Survival is crucial in any prison or county jail. It’s a matter of who lives and who dies first once a riot breaks out. Interestingly, survival fuels inmates’ creativity when it comes to fashioning weapons either for offensive or defensive purposes.
Here is a list of top 10 homemade weapons to be aware inside a prison or county jail that will shock you:
1. Chocolate
Apparently, melting of chocolates is done using hot plates that were illegally obtained.
It may seem weird, but chocolate can actually be used as a weapon, but not in the usual sense that most people think. Chocolate has a high boiling point, which means if you get even a drop of it on your skin it will immediately burn and send a huge jolt of pain all over your body.
The way prisoners use chocolate as a weapon is by heating them up using a hotplate (which you can legally get in some prison commissaries) and then hurling the scalding hot liquid on their target. Since molten chocolate is quite thick and sticky, it will have more than enough time to inflict serious burns on the target.
2. Coffee Creamer Flamethrowers
This is simple yet still considered a weapon that can potentially harm both inmates and prison staff. If you are wondering why some prisons strictly discourage the use of coffee creamers, this is the reason.
The way inmates use non-dairy coffee creamer is they grab a handful of the stuff in one hand and a lighter on the other. When their target is within range, they will throw the handful of creamer in front of the naked flame; this will immediately set fire to the fine particles and result in a large fireball that will engulf anyone in its path.
3. Paper Knives
It’s surprising how inmates can easily think of homemade weapons just so they can survive inside the prison. Paper knives make it to the list of top 10 homemade weapons to be aware inside a prison or county jail.
It is actually easy to make paper knives, and the materials needed are readily available. The inmate just needs a bit of toilet paper, some water, and a bit of salt. You just need to soak the toilet paper in some saltwater until it you can shape it into a makeshift dagger. Once the paper knife dries up, it will be hard enough that you can use it to stab someone.
4. Window Glass Knife
Obviously, a glass shard is already a dangerous weapon, but if you put it in the hands of an enterprising inmate with nothing but time on his hands and you will get a formidable weapon.
Glass knives are actually one of the most common contraband weapons that you can find in prisons. Broken glass already has a sharp edge, so the inmate does not have to sharpen it, he only needs a bit of duct tape to make it easier for him to wield the weapon without slicing his own hand open.
5. Spiked Gloves
This is made from 2 gloves glued together creating a single harmless-looking garden glove. If you look closely though, you will find thumbtacks were actually punched through the inside of one of the gloves.
One punch from these makeshift spiked glove will shred skin, and if aimed precisely, it can even sever arteries, resulting in massive blood loss.
6. Crucifix
In 1994, there was a case in Germany when an inmate was found with a wooden crucifix.
It turned out that the crucifix was just a sheath for a bladed weapon. The prison guards let the prisoner walk around the yard holding the wooden crucifix because they thought that he was just practicing his faith, it was a good thing that they caught the man before he actually got to using his weapon. If you see an inmate holding a crucifix while walking in the rec yard then you better keep your distance.
7. Sharpened comb or toothbrush
Plastic combs and toothbrushes may seem harmless, that is unless they are in the hands of a desperate prison inmate. There are many ways that these seemingly harmless items can be turned into deadly weapons; for instance, you can heat up the handle of the toothbrush just enough so you can insert a razor blade in it. Once the plastic hardens, you will have a formidable slashing weapon. You can also use a bit of sandpaper or use a rough patch of concrete to sharpen the handle of the toothbrush to turn it into a makeshift shiv.
8. Plastic Forks
Plastic forks may not do much other than make it easy for you to eat instant ramen, but if you put enough force behind it and it can effectively gouge another person’s eye out. However, give an inmate enough time and a small heat source, he can fashion plastic forks into more formidable weapons.
There are also some stories wherein prisoners would collect plastic forks, and then they would melt and shape them into weapons. Plastics have an incredibly low melting point so an inmate can make use of a lighter to melt the forks and shape them into whatever weapon they like.
9. Lighter shanks
This is also the reason why most jails prohibit smoking. Lighters are made using hard plastics (they need to since the fluid needs to be pressurized), which makes them easy to sharpen to an edge.
10. Knuckle Duster
The last in the list of top 10 homemade weapons to be aware inside a prison or county jail is knuckle duster. Made from illegally obtained rasp with ends coiled together, its handle is padded so that the sharp teeth cannot penetrate the user’s hand.
The ingenuity of prisoners can never be underestimated, especially in the desperate environment of medium and maximum-security prisons. If you are going into prison for whatever reason, you need to know about the different kinds of weapons that inmates usually use so you can keep an eye out for them.
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