Hello everyone, story time!

So upon surveying what method I was going to use to enter my last exploration which was an OLD 2 story house I found lots of little booby traps. One of which being a half attempt at a spike pit. I noticed this one luckily, because it was already half collapsed on itself. It was most likely something a kid had built as a fort or something. The grass was so tall it was almost a doozie though. As I continued pacing the perimeter and slowly moving closer in to my goal, I stepped on some small but very efficient animal trap. Now, as I mentioned the grass was very tall so that padded some of it along with my boots, but I never even saw this thing. I only heard it... And then felt it. Moral of the story, like the landmines still planted in Africa from wars of the past, be careful wandering unknown places. I know that's a given, but I got a nice sharp reminder 2 days ago.

Posted by Tunci in the Boon Hello everyone, story time! So upon surveying what method I was going to use to enter my last exploration which was an OLD 2 story house I found lots of little booby traps. One of which being a half attempt at a spike pit. I noticed this one luckily, because it was already half collapsed on itself. It was most likely something a kid had built as a fort or something. The grass was so tall it was almost a doozie though. As I continued pacing the perimeter and slowly moving closer in to my goal, I stepped on some small but very efficient animal trap. Now, as I mentioned the grass was very tall so that padded some of it along with my boots, but I never even saw this thing. I only heard it... And then felt it. Moral of the story, like the landmines still planted in Africa from wars of the past, be careful wandering unknown places. I know that's a given, but I got a nice sharp reminder 2 days ago. 396571.jpg (44 kb, 320x240)

A well constructed punji pit would have put it deep into or through your foot/body.
A more common hellhole is an open manhole in tall grass. Many have walk into open air to spite the fact it was plainly visible.
It's easy to do...
Assume nothing, trust nothing when exploring.

I didn't know the proper name was punji! Thanks for that. I'm assuming it was very old, and the sticks and branches covering it were basically all fallen in. The second trap was kind of tangled in the grass and I'm surprised it wasn't rusted open permanently. I definetly had fallen slack on my surroundings though. It was a nice less than lethal reminder. Lol

Posted by Tunci in the Boon I didn't know the proper name was punji! Thanks for that. I'm assuming it was very old, and the sticks and branches covering it were basically all fallen in. The second trap was kind of tangled in the grass and I'm surprised it wasn't rusted open permanently. I definetly had fallen slack on my surroundings though. It was a nice less than lethal reminder. Lol

When you found the first one you should have left. All kinds of nasty surprises can be improvised and some are long lived.
Depending on the location, trap and circumstances I would consider informing the police. Probably not in this case though.
Boys will be boys

http://thevietnamwar.info/punji-sticks/