I recently visited a training venue and noticed that the training grenade bodies being used were chipped pitted and most of the original bluing was worn off. The thread at the top of the grenade body was so worn I wondered how many times had this particular training body been used and how many more times it would be used before something went horribly wrong.

Tactical team training environments are fast and furious places where equipment and personnel are pushed to the limits, and it needs to be this way! Many police tactical teams train with sound and flash grenades (stun-grenades) and for this training they mostly use ‘training grenades’. Tactical team members participating in this style of training must always wear hearing and eye protection. Training for high risk work demands a certain amount of risk management to be used in training. Training grenades usually rely on a ‘re-usable’ training metal grenade body and less expensive, less explosive training fuse. This assists in making training affordable and still realistic.

Affordable and realistic training is essential for this style of tactical training however safety is also paramount. Although a ‘training’ fuse has less explosive charge it still contains explosive and it still explodes thus creating a ‘shock-wave’ which contains heat and energy. This shock wave travels through the grenade training body and is usually vented by porting holes drilled through the grenade body. Even though ‘training’ grenade bodies are designed to vent the explosive effects of the training fuse a certain amount of shock does go through the metal.

Metal fatigue is something that needs to be seriously considered and something that can easily be managed. When you consider that not only does the training body suffer the forces of the internal explosion but also the impact of hitting concrete floors or walls in the training venue then we need to consider what is the safe training life expectancy of the training grenade body. Most grenade manufacturers have a maximum number of recommended uses before the training body should be discarded but how do you manage this?

1. Follow manufacturer’s guidelines.
2. Physically inspect grenade training bodies for damage.
3. Serialise and number your training grenade bodies.
4. Record the date of acquisition.
5. Record the training days the training bodies are used.

Train safe and train hard, but be aware of the limitations of your equipment. Don’t let a training grenade become a fragmentation grenade! Remember nothing lasts forever!

Stay Safe
John Hoffman
Operations Manager