Bullet Points: Four ways to use the Enola Gaye EG18X Smoke Grenade

Smoke grenades are most often something associated with the military for mark landing zones and to obscure troop movement (or fireworks). We recently received some Enola Gaye EG18X smoke grenades to play with and thought we'd sort out some other uses for them.

It's only been the last ten years or so smoke grenades were readily available to the civilian population. The only common source for them were boat stores and they were damned expensive (plus they would start fires, though that's the same with most “smokes”). Those were supposed to be for marine signalling.

These modern pyrotechnics provide some options. Here some of the things we've been doing with the Enola Gaye EG18X.

Bullet Points: Four ways to use the Enola Gaye EG18X Smoke Grenade

1 . Signalling

Videos courtesy of Whiskey Delta Gulf

Much like in the military, smoke grenades are a great way to tell helos where to land. Colorful smoke is easy to spot from the air when used in the open. We set up a scenario where someone had engine trouble with his jeep while out on some fire roads during a hunting excursion. He was far and away from any cellphone signal, and forgot to tell people where he was going before leaving.

He hears a Search & Rescue bird in the distance and produces an orange EG18X to signal distress to the chopper pilot. He pops the top off, pulls the ring and smoke is quickly jutting out the top in great quantities. He waves it back and forth before tossing it on the ground and continuing to wave his hands. We take a moment to wish there was some sort of them music for him. If the pilot is unable or unwilling to land they can at least radio the location back to a first responder or other emergency service. While the smoke grenade does get warm, it will not burn you as long as you don't make direct contact with the end where the smoke issues out.

Happily, it doesn't appear to scorch the earth like some of the older ones we've seen.

2. Photography

Sure a picture of a blue jeep on a bridge in the woods looks cool, but some special effects turn this picture up to eleven.

We popped a blue smoke grenade on the bridge for the jeep to drive through providing an awesome image (ou can check out some other great pictures taken with smoke grenades here). Properly used a smoke grenade like this can really set your picture apart. Try using matching and contrasting colors. Bring the old color wheel from art class if you need to.

3. Simulating A Fire

We used one of the new black EG18X's to simulate a fire in a derelict building. The black smoke quickly fills the space, making it hard to see where you are going. This would be a great safe trainer for firefighters, or could be used to increase the stress level during MOUT or killhouse training. Hell, toss it in the engine compartment of a scrap vehicle on the range to simulate a car fire during a VCQB course. That would amp up the adrenaline, especially if there are several old cars in close proximity with the windows down.

4. Fun

Sometimes you just don't need a reason.

You can pick up the Enola Gaye smoke grenades in Canada from Rocket Fireworks or in the States from Enola Gaye or most paintball and airsoft fields or stores.