In this list of true prison stories, you'll learn how DIY weapon creativity is off the charts behind bars. Inmates make everything from flamethrowers to fully-functioning crossbows. Plus, there's the usual array of shivs, shanks, knives, and blades - all made out of ordinary items you can buy in the commissary or get brought in for you.
Here are 17 of the most creative and brutal weapons that have ever been made by prison inmates. Some facilitated escapes, others never got a chance to whack anyone in the face before they were sniffed out. But, they're all examples of how having a lot of time on your hands and a lot of enemies can lead to some disturbingly innovative means of protection.
Bedpost Shotgun
One of a number of homemade weapons retrieved from German prisons, this ad-hoc shotgun was made from iron bedposts, used gunpowder made of lead from curtain tape and match-heads, and was fired by AA batteries and a broken light bulb.
On May 21, 1984, two inmates used it to take a guard hostage, shoot through a bullet-proof glass, bust out of jail and steal a car.
Toothbrush Crossbow
A Canadian prisoner in solitary used his time to make one of the most creative and complicated prison weapons in history. He built a full-fledged crossbow, using “10 toothbrushes, a cigarette lighter, a section of ballpoint pen casing, a piece of wire coat hanger, a section of a pair of aluminum cafeteria tongs, assorted electrical components, pieces of yellow rubber gloves, some Kleenex, a piece of string, and a few screws.”
The bolts were made of tightly packed toilet paper and aluminum foil – and they could be fired as far as 40 feet. The weapon doesn’t appear to have ever been used, and was confiscated and put on display.
Homemade Bomb
Convicted murderer Peter Saunders was held at maximum-security Stateville Correctional Center. Saunders built a fire bomb out of a battery, electrical wires and ground up match heads in a Magic Marker, then sent it in a hollowed-out book to Federal judge Blanche Manning. The bomb was discovered and disarmed long before it got there.
Wooden Post Razor Whip
Made of a simple wooden post, a shoelace, and razor blades, this horrifying homemade weapon was seized from a prisoner in Hamburg in the '90s.
Cardboard Pistol
Making fake guns in prison is a tradition as old as John Dillinger’s wooden pistol. But unlike when Dillinger made his crude toy, modern prisoners have access to modern woodworking equipment and tools.
And so we have realistic looking fakes like this intricately carved “pistol” made of blackened, glued cardboard. It was never used.
Chairleg Nunchucks
St. Louis Workhouse inmate Lorenzo Pollard fought off a dozen armed guards and facilitated his escape using nunchucks he made out of two chair legs and a bedsheet. He broke through a window, squeezed through a homemade escape hatch and scaled two razor-wire walls, all while swinging his custom weapon around.
He was recaptured quickly after his escape.