Are you near a grenade? First, we must ask you to be very careful. Now, do you plan to be near an active grenade? If so, you might want to know your chances of surviving the blast. Mark Rober's YouTube channel explores this peculiar scenario in two different ways: throwing yourself to the ground about 4.5 meters from the grenade, or falling with it into a pool, separated by a similar distance.
A Brief History of the Hand Grenade
The story of the hand grenade dates back to the Byzantine Empire, but the “modern version” concept saw notable development in the early 20th century. Once considered “obsolete weaponry” by major military forces of the time, it quickly regained importance due to its effectiveness in trench warfare. Today, the fragmentation grenade is the variant most people are familiar with, thanks to its presence in movies and TV shows.
How Deadly Can a Grenade Be?
As a reference, the M67 design used by the United States Army has an effective radius of 15 meters, and in special cases, fragments have been detected at over 200 meters from the explosion. In other words, no one in their right mind would want to be near such a grenade. But if you want a better idea of your chances of survival, maybe watch this:
Mark Rober's video demonstrates a very specific example: two active grenades fall to the ground. One stays on the ground, while the other ends up in a pool. Mark chooses to throw himself to the ground, keeping a distance of about 4.5 meters, while his companion opts for the pool, at a similar distance from the grenade that sank to the bottom. Which of them has a better chance of surviving? The answer is Mark, on the ground.
Staying face down with your feet pointed toward the explosion makes you a much smaller target for shrapnel and avoids a good portion of the blast wave. The good news for his companion is that the probability of being hit by a grenade fragment is zero...
...but the bad news is that water has very low compressibility, making it an excellent “conductor” for the shockwave. The human body is not completely solid, as it contains various “air pockets” (lungs, intestines, nasal sinuses, etc.). The shockwave pushes the body, and the air cannot respond with the same force, causing terrible internal injuries and death. Although there is a loss of energy in the transfer, jumping into a pool with an active grenade inside is a bad idea. It's like dynamite fishing, except that the fish would be us.
