Why does dynamite sweat and why does it make it more dangerous when most explosives become more reactive as they dry?
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Fun side connection, but for the most part, dynamite “sweating” and crystalizing the nitroglycerin on the outside of the sticks actually _doesn’t_ make it more reactive, as the leaching nitroglycerin degrades extremely quickly. The “sweating” you’re referring to doesn’t make it “wet”, per se, but comes out of the sticks as a slime that quickly dries, crystalizes, and degrades. If you’re down for a quick explainer in the middle of a _three-hour video essay about a horror survival game_, SovietWomble provided [some wild research into the dangers of old dynamite](https://youtu.be/PUWg905fGTA?t=6027) in his essay on The Forest.
Simple: Dynamite is just a media soaked in Nitroglycerin. (the ‘BOOM’ part)
Nitro is a liquid, a very unstable and dangerous liquid.
Dynamite is just a matrix of absorbent and stabilizer that contains the nitro. It makes Nitro ‘safer’.
Over time, the Nitro will sweat out of the matrix, becoming unstable again.
If it isn’t kept at a low temperature, nitroglycerin will leach out of the dynamite.
There’s a scene in Lost where Dr. Arzt explains this pretty accurately, right before he explodes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4a-X-basC4
[There is an article from an avid caver trying to sort fact from fiction on this very topic.](http://www.vegasunderworld.com/article-dynamite.html). This individual claims with good evidence that
it’s actually not as dangerous as people think, obviously you shouldn’t mess around with sweating dynamite but apparently the nitroglycerin actually breaks down very rapidly and becomes inert.
The article states:
>In search of a scientific explanation, I contacted a friend who is a Pharm D (Doctor of Pharmacy) and asked him about the explosive qualities of Nitroglycerin. He stated that in its purest medical form, Nitroglycerin only has a shelf life of about 6 months. Even if stored properly, at the end of 6 months, it would have a potency of less than 80% and this degradation was consistent.
He also did extensive research and was unable to find ANY recent articles citing death or injury from handling old dynamite and another source I have yet to find stated a government agency keeps track of this type of injury and any deaths and the last time one reported was over 60 years ago.
So yeah, apparently it’s not to be messed with but not the ticking time bomb people think.
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