Guerrilla forces, particularly in jungle areas, often use booby traps that do not use explosives but are equally effective as casualty producers. All the devices are improvised from locally available materials-nails, bamboo, ropes, vines, stones, logs, and rubber-to serve the conditions that prevail at that particular time and place. The devices discussed in this section have been encountered on many occasions, but variations of these devices should be expected.

PUNJI STAKES. Punji stakes are needle-sharp bamboo spikes, sometimes barbed or fire-hardened, used to injure unsuspecting persons who step or fall on them. The pointed ends are often treated with excrement or poison so the wounds become infected or even cause death. Punji stakes are placed in the ground so they protrude just enough to inflict injury. They are often used on prospective landing zones to wound personnel as they jump from a helicopter to the ground. Punji sticks are sometimes used along paths to hamper movement. Quite often they are placed on the banks of gullies and streams where troops are likely to jump from one side to the other. They are also used along roads at the entrances to villages or at ambush sites.

FOOT TRAPS. These are small pits combined with spike board plates or punji stakes that are placed along roads, paths, and trails or wherever foot traffic is likely. Spike board foot traps are small pits-the bottoms of which are lined with boards through which spikes have been driven. The top of the pit is camouflaged. A person stepping on the camouflage material falls through and impales his foot on the spikes. The pits are usually about 18 inches square and 12 inches deep. The spikes used in these devices vary greatly, depending on what is available. Long nails, unimproved or sharpened or barbed, are the type most commonly used. Heavy gauge wire and metal rods, such as welding rods, have also been used. The spikes are driven through small lengths of board and placed on the ground in dense grass and undergrowth. Stepping on one of the devices causes a serious foot wound requiring evacuation of the victim.

DEADFALLS. Various devices are suspended in the dense foliage above jungle paths and trails, designed to fall or swing in an arc so as to strike intended victims as they pass below. They are released when unwary victims step on or strike with their foot a trip wire stretched across the path. Some of the devices used include the mace (a spike-studded log), the spike ball (a concrete or mortar ball into which spikes have been cast), and other deadfalls equipped with spears or spikes.