Non-explosive Booby Traps

Some of the traps that where used in the Vietnam War by the Vietnamese.

A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm, or surprise a human being or an animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap may be set to act upon trespassers that enter restricted areas, and it can be triggered when the victim performs an action (e.g., opening a door, picking something up, or switching something on).

Non-explosive Booby Traps

The purpose of non-explosive booby traps were to harm soldiers. While explosive booby traps had that same effect, the non-explosive ones were much cheaper to make. The most common form of non-exploding booby trap in Vietnam was the Punji trap. It came in many variations but the basic elements were the same. Each trap consisted of barbed nails or rods hammered into a board.

An exhibition of the different types of booby traps

An exhibition of the different types of booby traps laid all over the Cu Chi site. Notes appeared in the previous caption. Of course, here the traps are all lined up in a row, as this is basically an exhibition. In real life, they were spread at random all over the Cu Chi tunnels site. So many US troops got severely maimed or killed by these traps that they were often very apprehensive of venturing out into the area. In the end, some people say that despite their superior fire power and the fact that most of them would not fit into the guerilla tunnels, the Americans lost the war more due to psychological reasons than due to strategy.