Talk:Caltrop

A discussion from User talk:CyborgTosser:

Hello, CyborgTosser. Noticed your inclusion of "jack rock" as a synonym for caltrop. This puzzled me at first, as I haven't heard this term before, and couldn't find it in any of my dictionatires. Further, I was initially unable to find any Google references that didn't derive from the article. However, I did eventually find CODE OF ORDINANCES CITY OF WASHINGTON, ILLINOIS. These are cirty ordinances for a small town in Illinois. Thus, the term is possibly a local Illinois usage? At present the description makes it appear as if "jack rock" is a common or widely known synonym, which I don't believe is correct. I wondered if you had any additional information on the distribution of this usage so we could clarify the point? Securiger 01:36, 12 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I found something here: [1] Not excatly the same thing, but along the same lines. I know it's not just a local Illinois thing. I didn't grow up in Illinois and it's the only word I've heard to describe such an item in modern usage. I don't know where I first heard it, but when I mention it to other people, they seem to know what I'm talking about. As a side note, I've always thought of "caltrop" having a military (and usually somewhat archaic) connotation, whereas "jack rock" describes something a criminal might put in the road to slow down police. CyborgTosser 06:35, 18 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

A related term seems to be "star nails", although it doesn't seem to be exactly the same thing. Anyone know? CyborgTosser 06:42, 18 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

"Star nails" are smaller caltrops intended to puncture a vehicle's tires. --Carnildo 07:31, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I added a bit about it being used in labor disputes as well. I know that there are definte POV concerns here. I do remember hearing about jack rocks during the catepillar strike - that they seemed to be a pretty widespread problem. I also seem to remember that not only were tires getting punctured by these devices, but that people were also getting hurt by stepping on them, and that one of the people injured was a reporter. I want to tread lightly here, but if anyone has a better way of exploring this that is more netural than feel free to make changes.
JesseG 21:11, 10 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Dubious addition

Caltrops are used inside some atomic bombs to center the uranium or plutonium "pit" inside the spherical tamper. The air gap allows the tamper more time to accelerate, which compresses the pit more tightly and leads to more efficient fission.

I find this to be very unlikely -- for something as highly-engineered as an atom bomb, I'd think they'd use something purpose-built. --Carnildo 05:06, 8 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

It may me that "caltrop" is just the name the engineers have given to a similarly-shaped , similarly-used part. The description of the air-gap is a fact, so there must be some kind of support for the pit (core).

Atlant 12:45, 8 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Questioning synonyms

I have never heard of a caltrop being refered to as a dragon's tooth other than the tenuous functional similarity already mentioned in the current article, will the editor who added it please provide a citation. I have deleted it in the meantime.

I was surprised not to find a reference to nail star - that is quite a descriptive name. However, is it really justified?

Jackrock seems prety obscure. However, while discounting web-pages that obviously originate from Wikipedia, in addition to CyborgTosser's reference above[2] I did find a reference to a jackrock as a caltrop here and an authorative looking reference here (Sec. 21-1.4). Gaius Cornelius 17:04, 13 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]