RE: [HoE] Longevity

["Heivilin, Jim" <banzai@missouri.edu>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Damon Harper [mailto:nomad74@hotmail.com]
> Subject: Re: [HoE] Longevity
> 
<snip>
> I'd say roll a d10, and if it comes up a 1 or 2, then the item in 
> question has become rotten(or if it's ammo, unusuable).  
>
I'd say ammo (well the powder) becomes more unreliable rather than just
becoming unusable (more exciting that way!).  It may burn normally but then
it may 'flash burn' (burn faster than it's supposed to) which might result
in an overpressure and the weapon blowing up in your hand, or it may 'slow
burn' and cause the bullet to get stuck in the barrel (believe me, a ROYAL
pain in the butt).  Gin up whatever chance of each happening you like to
make it more dramatic.  

<snip>
>    TNT sweats nitro if it gets too old, but I suspect after 13 years 
> even by then the nitro would have evaporated or soaked into 
> the ground or something.
>
When old TNT sweats, the nitro soaks into whatever packaging the TNT is in.
And it becomes more unstable in that matrix.  So the slightest impact or
jarring *may* set it off.  We had this discussion quite a few months ago on
the DL list with input from a number of Combat Engineer types (like Joe
Collins and I) as well as a number of people who's parents/uncles/etc had
worked in construction/demolition.  Check out Allan Seyberth's archives to
look up the stuff.  A couple of interest house rules were devised based on
our discussion.  

<snip>
>     Modern day "Milrats"(MRE: Meals Ready to Eat) have a shelve life, 
> from what I understand, of upwards of 20 years as long as you don't eat 
> any name-brand candy bars or M&Ms(I have the dubious honor of knowing 
> that old M&Ms from an MRE taste like medicine- you don't want 
> to know).  
>
They also use what are know as T-rations (MREs are C-rations, meaning they
can be eaten with absolutely no preparation, whereas T, B or A rations
require some sort of kitchen and prep time/effort).  Only having eaten them
once (including the infamous "cube of egg") I don't really know how they're
packaged/stored (perhaps someone with more recent military experience can
enlighten us).

> There's an old Army joke that MRE stands for Meals Refused by 
> Ethiopians.  I'll never forget the words of encouragement on the 
> packages of dried fruit:  "Eat as is or reconstitute with water."  
>
The fruit was the better of those.  The dried pork/beef patty that had the
same warning was truly evil.

Jim H.