In the same book, Benson continues to state that he participated in the Army's Tank Commander school, something reserved for a senior enlisted soldier (E-6, SSG). In a rare interview with Salon magazine, he mentioned that he '.learned about man traps while serving as an agricultural specialist in rural Southeast Asia ' In the narrative of another book Homemade C4 - A Recipe for Survival Benson mentions that he had fired a M72 LAW rocket while at Fort Benning, Georgia, home of the US Army Infantry. In the narrative of his book Bull's Eye: Crossbow, Benson mentions that he at one time worked as a firearms dealer in Rhodesia. (In his book Urban Survival he recounts some of his father's experiences growing up in Germany after World War I.)īenson has travelled extensively and has had no settled career. As of 1999, he lived '.on nine acres in southern Idaho with his pet skunks and his wife and 100-plus guns of varying caliber.' He was apparently the son of a German immigrant. He was reportedly born in Indiana and was raised on a farm where dynamite was used for utilitarian purposes. His real name has not been revealed publicly.

It requires no special utensils, reference books or training.Benson has revealed very few details of his background and personal life. Ragnar's recipe for homemade C-4 calls for just three ingredients, all legal, common and inexpensive. But, as with many of the goodies survivors hunger for, C-4 is not legally available to civilians and is hard to come by on the black market. For blowing bridges, shattering steel and derailing tanks, they need C-4. Serious survivors know that the day may come when they need something more powerful than commercial dynamite or common improvised explosives. It requires no special utensils, reference books or training.

Homemade C-4 by Ragnar Benson