Whoa!! A training "grenade"(?) to make your heart race.

PetesPockets55

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Apr 18, 2013
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A co-worker and I went detecting at a permission of his in the white sugar sand off US1 in Ft. Pierce where there's lots of 4-wheeling going on. (Ft. Pierce is home to a WWII training camp and the modern Navy Seal Museum. Click on this link for info. LINK. )
We went our separate ways at first. I doubled back after an hour or so and noticed him about 50' away. Had my head buried in a hole like an ostrich when I feel someone calling and it was him hollering something that sounds like "grenade". I think my stupid hearing is really distorting things when I realize he did say "Grenade".

We go back to his hole and on the edge of it is this sugar-coated dark object. He said he didn't know what it was at first but his machine read 85-87. (At this point, I'm thinking he's one lucky Duck and needs to buy some lottery tickets .... today.)


BrassTrainingGrenade-InSitu-2.JPG


While I back a little further away he gets a water bottle and dribbles it on the piece. After he can see it more clearly he announces "it is cast" and proceeds to carefully pick it up while I hold my ground. (Someone needs to be a witness if something goes awry.:laughing7:)
He's right of course so we rinse it some more. We realized there were opposing "slits" on each side filled with sand and after more water, we see these slits actually go all the way through. All I can think is that these slits allowed this to be placed on a belt, maybe for training? It weighs 4 lbs and is brass or bronze based on the "yellowish" color showing through the nick in the outer rubber coating (last image).
BrassTrainingGrenade-RinsedOff-Slot-3-Daylght.JPG


Anyways, here are some more images. (Bud doesn't post and said it was ok to share the find.)

BrassTrainingGrenade-RinsedOff-2.JPG

BrassTrainingGrenade-InSitu-Closeup-3.JPG

BrassTrainingGrenade-InSitu-GloveScale-2.JPG
BrassTrainingGrenade-RinsedOff-1.JPG
BrassTrainingGrenade-RinsedOff-4-Base.JPG
BrassTrainingGrenade-RinsedOff-5-Top.JPG

BrassTrainingGrenade-RinsedOff-7-ShinyBrass.JPG

Brass is shown through the soft, pliable rubber coating in the image above.

We're not sure if this might have been some kind of training tool that may have been left behind during the WWII heyday or if it's something modern. Hoping someone here might have some insight to share.

Thanks for looking and adding any insight you have.
 

Upvote 19

Digger RJ

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A co-worker and I went detecting at a permission of his in the white sugar sand off US1 in Ft. Pierce where there's lots of 4-wheeling going on. (Ft. Pierce is home to a WWII training camp and the modern Navy Seal Museum. Click on this link for info. LINK. )
We went our separate ways at first. I doubled back after an hour or so and noticed him about 50' away. Had my head buried in a hole like an ostrich when I feel someone calling and it was him hollering something that sounds like "grenade". I think my stupid hearing is really distorting things when I realize he did say "Grenade".

We go back to his hole and on the edge of it is this sugar-coated dark object. He said he didn't know what it was at first but his machine read 85-87. (At this point, I'm thinking he's one lucky Duck and needs to buy some lottery tickets .... today.)


View attachment 2045208

While I back a little further away he gets a water bottle and dribbles it on the piece. After he can see it more clearly he announces "it is cast" and proceeds to carefully pick it up while I hold my ground. (Someone needs to be a witness if something goes awry.:laughing7:)
He's right of course so we rinse it some more. We realized there were opposing "slits" on each side filled with sand and after more water, we see these slits actually go all the way through. All I can think is that these slits allowed this to be placed on a belt, maybe for training? It weighs 4 lbs and is brass or bronze based on the "yellowish" color showing through the nick in the outer rubber coating (last image).
View attachment 2045247

Anyways, here are some more images. (Bud doesn't post and said it was ok to share the find.)

View attachment 2045202
View attachment 2045248
View attachment 2045249 View attachment 2045250 View attachment 2045251 View attachment 2045252
View attachment 2045253
Brass is shown through the soft, pliable rubber coating in the image above.

We're not sure if this might have been some kind of training tool that may have been left behind during the WWII heyday or if it's something modern. Hoping someone here might have some insight to share.

Thanks for looking and adding any insight you have.
Wow!! Think My heart would skip a couple beats on that too!! Just the thought of a real grenade would be a scary find😳
 

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PetesPockets55

PetesPockets55

Bronze Member
Apr 18, 2013
1,635
2,880
Indian River Co., Fl
Detector(s) used
AT MAX & Carrot, Nokta Pulse Dice (:
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Wow!! Think My heart would skip a couple beats on that too!! Just the thought of a real grenade would be a scary find😳
Especially when he noticed there was no longer a pin in it and before he realized it was cast.

It was odd because it took about 30 seconds for the caution to completely wear off even after we knew it was safe. Kind of like waiting for the lightning to strike nearby when you're out in a storm!!
 

Red-Coat

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Dec 23, 2019
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No wonder your heart raced, but it's not a (practice/training) grenade. It's a diving belt weight with a rubberised coating. You can get them in a number of novelty shapes, including hand grenades. Here's an auction listing for a similar one:

Diving Weight.jpg

Here's another that someone found at a fleamarket and posted on a militaria forum (also wrongly believing it to be a practice grenade) that shows the form better:

Diving Weight2.jpg Diving Weight3.jpg
 

Last edited:

Digger RJ

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Especially when he noticed there was no longer a pin in it and before he realized it was cast.

It was odd because it took about 30 seconds for the caution to completely wear off even after we knew it was safe. Kind of like waiting for the lightning to strike nearby when you're out in a storm!!
Whoaaaaa!!! Definitely a not forgotten story😁
 

Sandog

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Nov 27, 2017
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A co-worker and I went detecting at a permission of his in the white sugar sand off US1 in Ft. Pierce where there's lots of 4-wheeling going on. (Ft. Pierce is home to a WWII training camp and the modern Navy Seal Museum. Click on this link for info. LINK. )
We went our separate ways at first. I doubled back after an hour or so and noticed him about 50' away. Had my head buried in a hole like an ostrich when I feel someone calling and it was him hollering something that sounds like "grenade". I think my stupid hearing is really distorting things when I realize he did say "Grenade".

We go back to his hole and on the edge of it is this sugar-coated dark object. He said he didn't know what it was at first but his machine read 85-87. (At this point, I'm thinking he's one lucky Duck and needs to buy some lottery tickets .... today.)


View attachment 2045208

While I back a little further away he gets a water bottle and dribbles it on the piece. After he can see it more clearly he announces "it is cast" and proceeds to carefully pick it up while I hold my ground. (Someone needs to be a witness if something goes awry.:laughing7:)
He's right of course so we rinse it some more. We realized there were opposing "slits" on each side filled with sand and after more water, we see these slits actually go all the way through. All I can think is that these slits allowed this to be placed on a belt, maybe for training? It weighs 4 lbs and is brass or bronze based on the "yellowish" color showing through the nick in the outer rubber coating (last image).
View attachment 2045247

Anyways, here are some more images. (Bud doesn't post and said it was ok to share the find.)

View attachment 2045202
View attachment 2045248
View attachment 2045249 View attachment 2045250 View attachment 2045251 View attachment 2045252
View attachment 2045253
Brass is shown through the soft, pliable rubber coating in the image above.

We're not sure if this might have been some kind of training tool that may have been left behind during the WWII heyday or if it's something modern. Hoping someone here might have some insight to share.

Thanks for looking and adding any insight you have.
Glad it worked out ok. Know that feeling, Very different from when you find a coin, jewelry, or a great artifact. Here's how mine ended up:
Explosive03.png
Explosive01.png
Explosive02.png
 

Gare

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NICE FIND !!! Make sure you wear EAR PLUGS if you try and DISS ARM IT LOL
 

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PetesPockets55

PetesPockets55

Bronze Member
Apr 18, 2013
1,635
2,880
Indian River Co., Fl
Detector(s) used
AT MAX & Carrot, Nokta Pulse Dice (:
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All Treasure Hunting
Thanks everyone for chiming in.

Special thanks to Redcoat for that info, images, and links. I was thinking it possibly went on a dive belt as well but couldn't figure out why it was a mile from the beach unless it was used for training in these sand dunes, far from the beach. (My imagination let me visualize navy seal training in WWII!)
BrassTrainingGrenade-Insitu-Site-1-Arrow.jpg


Maybe it was in one of the 4-wheelers using these trails and bounced out?
US1 is on the other side of that rise.

ps. Sanddog, glad yours turned out well. I remember one in the past year or so making the news. Was yours last year? (Avalon Park?)
 

giuhalftrack

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Jul 13, 2017
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this is very cool !!! unfortunately here in Italy a lot of them are uxo or never used
 

Sandog

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Nov 27, 2017
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Treasure coast
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Thanks everyone for chiming in.

Special thanks to Redcoat for that info, images, and links. I was thinking it possibly went on a dive belt as well but couldn't figure out why it was a mile from the beach unless it was used for training in these sand dunes, far from the beach. (My imagination let me visualize navy seal training in WWII!)
View attachment 2045407

Maybe it was in one of the 4-wheelers using these trails and bounced out?
US1 is on the other side of that rise.

ps. Sanddog, glad yours turned out well. I remember one in the past year or so making the news. Was yours last year? (Avalon Park?)
No, found just a little south of South Jetty Park, Ft. Pierce. April 11 this year. See the Legend threads in the Nokta/Makro Forum.
 

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