the film (although fictional to a certain extent) did not portray the Russian submarine crew as stupid or war mongering. Those of us who have served share a certain respect for our fo's, chances are they are human, children or parents of somebody and definitely believe there right to win the war is godly and righteous, Its not just a western idea. When it comes to war we are actually the amateurs, the middle and far east were building war machines and weaponry long before we crawled out of caves. Syria is suffering a civil war on one side and ISIS on the other, the defenders are loosing against there own regime and being captured by ISIS. The dictator running Syria is behaving like Hitler in his actions and deeds and the others (ISIS) are just mad, they are fighting everybody. If the US or UK were to go to war against an unseen enemy basically the rest of the world, we would stand a good chance of loosing - you cant have eyes and guns everywhere. ISIS thinks that we will all change religion and follow Mohamed, the world is now pretty much populated by atheists, there is a good chance they will fail in this endeavour. The crude weapon construction is what comes out of war from poorly equipped soldiers. (what like a shortage of boots and armour in the gulf)

Civil wars are a good example of mans ingenuity of finding ways to bash your enemies brains out when you don't have a stock pile of cruise missiles or fighter jets. Power is a very dangerous thing the people we elect assume power and suggest that it was our vote which provided them with supremacy.
Our western leaders have forgotten that they are the servants and its only a matter of time until democracy breaks down, its not as if its never historically happened before. Brexit could lead to our civil war, the EU will eventually upset it member states and falter and Donald could very easily pee off the US, The USSR collapsed because member states couldn't agree and were being controlled by one state.
I may be biased when it comes to my view on Brexit. Whatever anyone tells you, we are cut off from mainland Europe by water and have always been the outsider from the land locked countries for that very reason, we have always had to stand on our own two feet. It is the EU (the governing body - not European countries) that are self interested and financially motivated to use the UK as a cash cow. We have not been treated equally or fairly within the EU and 40 years worth of journalistic reports on our protests and dissatisfaction with the governance of the EU is why many chose to leave (with or without all the facts we apparently didn't have).
Allegedly i'm (as a Brexiteer) only thinking of my own future and not that of the UK. Funny but i wont be better off by us leaving but i think the UK can be a much stronger country out of the Union. does that sound selfish to you. The minority are pulling out all the stops to change the decision and keep us locked into the EU.
I make this reference here as I feel our country will end up in conflict and civil unrest, the government will go to any lengths to suppress peoples freedom of speech or right to protest protest. You may be able to see first hand how a democracy breaks down and results in civil disorder, They have already put the military on standby and are preparing additional riot police in the event of a no deal. Its obviously the outcome they expect or they would see no need to prepare for it. We are living in interesting times.

Its amazing what people can make to defend themselves when there backs are against a wall and all the weaponry is controlled by government forces. Whilst working offshore i had the privileged of working with guys who manufactured marvellous devices and parts from nothing, basically the scraps lying around the boat/rig. Its a skill i managed to acquire myself.

We all get sent to war or end up defending ourselves against the idiotic idealism of our leaders at some point. Lets face it there not our enemy they are the enemy of the power hungry leaders. Would i serve again NO. not for politicians. I feel a conscious objection coming on, would i protect my country yes. I signed a contract with the devil so to speak - if HRH chooses to mobilise her forces then i would probably answer the call but will treat politicians like the annoying foreign fraudsters who call pretending to be from Microsoft to fix my PC by siphoning off my personal information. In fact if Microsoft genuinely call, how do i know its you and not a fraudster - i'm not accepting your call. 
The long and short of it is that its all about money and oil. The breakaway faction of Islam with its strong views on its version of religion dating back to the conquests in North Africa around 10 AD? (not sure of year, somewhere between Constantine in 4 AD and the various conquests leading up to 12 AD) where the kings right hand man killed him and took over his kingdom and decided Islam was being destroyed by weak followers and sinners imposing a strict religious ideology on his people. Basically the birth of ISIS, who incidentally would give BP,Total, Chevron etc a good run for their money when it comes to Oil. That's about the jist of it. (making no judgement here)

Freedom of speech and considering our nations (UK/US) as free is a fallacy, we no longer have freedom and all this control is governed by our servants (politicians). what do they gain from this control apart from their own personal wealth. I personally feel that i now work for the civil service, i work harder than i have ever done before and pay the largest portion of my salary in taxes, Its tipped the balance to the point that i pay tax before i eat or heat my home. You can see how these conflicts start right. The conflict in Syria is the peoples failed attempt at the Arab Spring uprising with an obvious third party getting itself involved to fight for land. Then add Russia and the rest into the mix - Its a huge free for all, Ozzy rule football.

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Scotsman Hosie (Apr 7, 2019),

Toolmaker51 (Apr 5, 2019)

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## Jon

If you thought the shiny new tractor was anachronistic, check this out. Some sort of robotic sniper rifle? And thankfully this clip is limited to a single "Allahu Akbar".



Your browser does not support the video tag.

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baja (Apr 14, 2019),

Scotsman Hosie (Apr 21, 2019),

Seedtick (Apr 14, 2019)

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## procv

Gun used looks like a early 70's Belgian semi auto FN assault rifle

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## Jon

Syrian rebel firing what looks to be a WWII-era Degtyaryov machine gun, AKA "record player". 0:19 video:

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baja (Apr 20, 2019),

ranald (Apr 19, 2019),

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## Jon

Captioned as remote-controlled AKM in Yemen, and limited to a single Allahu Akbar.



Your browser does not support the video tag.

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Alan Purdy (May 11, 2019),

baja (May 12, 2019),

Seedtick (May 10, 2019)

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## MeJasonT

judging by the recoil its accuracy will be crap. But i wouldn't want to be at the pointy end. Its still absolute pure genius.

If I were waging a one man war i would have stingers and M72s just think of the chaos you could cause. Pop up fire forget oh and run like buggery.
The response will obviously be a visit from an F16 dropping a happy pill down my throat. Que sera, I need to make a video and say que sera 20 or 30 times whilst running around like a maniac. This war thing is so easy, all you need to do is watch instructional videos like Team America.

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## Jon

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baja (Jun 29, 2019),

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## shopandmath

I am thank full to live in Canada

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## Jon

I'm thankful that we have the largest undefended border in the free world with Canada! Canadians are the best neighbors on the planet.

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## Elizabeth Greene

The counterbattery fire will be on its way before the first shot hits the ground.

Still, I'd like more details on its construction. That sort of thing fascinates me.

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## VinnieL

Pretty short fuse if you ask me!! Wonder if fuse is in short supply there?

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## Jon

> FSA seized a DShK mounted motorcyle in Sharan district that was captured from YPG in Afrin.



FSA = Free Syrian Army
DShK = Degtyaryova-Shpagina Krupnokaliberny (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DShK)
YPG = Yekîneyên Parastina Gel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People...otection_Units)

Largest image size available.

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baja (Jul 3, 2019),

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## JoeVanGeaux

> Pretty short fuse if you ask me!! Wonder if fuse is in short supply there?




Common sense has me thinking the same thing - that fuse is a bit too short. 

But, my tinnitus says its waaaaaay too short!!

Edit: This reply was intended for the fuse-lit mortar/cannon. I couldn't figure how to delete it or attach it to the correct post... so there you go, never reply to a post before the first cup of coffee! (The motorcycle mounted machine gun is cool too, btw!)

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## blkadder

Hell, if there are plans for any of this stuff out there I want them. One never knows when that type of information would be of use. Kind of like the book by Philip Luty on how to build a SMG out of stuff you can purchase at the hardware store. Sure building them at this time would be rather foolish, but it is nice to know that the information is tucked safely away.

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## ranald

> Hell, if there are plans for any of this stuff out there I want them. One never knows when that type of information would be of use. Kind of like the book by Philip Luty on how to build a SMG out of stuff you can purchase at the hardware store. Sure building them at this time would be rather foolish, but it is nice to know that the information is tucked safely away.



If the times comes & you ever need it, I hope you have it in hard copy as electronics probably will be of no use. Living where you do, you may need docs on waterproof paper as well & to move to higher ground, LOL, as ave ht above sea level is about 2 metres isn't it or is my 60's history/geography off? With GW it's probably now closer to 1 metre. 
As a kid i loved Lincon Vale of the everglades: probably extremely lame now. I remember those wetlands being slow water: does it flood severly?

In saying that, and all laughs aside, we have a small coastal Queensland city, Bundaberg,(much higher ASL than Florida) that regularly floods and its ave ht above sea level is increased by the inclusion of the hummock amongst mostly flattish land. Of course many houses cant have flood etc insurance despite being on stilts/stumps. & storm water has to gain easy access to the ocean but how much mitigation really works.The home of Bert Hinkler has its rain spread out over the year but cyclonic depressions dont help. Yandina, a small village, has a lot more rain, lower in altitude and doesn't seem to flood as much but most land is grazing ex sugarcane so stats probably dont show "hardship" from flooding.

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## Jon

The coolest long-term data storage idea I've heard (I said "coolest", not most practical  :Smile: ) is storing data on cockroach DNA.

More:

https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~bor...rage-asplos16/
JaronLanier.com/roach.html

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ranald (Jul 3, 2019)

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## ranald

Jon, do you have a life outside HMT: where do you find this type of "stuff"? 

Interesting Russell & my old CDP101 I recently sold as a project as its laser was off & experts couldn't fix but wanted it LOL. & Hoffman etc reminds me of the Sony eLcassette I wanted to buy. Who would have thought that mag tape could hold so much data & dna much more.

Thanks again for your efforts in providing us with such interesting info=be great at trivea night, but beyond my full comprehension. From binary to another galexy. I found basic much easier than cobol but my iq is probably about 10.

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## Frank S

My question would be then if storing something on dna were to become a practical method of long term storage and retrieval was reasonably possible how to they preserve the dna strands unless the data is passed from one living organism to the next if that were the case then use the human dna since only humans are going to be able to understand the retrieved data . Lastly if that were to become possible I would volunteer to have all of the world's data stored on my dna then they would only have to figure out how to keep my sorry butt alive for the next 10s of melena problem solved because if they could store it I'd figure out a way to retrieve it talk about an encyclopedia of the galaxy Isaac Asimov Harry Harrison of Robert Heinlein wouldn't have anything on me LOL

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ranald (Jul 3, 2019)

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## ranald

> My question would be then if storing something on dna were to become a practical method of long term storage and retrieval was reasonably possible how to they preserve the dna strands unless the data is passed from one living organism to the next if that were the case then use the human dna since only humans are going to be able to understand the retrieved data . Lastly if that were to become possible I would volunteer to have all of the world's data stored on my dna then they would only have to figure out how to keep my sorry butt alive for the next 10s of melena problem solved because if they could store it I'd figure out a way to retrieve it talk about an encyclopedia of the galaxy Isaac Asimov Harry Harrison of Robert Heinlein wouldn't have anything on me LOL



Do you mean you are not going to have any more children?

Would you want some quality of life or be contented to lie or stand in a capsule?

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## Frank S

> Do you mean you are not going to have any more children?
> 
> Would you want some quality of life or be contented to lie or stand in a capsule?



Still able to swing a sledge hammer at 4,363. if they want any future off spring from me let them clone me

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## ranald

> Still able to swing a sledge hammer at 4,363. if they want any future off spring from me let them clone me



Love it. LOL

cheers

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## Jon

Well over my preferred limit of "Allahu Akbar" exclamations per GIF, but this is an interesting one.



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baja (Jul 24, 2019),

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## baja

Hard to say which end is more dangerous.

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## Fluffle-Valve

The bellend lighting it.

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## VinnieL

At least he had sense enough to run away from it!!

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