In the Cubicle Trenches - Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction

Assert dominion over your desktop. Between the instructions provided in John Austin's book and the key to your company's office supplies cabinet, you need tolerate no threat to the security of your cubicle.

I've long given up the life of cubicle dweller, but that doesn't mean I've forgotten the roots of my working experience. So, it was with great anticipation that I was given a review copy of John Austin's new book, Mini-Weapons of Mass Destruction: Build Implements of Spitball Warfare.

It's a collection of less-than-lethal weapons easily buildable from paper clips, pencils, rubber bands, and plastic eating utensils. Some of the projects appear to be inspired by the stuff in my book Art of the Catapult, but on a much smaller scale, so they're suitable for pissing off Dwight in the next cube, but not really getting Toby involved.

• [kevin]

  I had a project in college where we were to make a toy with pencils, phone books and rubber bands as our only materials. I made a toy pistol that shot pencil darts. It was fun. I wish I had a picture somewhere, I think the gun is in one of many boxes in storage.

• [Brainspore]

  I know this is a curmudgeonly question to ask, but what qualifies these as “Mini-Weapons of Mass Destruction” instead of just ordinary “Mini-Weapons”?

  [*DUCKS TO AVOID ONSLAUGHT OF RUBBER BANDS*]

• [Anonymous]

  I especially like the ping pong shooter.

  http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41CBXLbh8eL.jpg

• [Anonymous]

  Without having read the book, allow me to put my oar in:

  The shoelace blowdart: cut a shoelace off about 1/2 inch above the aglet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aglet) and stick a simple pin from the material end, through the centre of the aglet to create a point. Fuzz out the shoe lace material at the other end to create ‘feathers.’ Use a simple drinking straw as a blow pipe.

  Also, a quick hand crossbow can be made using a short length of square dowel as the handle, a single steel bristle from a street-cleaner brush as a bow and for your arrow you can splice a compass point into a wooden kebab skewer.

  When the lilliputians attack, I for one will be ready.

• [Gilbert Wham]

  Reminds me of the Office Bricolage contests that the most excellent & sadly defunct Bleach Eating Freaks used to run.