Thread by @PublicNewSense1

Random musing, unrelated to any current events:

If one were trying to fortify makeshift barricades from hostile forces on foot or wheels, a key design would be trying to make it more difficult to roll thru/dismantle them to at least buy egress time. 1/🧵

Sand makes things slippery for wheels. If barricade is strong enough to withstand accidental collision, this could cause problems for bikes or light vehicles, if spread for at *least* a yard or 2 outside the barricade. Glass shards/nails/etc can be mixed to damage tires 2/🧵

Dish soap (when not mixed with sand), can make for a slippery surface hard to navigate on foot underneath or behind a barricade. This is time sensitive - if left too long it would become sticky, which is a less effective hindrance 3/🧵

If a barricade is effectively blocked from vehicular destruction, tape/clingwrap can be wrapped stickyside out btwn poles. W/ the right tools and footing this is pretty quickly removed, but sometimes can really demoralize those trying to breach. Bonus points for 2sided tape 4/🧵

Boobytraps sound like a good idea, but can be a liability if not everyone is aware of them (and if they are, ops probably are too). Better to work on a more obviously fortified barrier to buy a couple extra minutes than to risk an 'unexpected gotcha' harming a comrade. End/🧵

Additional note: the "razorwire between two secured & fenced concrete barriers" paradigm used by the state is incredibly effective for a number of reasons, although pretty unrealistic to build on the fly unless you have the funding & resources of a genocidal colonial state

There's also the consideration of building tall barricades designed to collapse on anything that would try to breach... this is a huge liability for accidental knicks/weather. Much better to use the same materials to build short&deep to require several bulldozer loads to destroy

A barrier that screams "i will fall thru your windshield if you try to push thru me" would buy a lot more time/require a lot more effort to dismantle, but IMO is not worth the general risk of harm it poses. Depending on the situation it *might* be a decent tactic, but unlikely