Grenade

A homemade Nerf dart grenade.

A grenade is a hand-held weapon designed to "explode" when it impacts the floor. Homemade versions of this are very simple to make and can be created through various methods.

They may also be mass-produced commercial devices such as the now-discontinued Lanard Scatter Blast, or more recent devices originally designed for other ammo types.

Methods

One method of creating a grenade uses Streamline Darts and a rubber band. Hold the darts together and put a rubber band at the neck of the darts, just below the dart heads. When the user throws the grenade, it should strike the ground on the tips, causing the rubber band to roll off and the darts to fly everywhere, confusing enemies. This can be also altered slightly to create a floor mine. A string can be tied around the bottom of the grenade for long term carrying. 

Another method is using Whistler or Micro Darts and putting the rubber band on the back of the dart. The blast radius is the same.

Sometimes the rubber band does not come off when the grenade impacts the ground. The best possible way to prevent this is to tie the rubber band at the very edge or the very front of the darts. This will ensure that the rubber band comes off.

Effectiveness

The effectiveness of the rubber band grenade is dependent on how it is made. The tighter the band clasps the tips, the larger the blast radius, but in exchange the darts are damaged more and more likely to not burst if too tightly gripped. The more darts that are used, the more coverage and opportunity for stronger rubber bands, but in exchange the grenade tends to burst prematurely and is difficult carry due to size. In general the preferred balance tends to be ten to fifteen darts resulting in a 2.5 ft. blast radius; this provides about one dart per square foot respectively. Some may consider this coverage relatively low, but in the proper hands this can be sufficient when thrown around cover or in close quarters.

The darts used in making a grenade may be damaged due to the rubber band wrapped around the dart. Therefore, it is advised that users separate the darts they wish to use for the grenade and darts they wish to use for their Nerf blasters.

Another problem with grenades is that they provide an enemy with additional ammunition if it is unsuccessful at hitting enemies. Many Nerfers address this problem by using shredded darts from their jammed blasters or cutting in slits in the darts that basically sabotage the opponent's blaster with jams, bad shots, or misfires if they are used. Another remedy for this is to utilize obsolete dart types (Streamline, Whistler, etc.) that simply will not function in more recently released blaster models.

Trivia

• Alternatives to dart grenades include Ballistic Balls, N-Strike Modulus stunners, Z-Bombs, or a number of Nerf Sports products. In Humans vs. Zombies battles, another alternative is simply to throw balled-up socks.