I must be a moron for writing this... over to the chemtrail debunkers...

originally posted by: Rob48
Looks like the company is still around, just not at the same address, and still making extinguishers.

abc-d.com...

Knock Out S.A.
Country:
France
Address:
1 R Yvan Pavlov
City:
Le Blanc Mesnil
Postal Code:
93150
Phone:
+33 (0)1 49 39 46 59
Fax:
+33 (0)1 49 39 46 54

About Knock Out S.A.

Producteur en France: Extincteurs.


Worth a phone call?

Cricket Rob... where the heck did you get that?... I searched high and low???

Going to call them now and let you all know afterwards.

Kindest respects

Rodinus

Ah yes. The decades that gave us thalidomide and DDT. A great era in chemical history. reply to: Rodinus

originally posted by: Rodinus
Ho hum… Ok, I told a white lie and told everyone that I would be hibernating for the Summer period…

However, Last weekend Rod Jr came scooting home after a day out with his mates looking for a den in the local forests with a rather peculiar find… So I just thought that I had to share this with you all.

How Rod Jr found the object :

For the past couple of weeks Rod Jr and his gang of best friends have made a den in a forest not far from where we live : smack bang in a very rural area of the center of France.

After being kicked out of their last den by a gang of Gypsies, they managed to find an old abandoned shack about 3 Km further and deeper into the forest.

From What Rod Jr has recalled, this is a very old shack that probably belonged to a poacher as many rusty traps, nooses and other illegal hunting material were found inside.

After having a good root around the guys came across this :

The object is apparently made out of plastic and length is roughly 40 cms... width at the top is 25cm with a circumference of 5 cms.

A screw cap at the end can be unscrewed in order to reveal an off white/silvery compacted powder substance… which of course the boys not knowing any better unscrewed with bare hands and had a good peek….

Cap unscrewed to reveal white silvery compacy powder :

Rod Jr brought this object home and said DAAAAAAAADDD ???? we found this… what is it ???

Panic stations of course as quite a dodgy looking thing with an extremely old name and telephone number that does not exist since the 60s…

I snapped on the old surgical rubber gloves and face mask… told Rod Jr to throw away the rucksack in which the object was carried and go and take a shower and had a further look…

I have researched far and wide concerning the name of the company KNOCK-OUT and the only information that I could possibly find was a university article naming this product as a pesticide used for crop spraying…

So… I went one step further and went to see my poo spreading farmer neigbour… you can find out more about him in my thread history…
This is what he had to say :

He is retired now… BUT… during the 50s and 60s was in the French air force as an aircraft engineer... From what he can remember this object was applied to the air outtake of light aircraft and used during thunderstorms in order to make the size of hailstones smaller... the powder used is what is called siver nitrate.

He recalls that during these times these trails could be seen in the skies...

Something similar is used apparently nowadays over here in France in the rich Bordeaux wine growing area to protect vineyards from hailstones (although my in-laws have vineyards in the center of france and have never used Silver Nitrate)

So... Debunkers... believe this story or not?... oHHHH but then again... not your country so why should you be arsed to make a contribution?

Looking forward to anyone who can come up with another explanation...

Kindest respects

Rodinus

I was a farm boy in the 50's and remember some people from the government came to our farm and wanted the OK to seed the air with this test material to see if it would cause the clouds to give us rain. It worked, but it was costly.

For the little rain it would also contain the material that was used in the drops of water.
Mother nature works just fine we said.

originally posted by: Rodinus

originally posted by: Rob48
Looks like the company is still around, just not at the same address, and still making extinguishers.

abc-d.com...

Knock Out S.A.
Country:
France
Address:
1 R Yvan Pavlov
City:
Le Blanc Mesnil
Postal Code:
93150
Phone:
+33 (0)1 49 39 46 59
Fax:
+33 (0)1 49 39 46 54

About Knock Out S.A.

Producteur en France: Extincteurs.


Worth a phone call?

Cricket Rob... where the heck did you get that?... I searched high and low???

Going to call them now and let you all know afterwards.

Kindest respects

Rodinus

Just called the company that you quoted Rob right now.

Apparently this product is indeed an extinguisher which was attached to light airplanes.

However, she half flipped out when I gave her the details as she has NOOOO idea what is inside the container as the container dates back to the 50s.

First thing she asked of course was... does anyone suffer from rashes, burns or breathing problems etc...

When I told her of the precautions we had made and the fact that the container had gone off to the Pompiers she seemed quite relieved.

Thanks for everyones help on this one.

Case solved.

Kindest respects

Rodinus

a reply to: Rodinus

…still used to reduce the size of hailstones over Vineyards in the richer wine areas…

Ahhh, no grape juice before its time.

The silver in that container is valuable and recoverable.

Silver nitrate is a chemical reagent and is considered mildly a heavy metal.
Silver nitrate is a poisonous substance. Avoid dusts, and heating.
Silver nitrate will stain about anything it comes in contact with; stains will darken under light.
99% of laboratory uses for silver nitrate is for a silver nitrate solution, silver nitrate + water.
Silver nitrate should never be mixed with or allowed contact to: ammonia, ethyl-alcohol, organic-acids, organic-gases.
When handling silver nitrate, always wear resistant gloves, protective clothing, and face shielding.
Silver Nitrate is an environmental pollutant in that it ceases microbial growth in septic and waste water treatment facilities.
Waste silver nitrate should not be discarded down a drain, recycle if possible, or mix with table salt and water before emptying into a drain.
Store in a dark, damp-free, cool area.
Read MSDS for more information~any user should have a knowledgeable understanding and experience handling silver nitrate or any lab-chemical.

Silver Nitrate

Hope no nasty symptoms show up

a reply to: Rodinus

So from what you say Rod, you no longer have any of this material to test? So we're left with the fire extinguisher company to tell us what is in the container? I would also take a look at that shack and the woods surrounding it. There could be other stuff out there. Do you imagine a kid from that timeframe hid this? What would a game poacher want with it?

Yeah like twenty years down the road???a reply to: mrthumpy

a reply to: Rodinus

I need good search skills for my day job as a fact checker!

As for the name of it, your French skills are probably better than mine.

"Balai diffuseur" = what? As far as I recall, balai means brush or broom, but that doesn't make much sense.

Diffuser brush?

Googling "balai diffuseur" brings up only a handful of hits. The one on this page looks to be some kind of deodoriser or air freshener spray? rouencomputer.com...



Edit: ok, I see the mystery is sort-of solved. Dry powder extinguishers usually consist of pretty inert chemicals so you should be fine!

Case solved? What was the chemical in the container? . Why was she originally distressed? You're okay to leave it at that? a reply to: Rodinus

a reply to: AutumnWitch657

If it was a fire extinguisher then it won't be anything very toxic. Could even just be plain old bicarbonate of soda.

Sodium bicarbonate was the original dry powder extinguisher. It breaks down to produce CO₂ which extinguishes the fire. Safe and effective!

There is nothing to suggest the container had silver nitrate in it and it more than likely did not based on the uses for that chemical. a reply to: intrptr

originally posted by: AutumnWitch657
There is nothing to suggest the container had silver nitrate in it and it more than likely did not based on the uses for that chemical. a reply to: intrptr

Yes, if it was silver nitrate then anyone who touched the powder would have black stains on their skin. Silver iodide also stains nicely.

I have four years of chem lab experience, so trust me on that.

originally posted by: Rob48
a reply to: Rodinus

I need good search skills for my day job as a fact checker!

As for the name of it, your French skills are probably better than mine.

"Balai diffuseur" = what? As far as I recall, balai means brush or broom, but that doesn't make much sense.

Diffuser brush?

Googling "balai diffuseur" brings up only a handful of hits. The one on this page looks to be some kind of deodoriser or air freshener spray? rouencomputer.com...



Edit: ok, I see the mystery is sort-of solved. Dry powder extinguishers usually consist of pretty inert chemicals so you should be fine!

Balai diffuseur basically means spreading broom if literally translated.... so to be brushed around in the air...

Being the scientific that I am and having a little of that white powder kept aside in a small glass bottle, I have just added some vinegar to it... guess what?... same effects as bicarbonate of soda... all foamed up...

Case seems to be solved for me

Kindest respects

Rodinus

originally posted by: AutumnWitch657
Case solved? What was the chemical in the container? . Why was she originally distressed? You're okay to leave it at that? a reply to: Rodinus

Hi AW...

Yep, I am ok to leave it like that... have just tested by mixing vinegar with some of the white powder that I kept.

I am a vet and have a laminar airflow biosafety cabinet here so no worries for health.

Definately Bicarbonate of soda.

Kindest respects

Rodinus

a reply to: Rodinus

Ok so did some digging, the address on the product is

18-26 Boulevard de Grenelle, Paris 15 eme

The only location i could find is this apartment block
address

The company involved with this building according to the link is liquidated. Founded in 1937 and liquidated in 1984
the company itself is listed as an architect, according to the site was involved with 14 other projects, to be expected from an architect lol.
now you just need to find out if any company's operated there in the past.

I have no idea if any of this is relevant but it is what i could find
Hope it helps in some way

originally posted by: Rodinus

originally posted by: AutumnWitch657
Case solved? What was the chemical in the container? . Why was she originally distressed? You're okay to leave it at that? a reply to: Rodinus

Hi AW...

Yep, I am ok to leave it like that... have just tested by mixing vinegar with some of the white powder that I kept.

Come on... a real chemist would taste it

(Please don't, though, or at least don't blame me if you do,)

a reply to: AutumnWitch657

My understanding is Silver Nitrate used to be used to reduce hailstone size as opposed to producing rain with more modern methods involving silver iodide.

Cloud seeding is not all that new, in my youth it was common in the apple growing districts to shoot skyrockets above possible hail formations to disrupt the coalsecence of hail stones and reduce their impact on the crops. I believe the active chemical used was silver nitrate.

link

but I was basing my comments on OP and other input from the land before internet. i could be mistaken about the contents of that particular container. Thanks for pointing that out.

originally posted by: JokerThe1st
a reply to: Rodinus

Ok so did some digging, the address on the product is

18-26 Boulevard de Grenelle, Paris 15 eme

The only location i could find is this apartment block
address

The company involved with this building according to the link is liquidated. Founded in 1937 and liquidated in 1984
the company itself is listed as an architect, according to the site was involved with 14 other projects, to be expected from an architect lol.
now you just need to find out if any company's operated there in the past.

I have no idea if any of this is relevant but it is what i could find
Hope it helps in some way

Thanks joker for that sound info.

As you may see futher up the thread somewhere, Rob also managed to help out and I contacted the company... who are actually now distributing firefighting equipment.

Kindest respects

Rodinus

originally posted by: Rob48

originally posted by: Rodinus

originally posted by: AutumnWitch657
Case solved? What was the chemical in the container? . Why was she originally distressed? You're okay to leave it at that? a reply to: Rodinus

Hi AW...

Yep, I am ok to leave it like that... have just tested by mixing vinegar with some of the white powder that I kept.

Come on... a real chemist would taste it

(Please don't, though, or at least don't blame me if you do,)

Thank youth for that informathion...

I am thnot a chemitht but a vetherinary thurgeon...

Can anyone graft tonguethhh?

Kindetht rethpethths

Rodinuth