How exactly does a grenade work? I've seen in movies they just pull the pin and they blow up....?

Question

but then what is the banana shaped thingy for?

Answer 1

Once the pin is pulled you can hold it for as long as you want as long as you dont let go of the safety lever.  once you pop that safety lever off you have 4 seconds before it blows up.

Answer 2

John McCain eats his bananas with a spoon

Answer 3

The banana shaped thing is the striker. When the pin is pulled, the grenade will not detonate without the striker handle being released. In other words, you could walk around all day with a grenade without the pin in it, as long as that handle is held down. If the handle is not held down, it will fly off the grenade, strike the fuse, and there will be a minor delay before it explodes.

Answer 4

For your sake I hope you never have one in your hand   "banana shaped thingy"  for gods sake !!!!!!

What the above have said is true but for your sake I'll add that you have to throw it as far as you can and get your head down really quick

No fun when one goes off near to you  (personal experience)

Answer 5

The banana shaped thingy is the spoon.  Grenades work in several stages that all happen very quickly.

You first hold the grenade with your hand holding the spoon (the banana shaped thingy) in.  Then pull the pin.  The pin is your first safety.  Once it is out and the spoon is released, the grenade will begin to cook off, meaning explode in the next 3-5 seconds.  Basically once the spoon is released, it allows a striker spring to fall and hit a percussion cap igniting the fuse inside.  Once this fuse burns down, it will ignite the blasting cap which sets off the high explosive inside, which in the case of the M67 is composition B.

What you see in the movies is them pulling the pin and then holding in the spoon.  That ding or click you hear when they throw the grenade is the spoon popping out and the striker hitting the percussion cap.  Whenever they set up "booby traps" in movies where they put a grenade by the door and then pull the pin, they are setting it up so that the spoon is still held to the grenade.  Then when the grenade is disturbed, the spoon falls away and it goes off.

This is actually currently being used with great success in Iraq in ambushing Coalition troops as many insurgents rig houses, cars, animals, etc with things like this.  They are simple, yet effective.

Below, I have included a link to how a basic modern grenade works though they can be both more and less complicated.