TM 31-210 Improvised Munitions Handbook
The TM 31-210 Improvised Munitions Handbook is a 256-page United States Army technical manual released in 1969 for the U.S. Army Special Forces. It explains why, in unconventional warfare, it may be necessary to improvise weapons from readily available materials when conventional munitions are not feasible or safe to use. The manual is now declassified and publicly available in digital and print form.
The handbook covers broad, high-level guidance on improvised weapons rather than providing step-by-step construction details. It describes various general components and concepts that could be used to create improvised devices, such as triggers, measuring tools, power sources, and makeshift protective barriers. It ends with appendices that briefly discuss the properties of some primary and secondary explosives.
Historically, the manual has drawn media attention when it was seized or found in the possession of individuals suspected of planning guerrilla or terrorist activities. Some weapons described in the manual have been used in conflicts against U.S. troops. It has appeared in abandoned safe houses linked to Islamist groups in places like Afghanistan, and it is referenced in security-related and counterterrorism scholarly work.
In popular culture, the manual is referenced as an Easter egg in the 1995 animated film Toy Story, where a scene shows a document titled "TM 31-210 Improvised Interrogation Handbook," a nod to the real manual.
The public availability of TM 31-210 has raised concerns about how easily information on weapon-making can be accessed.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 09:42 (CET).