Associated Press – December 6, 2006:
In an age of multimillion-dollar high-tech weapons systems, sometimes it’s the simplest ideas that can save lives. Which is why a New Jersey mother is organizing a drive to send cans of Silly String to Iraq.
American troops use the stuff to detect trip wires around bombs, as Marcelle Shriver learned from her son, a soldier in Iraq.
Before entering a building, troops squirt the plastic goo, which can shoot strands about 10 to 12 feet, across the room. If it falls to the ground, no trip wires. If it hangs in the air, they know they have a problem. The wires are otherwise nearly invisible.
Now, 1,000 cans of the neon-colored plastic goop are packed into Shriver’s one-car garage in this town outside Philadelphia, ready to be shipped to the Middle East thanks to two churches and a pilot who heard about the drive.
How to get Silly String to the troops.
A New Jersey woman who wants to send Silly String to U.S. troops in Iraq to help them detect trip wires is accepting cans of the spray string as well as donations to help cover costs.
Checks can be made out to Marcelle Shriver and sent to St. Luke’s Church, 55 Warwick Rd., Stratford, N.J. 08084.
Shriver also is collecting names and addresses of soldiers and Marines in Iraq who may need Silly String. Suggestions should be sent to ron101abn@comcast.net.
You know this will make the manufacturers of Silly Putty jealous. I guess they could use it to photocopy images out in the field.
Wow, the company that makes Silly String should be trying to get a no-bid contract. $1000 per can, easy!
Maybe they’ll get bought by Halliburton.
Cool. I wonder who thought of trying this first. Someone should be trying to hire that person.
2,
Actually, a tactical version that attaches to the weapon with a linear nozzle would be cool.
Don’t they have a version of kid’s spider-man silly-string shooters that work like that? THose would be even better to send to the guys!
A great idea.
Not to take away from the yellow ribbon wielding Marcelle Shriver but…
Is there any reason why the gov isn’t providing this stuff? Why would a private citizen or church need to be involved if this is a necessity of the US Military? Makes a good warm and fuzzy news item i suppose.
“Is there any reason why the gov isn’t providing this stuff?”
The reason is probably that it would have to contract out for silly string and it could only be produced by the military industrial complex, and it probably would cost about 1000 bucks per can.
In other words, it’s simply easier to have moms collect and send it.
7.
thats sad.
The government is still catching up on armor, and trust me we don’t need them getting ripped off ala government budget to get $1000 per bottle silly string. $200 hammers are bad enough
This is really nice, I wish it were this east to detect roadside bombs.
Maybe they can get a market for racecars or something
Great. I love Silly String. But now it’s going to become weaponized, then classified. What does the Geneva Convention say about using Silly String against prisoners?
“The reason is probably that it would have to contract out for silly string and it could only be produced by the military industrial complex, and it probably would cost about 1000 bucks per can.”
Don’t forget about the typical US government procurement process. Once the specification, bid proposal, contractor selection, testing, and approval process is complete, the troops should get official government issued silly string in 5-7 years tops. Of course if you factor in the cost of the procurement process, we are talking a lot more that $1000 per can.
I just hope we are not still in Iraq in 5-7 years!
Steve
I bet those cans of silly string will be held up because or bureaucracy.
Gee I hope the propellant in the can doesn’t cause global warming..
Hold your noses and go to this link. It talks about little things like this idea and how they can save our guys/girls lives in Iraq. Pay attention to reasons # 1 and 3.
This is just an example of what the guys on the ground and the front lines do to keep themselves alive.
Just goes to show the ingenuity of those uneducated dead end soldiers John Kerry was talking about
#15 – John Kerry wasn’t talking about uneduacted dead end soldiers. Unless you want to be very very generous and extend the definition of soldier to include chickenhawk presidents with no combat experience or worthwhile service history.
Why even bring politics into this?
#17 – Maybe because Silly String procurement will ultimately require political wrangling?
Besides… at the most base level almost everything is political. 🙂
My son is in IRAQ and they can use all the Silly String they can get! If they wait for the government to approve and provide it they won’t get it until at least 2010. The same with body armor – more and more families are providing good body armor instead of that one shot stuff they issue now.
Don’t trivialize the safety of those who are fighting to keep the war out of our backyards.