I have just got finished reading 30carbine's Post,-"a newbie offers a small contribution",-on Page 96 of this Forum. His Mention of Mines,(-as in "Minefield"),-has Prompted me to Post something on that Matter here. -And That's that I Think we Shud Bone Up!,-at Least Become Reasonably Familiar With!,-the Topic of Mines and Minefields Around the World!,-including Their All Round Frequency and Locations. If we Ever Have to Go Off to Another Part of the World!,-in a TEOTWAWKI Situation,-or Otherwise,-This could Very Well Be an Important Enuff Thing!,-That we would Like to Know Something Of! With All the Many Mines and Minefields Scattered Across Today's World!,

-Cambodia, the Koreas, Afghanistan, the Taiwan Straits, Iran / Iraq, Iraq / Kuwait, the Indo-Pakistani Border, Places like Yemen and Oman, the Area All Around Israel / Palestinian Authority, Sudan, Libya / Chad, Ethiopia / Eritrea / Somalia, All of These Sub-Saharan African Wars and Slaughters, Angola 70's to Today, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Morocco / Mauritania / and the Polisarios, the Falklands / Malvinas, Peru with it's Once Strong but Still Existing "Shining Path" (The Mines Sure as Heck Still Exist as Well!,-my Central Point!), Colombia with All It's Mayhem & Etc!, Nicarauga / El Salvador / Honduras, Guatemala Too, the Cuban Coast and Coastal Waters, the Chiapas Area of Southern Mexico, Probably some Former Soviet, Bering Sea Coast and Waters, the Finnish-Russian Border Left Over from WW 2, Many Other Old European WW 2 Ones Left Over,-on Both the Eastern and Western Fronts,( N & S Too ), Other Old WW 2 Ones Left Over Elsewhere Throughout the World, the Old NATO-Warsaw Pact "Meetup", the Former Yugoslavia and the Balkans, WW 1 Ones in the Greek-Turkish Agean and Many Worldwide Places Else, Vietnam and Indochina,of Course, Northern Ireland and It's Vicinity, Many a PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER., Totalitarian, or Other Border Strip Thruout the World, Many a Sensitive Military or Other Security Installation Thruout our World, Across the Vast Expanse of Red China and the Former Soviet Union, and Many Other Places Thruout Our World! (I Got Out my Globe,-for Easier and More Complete Reference,-Thus the Length / Extensiveness, -of my List,-which is by No Means Complete!)

- Not Only All this Great Postwar Witch'es Brew!, -But There's also Plenty of Old, -Yet Live,-WW 2 and Earlier Mines and Other Ordnance,-Yet Out There! My Concerns Extend Beyond Only Mines,-To Also Include Any and All Other Types of Remaining Ordnance. Maps of Course are Often Inaccurate, or Can't Be Found!,-That's even When They were Initially Made! The List of such Locales can Go On!,-I Think we Shud All Seek,-to Pretty Well Know,-All such Mine Locales thruout Our World! ( I said Not "Evry Last Mine",-but rather Mean More or Less All Major and Significant Enuf Mined Areas,-of the World ) Become at Least Reasonably Familiar with Mines and Mine Safety / Survival, -and Avoidance / Detection / Extrication / Signs, and Etc.,-Too. Locations are Great and Important Enough,-But It's Wise and Well,-To Know More than Just That,-About Them as Well!

In a Recent Issue of either Popular Science, Popular Mechanix, or Mechanics Illustrated,-I Don't Remember Which,- I've Seen Info Near the Back,-About What to Do and Not Do,-Shud You Suddenly Find that you've Walked into a Minefield! There's also Such Info in one or more of the Recent "Survival" Series of Books. Other Sources Exist Also.

- It'd Be Prudent to View Any Third World Area of the World as Suspect! ( Sure,-Not Evry Last One has Mines and Such,-But It's of Course your Butt and Life!,-Rideing On the Line! -That's for Public Consumption,-I Don't Need to Tell Many of you That! ) But Also,-a Good Many First World Areas can Be Suspect Too!,-as a Result of World Wars Leftovers.

This may be a Lesser Priority Item,-on your All Round Survival and Preparedness Horizon,-( We just Can't High Prioritize Every Last Sub-Area of our Whole Survival Sphere),-But Be Advised,-That Shud you Ever Find Yourself in some Other Part of the World,-We may Need to Move Mine Consciousness!,-Higher Up on our Scale of Things! They're Out There Across Many a Place in the World!,-They Don't Announce Themselves,( Except Usually Too Late! ),-They Often Aren't All that Easily Found! I Just Want to Throw this Heads Up our Way,-Have at least a Basic Awareness and Mindfulness,-of the Very Real Danger of Mines and Minefields!,-Throughout our World! [color:"black"] [/color] [email]ScottRezaLogan[/email]

Scott,
These are a few fact I found that may be of some interest.

More than 110 million active landmines contaminate at least 68 countries around the world.

Buried landmines can remain active for at least 50 years after being laid.

Every month more than 2000 people are killed or maimed by landmine explosions.
Most of the casualties are civilians who are killed or injured after hostilities have ended.

Anti-personnel mines cost between $3 - $30 each.

Clearing each mine costs the international community from $300 - $1000.

Manual clearance is dangerous, accidents occur at a rate of one every 1- 2000 mines destroyed.

At current rates it will take 1100 years to clear the world of landmines, provided that no additional mines are laid.

If you need any more info there are quite a few military engineers other than myself around the board who will more than likely help.

Dave

Just to add to this thread...

I grew up in the small portion of land between Russia and Czech Republic... Nothing of big military value but at the end of WWII it became a lawless land for partisan troops from Russia, Poland and Czech that opposed Stalin and clashed with Red Army and Polish Army. They laid so much stuff there that it was impossible to plow the field or go mushroom picking without finding old mines, cartridges and artillery shells. It was a paradise for a kid and I still don’t know how I survived. Local sapper unit hated that part of Poland but it was a great hands on experience and they really got to blow stuff up. In my last few years I was there I collected so many ordinances that it would be enough to blow up few villages. If you remember 101st stand in Bastone Forrest and how shells were hitting the trees and splinters and shnarpel flying all around? We used to do the same by tying hand grenades to the trees and pulling the strings. We used to unscrew detonating mechanism out of stuff and throw it into fires. Not to mention laying fuses and smashing them with a hammer. It was natural for a guy to have few fingers missing or a limb. And god forbids you decided to plow a new field after the spring flood when all the buried stuff rose up to the top. Every squeak of the plow and metallic sound gave you a heart attack. How much of that stuff is still there? Who the hell knows but when I went to hunt for rabbits and came upon a destroyed Russian tank nobody knew about I can guarantee you that there is a lot of it left.

Matt
And yes before you go off on me I know what we did was retarded.

Not only do you need to think of mines but any location where ordinance was manufactured/fired on test ranges. There have been several instances in Arkansas of old storage areas exploding (not mapped) and old range ordanance blowing up by plowing/construction, etc.

In northern and eastern parts of France, where WW I combats took place, there are still many ordnance lying around and after all that time - almost 90 years - , some still are operational or at least dangerous enough.
From time to time, farmers dig some out of their fields.

And stuff from WW II are uncovered every year, in large cities, when rebuilding some areas.


Alain

Thanks All for your Various Inputs and Responses. I Aim to Reply to You Soon Enuff. A Few Major Additional "Minefields" Areas have Since Occurred to me,-which Escaped me Earlier, -Namely, -Kashmir and Vicinity, -The Entire Caucass Area,-including Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Chechynia Area, and Georgia, -the Old North African Battlefields of WW 2, -and of course the Entire Normandy Area on Eastward,-to Add to What Frenchy has so Mentioned. Thanks Again! [color:"black"] [/color] [email]ScottRezaLogan[/email]

Flowers genetically engineered to rat out buried land mines:

clicky (yahoo news)

I'm usually against genetically modified plants, but if they are going to be used at all, this is the way. What a great idea <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />.