Did you ever cook with C-4?

SSgt Terry P. — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 05:43:28 -0400

There is no real recipe that C-4 enhances. The reasons we cooked with C-4 were many. One reason was because you could. Hot food was always preferred to cold food. C rations were always cold…and when it was raining, you got drenched. Not all rains in Viet Nam were warm rains…very few were. When you stopped for the day, in that period between late afternoon and sundown, you had a few minutes to prepare for the night. That usually meant cleaning your rifle and other weapons, picking a spot where you could defend yourself, if you could, finding a dry place to sleep, and after all this was done, you sometimes had a few minutes to eat.

Out in the bush we had C-rations and, if you could get them, LRRP rations. We usually had to steal….uh, did I say steal…I meant liberate the LRRP rations. They were a freeze dried meal in a package,….and if you could get some hot water into them, they tasted a whole lot better than anything cold.

Having hot water was the trick. You usually only had a few minutes before it got dark enough that any kind of a fire would cast too much light. You could be targeted by someone outside the LZ or the area where you were. Often, it was so wet, it was hard to find anything dry enough to burn. You didn’t want a smoky fire either; the smell could carry a long way. . so, we used C-4.

You had to be careful. C-4 came in a one pound bar, wrapped in a green waxy paper. It was white in color, and had a texture of stale taffy mixed with very fine sand. We would pinch off a piece about the size of the end of your little finger, or smaller. You then had to roll it for a while to make sure it didn’t have any air pockets in it. If you lit it and it had an air pocket, it would explode. Not a bad explosion, but it would blow your canteen of hot water all over you. You didn’t step on it either to put the fire out…you let it burn out. It wanted to explode when you stepped on it….some tried and some instantly needed at least one new shoe.

You took a few rocks and made a little hole in the middle of them, put the C-4 down in the hole, lit it, and immediately put your canteen cup full of water on top of the rocks. You had to do this outside and make sure you were not downwind of the fire. The gas the burning C-4 made was extremely toxic. FNG’s would see us cooking with C-4 and even though they were warned to never use it in an enclosed space, often did, and were medivaced out. The gas was really bad.

Often you’d have to use a second chunk, but soon, you had boiling water. You have no idea what a luxury hot water is until you don’t have any. You’d use about half your canteen for the LRRP ration, the other half remaining in your canteen, you could put in a tea bag or some instant coffee….and lots of sugar. For a few moments, way out in the jungle, forgetting what the day had brought, and not thinking of what the night could bring, for a few moments, you could have a hot meal and a cup of hot coffee and count the days before you could leave the mess you were in and return home.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Sep 3 at 2015 5:47 AM

PO1 John Miller — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 05:47:46 -0400

Awesome story brother! Thanks for sharing!

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 3 at 2015 5:50 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 05:50:19 -0400

I can happily say no to this one. It is an experience that I can say I never had. I’m fortunate to not find myself in the situation that made this a necessity! Great share though.

Response by SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. made Sep 3 at 2015 9:07 AM

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 09:07:40 -0400

*sigh*... makes me so homesick :(

Response by SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. made Sep 3 at 2015 9:50 AM

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 09:50:48 -0400

I really remember the C4 bit .. everyone carried a pound to blow and a 1/4 pound to cook with.
Question?
Did anyone actually try to stomp the C4 fire out?

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 3 at 2015 9:54 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 09:54:06 -0400

Never cooked with it. But once, while in Germany, I had two very young and very cherry PVTs come to be admitted to my hospital (straight to ICU though) because one gave a very long lick to a stick of C-4 and the other one took a good size bite and swallowed it.

Response by PO3 Steven Sherrill made Sep 3 at 2015 10:31 AM

PO3 Steven Sherrill — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 10:31:01 -0400

This is great. I knew that C-4 was relatively safe when no detonator was in play. I even knew that soldiers have used it to heat water as SSgt Terry P. lays out in the story. I did not know that it would explode if it had air pockets in it, and I didn't know that the fumes were toxic (though I should have being that it is an explosive). Thanks for sharing.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Sep 3 at 2015 11:43 AM

LTC Stephen F. — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 11:43:11 -0400

Not very often SSgt Terry P.. My enlisted time was spent is a combat engineer with many Vietnam War draftees serving out their obligation. They seemed to take more chances than I did and some were probably psychotic.
I remember star clusters being fired at ground level towards probing aggressors during filed problems when we we use C-4 and a number of other munitions.
Small amounts of C-4 worked okay for cooking as long as nobody tried to cover up the flame which led to explosive results:-)

Response by CPT Pedro Meza made Sep 3 at 2015 9:08 PM

CPT Pedro Meza — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 21:08:38 -0400

I came in the service in 1974, most of my instructors were Vietnam vets, and one showed how to cut C-4 very slow so that no friction happened, another showed how to use explosive cord to cut trees, sad to say we were not permitted to play with any of the good stuff.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 10 at 2015 2:28 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 14:28:09 -0400

Used C-4, but never cooked with it! I fondly remember times we would come across a tank company. Using their exhaust to cook our food. Now that is a good time!

Response by SFC David Davenport made Sep 10 at 2015 5:36 PM

SFC David Davenport — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 17:36:33 -0400

I didn't cook with it but cleaning up after demo ranges there were times we would burn C-4 bits. This is actually pretty safe as long as you don't burn blasting caps or det. cord.

Response by Sgt David G Duchesneau made Dec 7 at 2015 5:41 PM

Sgt David G Duchesneau — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 17:41:27 -0500

I can't count how many times. Thank God for C-4!

Response by SMSgt Keith Stephens made Feb 24 at 2016 1:51 PM

SMSgt Keith Stephens — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 13:51:27 -0500

When I went in Army in 83 there were plenty Vietnam vets. Almost all of the NCOs were Vietnam vets. They would tell us you learned the Army way how to be an infantryman now we are are going to show you how it's really done. The article about cooking with C4 is straight out of my memory exact to the T. Yes those guys taught us cooking with C4. Man the memories this article dredged up for me.....

Response by GySgt Bill Smith made Mar 21 at 2016 5:42 PM

GySgt Bill Smith — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 17:42:34 -0400

Used to cook with it and make a quick fighting holes, beats the hell out of digging.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Aug 8 at 2018 5:46 PM

SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 17:46:55 -0400

Never did, but heard of guys using it.

Response by SGT Philip Roncari made Aug 8 at 2018 7:24 PM

SGT Philip Roncari — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 19:24:38 -0400

Since I think the statute of limitations has run out on my use of C4 back in 1966-67 the answer is yes,if you ask where the C4 was obtained that secret will go with me to my grave,we mainly relied on heat tabs but with resupply in the Central Highlands being sometimes a iffy proposition,grunts will always improvise,heat tabs also had very toxic fumes ,excellent punched out C rat can in the photo by the way

Response by MSG Danny Mathers made Aug 8 at 2018 7:37 PM

MSG Danny Mathers — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 19:37:30 -0400

I will boil water in 5 seconds. Every Grunt in my company carried at least a 2.2 pound.

Response by SSgt Bruce McClelland made Oct 18 at 2018 8:52 AM

SSgt Bruce McClelland — Thu, 18 Oct 2018 08:52:15 -0400

It scrambles eggs very well. Too well actually. It scrambles 'em all over the place.

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made Oct 24 at 2018 6:14 PM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 18:14:18 -0400

OK, I gotta admit, that's funny....

Response by PVT Mark Zehner made Oct 24 at 2018 6:22 PM

PVT Mark Zehner — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 18:22:32 -0400

No at least not in the Army!

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 24 at 2018 8:06 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 20:06:53 -0400

No. It can be burned safely, and I've seen it burn, but we were informed to avoid the fumes coming off it while it burns. Additionally, I don't believe it's cheap, either, so burning it is usually not a good deal for the taxpayer.

I did have a squad leader at one point who liked to play with the guy stuck controlling the ASP. He would look and see what was stacked up next our demo, and then he'd suddenly feign shock and exclaim, for example, "OMFG! You can't put this next to the BLUE CHEMLIGHTS!!!!!" and run out of the ASP headed for cover. I don't remember that ever actually being funny to anybody but us.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Oct 24 at 2018 8:32 PM

CAPT Kevin B. — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 20:32:54 -0400

Made one up while down in Antarctica and boiled some water. Not much to do in the evening while on a traverse. We were at Marble Point near the Dry Valleys, so had a rock base. One of my collateral duties was Blasting Officer so I always enjoyed tinkering. It was a good reminder to make sure the real cooking stuff made it into the cargo bed. This is not a high volume/production thing. You have to keep the amount of C-4 small if you want to keep your cajones. I did use a standard fuse without a cap to see C-4 burn. Did it to a bar of it. Observation: it doesn't burn evenly by a long shot even after a 1/2 hour of kneading. Chef beware.

Response by CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 26 at 2018 11:24 AM

CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 11:24:29 -0400

Just don't stomp it out when done.

Response by PO3 John Wagner made Dec 29 at 2018 6:49 AM

PO3 John Wagner — Sat, 29 Dec 2018 06:49:15 -0500

I’ve been a trucker for 32 years. I can relate. I never made “turbo turkey” but I have found some pretty ingenious ways of heating food and water.
You’re 100% right about not having hot food or water.
I thought many times about creating an oven by circulating coolant through an “oven” jacket.
These days I have a microwave.
Life’s good.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 26 at 2019 10:26 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 22:26:00 -0400

Used it. Never cooked with it. Had some patients in Germany because they ingested it.

Response by TSgt David L. made Aug 26 at 2019 10:32 PM

TSgt David L. — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 22:32:22 -0400

SSgt Terry P. - Never cooked with it but I've blown tons of it up. One of our warnings is to not EAT it. Pretty crazy but guys do it I guess.

Response by PO1 H Gene Lawrence made Aug 26 at 2019 10:48 PM

PO1 H Gene Lawrence — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 22:48:10 -0400

Used to fish with.

Response by LtCol Robert Quinter made Aug 27 at 2019 6:06 AM

LtCol Robert Quinter — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 06:06:18 -0400

Open flames or explosives in a helicopter were not conducive to longevity, but we had a substitute. Cut a small hole in the can then put it in the engine compartment of the 46. Once, my crew chief put a can of spaghetti and meat sauce in for me, we got in a sticky situation and everyone forgot it until after the shooting stopped. When the CC went back to get it, the sauce had exploded and spread all over the engine. Had to pull it and send it to rework to clean it up.

Response by GySgt Thomas Vick made Aug 27 at 2019 2:13 PM

GySgt Thomas Vick — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 14:13:59 -0400

Hell Yes

Response by GySgt Thomas Vick made Aug 27 at 2019 2:14 PM

GySgt Thomas Vick — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 14:14:15 -0400

Hell Yes

Response by CPL Douglas Chrysler made Sep 5 at 2019 2:20 PM

CPL Douglas Chrysler — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 14:20:29 -0400

No.

Response by Lt Col Charlie Brown made Sep 5 at 2019 2:24 PM

Lt Col Charlie Brown — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 14:24:10 -0400

I can honestly say I never have. And given my personal safety record, that's a good thing

Response by SSG David Bray made Sep 13 at 2019 8:42 AM

SSG David Bray — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 08:42:02 -0400

I did this in Iraq in 2003 during the invasion. Freaked out my CO, but the right size chunk heated up a canteen of to boiling in about 7 seconds for coffee at night!

Response by SPC Larry Kinsey made Sep 26 at 2019 4:44 PM

SPC Larry Kinsey — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 16:44:59 -0400

Sure did! The heat tabs were worthless.

Response by SSG Russell Bothwell made Oct 8 at 2019 5:43 PM

SSG Russell Bothwell — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 17:43:20 -0400

Yes, but only as a heat source. It burns great, just don’t stomp it out!!!

Response by CSM Charles Hayden made Oct 25 at 2019 12:42 AM

CSM Charles Hayden — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 00:42:07 -0400

You K? SSgt Terry P.

Response by LTC Tom Jones made Oct 25 at 2019 1:19 PM

LTC Tom Jones — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 13:19:37 -0400

Regularly—thumb-sized piece off a block was enough Had the problem, however, with our Montagnard soldiers robbing perimeter claymores to heat their meals.

Response by Sgt Bruce Boettcher made Nov 1 at 2019 11:08 AM

Sgt Bruce Boettcher — Fri, 01 Nov 2019 11:08:33 -0400

we were making hot chocolate going into Kuwait in the back of an amtrac loaded with demolition. Damn Combat Engineers we are nuts.

Response by SrA Jason Adams made Dec 2 at 2019 12:29 PM

SrA Jason Adams — Mon, 02 Dec 2019 12:29:07 -0500

Great story, and thank you for your service!

Response by PO2 Ricky L. Isreal made Dec 3 at 2019 6:44 PM

PO2 Ricky L. Isreal — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 18:44:53 -0500

I think you meant appropriate the LRRP rations.

Response by SPC Kurt Hesselden made Dec 18 at 2019 10:47 AM

SPC Kurt Hesselden — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 10:47:53 -0500

Cooked every c-rat with c-4, made coffee and cocoa with c-4, every day in the field. Beat rubbing 2 sticks together or making a fire that would smell and smoke for hours. C-4 burned hot, clean and fast. A perfect chefs field utility.
Hint: be careful with the C-rats spaghetti though, it would heat up so fast it would boil up out of the can onto your hands and ground in a boston second.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 10 at 2020 4:13 PM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 10 Jan 2020 16:13:28 -0500

Just remember not to stomp it out!

Response by SSG Paul Headlee made Jul 31 at 2020 12:14 PM

SSG Paul Headlee — Fri, 31 Jul 2020 12:14:37 -0400

SSgt Terry Pride awesome recollection. Thanks!