How long does a grenade last?
 

I just watched a video clip of a guy threatening to kill two people via grenade. Before even making demands, he pulls out the pin. The police wait several hours and eventually meet his demands. Later, the issue is resolved and the man is caught, but that's not important. I've always thought that grenades have a short fuse; once someone pulls the pin, the grenade will explode shortly thereafter. Why didn't the grenade detonate?

It could have been a dud, or one that was very old and the timer mechanism was faulty. Furthermore, explosives that are designed to strike at a greatly postponed state are triggered via a timer, hence the time bomb. But in this case, I don't think I've come across through my findings of a grenade that you can change the detonation time for hours, but of course, my name isn't Signit, nor Romanenko.

The grenades fuse doesn't start to burn until the spoon(the metal dealie the side of the grenade, looks like a spoon handle :P) on the grenade is released, the guy was probably holding onto the grenade very tightly. So it ending and all, he probably just shoved the pin back in. Safe again.

Oh, grenade times vary, you buy different kinds that go off at long or short lengths.

Either a dud or he held the safety until the whole time. As soon as you let go of that safety, the fuse starts. Fuse is usually 4 to 5 seconds.

seconds late :(

What he said. That's why it didn't go off, however, what DID become of the grenade? Any word on that?

No. The video only showed the police grabbing him and the narrator did not expand on the situation except to talk about the emotional state of the hostages. I would assume that the grenade ended up in some kind of evidence locker.

It had to be a dud. Or it was one of those grenades that go off after a while.

Ok, lets think about this for a bit. Let's say that in some crazy world, pulling the pin does start the fuse. Do you think there is a fuse is big enough to fit into the grenade to last that long? If it was a dud, the police probably wouldn't have sat around negotiating it after he pulled the pin, rather just tackling him.
---
I do however wonder though, if the grenade was a dud, depending on how the police arrested him. I know I wouldn't want to attempt to tackle a person holding onto the grenade spoon without a pin, in case he drops it and all.

Why didn't the SWAT team come in and sniper his ass.

Jack Bauer hacked into the grenade and prevented it from exploding. Why lie.

::goes back to his vehicle and starts crying::

I'm assuming he was around the hostages, so if it was a real grenade, and he was holding onto the safety, then he'd just drop it and blow up everyone :)

Does no one here know how a grenade works? The pin is only there to keep the lever in place. Without the pin, the lever falls off and the grenade's fuse is activated. If you pull the pin on a grenade, you can hold it in your hands for 200000 years and have it not go off as long as your hand prevents the lever from falling off. Here's a picture:

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/grenade-delay.gif

Maybe if you read all the posts you'd see that some of us do know how it works.

I believe the event took place in Mexico, so S.W.A.T. wouldn't have really had a chance to do anything.

Oh, I just skimmed the thread and everyone was saying it was a dud. =\ Must've missed your post.

I was kinda a dick there, sorry, just in a bad mood, I also skim posts too.
--
So how did they police take down this guy anyways? I'm curious >_>.

You do know that other countries have Special Weapons and Tactics teams, right?