1. Punji Stakes

There was no war defined better by ambush and guerilla tactics than the Vietnam War. It was a conflict where conventional warfare went out the window and instead tactics and booby traps were the norm. The Vietnamese army fought this war by being in the shadows. The reason for doing that was simple enough, there was no way they could match the Americans for firepower. They knew that they would be overpowered by the Americans on an open battlefield. As necessity is the mother of invention, the Vietnamese decided to make booby traps and sought to terrify the US Army.

This strategy worked out very well in the favor of the Vietnamese Army. They were able to utilize their knowledge of the terrain and the American’s fear of fighting in a foreign land to their advantage.

One of the most effective weapons at their disposal was the Punji Stakes. These were the most feared trap that the Americans encountered. The Punji Stakes consisted of extremely sharp spikes, which were placed in camouflaged pits. These stakes also were used in combination with human excreta and snake venom to deliver a lethal blow. These traps were very hard to spot and were effective. Nearly 2% of all the allied injuries came as a result of falling into the Punji Stakes. These have since been adopted in many guerrilla tactics throughout the world.