Escape From New York - Snake's Equipment- Orange Device!

[nick daring]

I've always wanted to collect all the mission equipment presented to Snake in the opening of Escape From New York.

While many of the pieces have been identified, several have still never got the proper attention and I thought it'd be fun to try and nail the final few objects.

First up- the Orange Device!

For years people thought it was an unusual flare launcher design but nothing ever came up with that line of searching.

I just recently posted the image onto Reddit in an attempt to finally ID it and got a great lead!

Camping/Wildlife trip wire alarm!

Here is a current model with several similar features but all seperated-

Vintage versions of this perimeter alarm are proving hard to search for so I'm hoping the RPF might be able to broaden the search.

The plastic housing does give me slight doubts to it being a primer alarm though. All the trip alarms I'm finding have metal builds. Maybe it's metal but painted orange? Or maybe a metal tube is placed in the orange plastic shell casing?

Also the silver/white silver areas feel a little large to be storage areas for shotgun primers.

Thoughts?

 

[red4]

That's a strong lead. Have you tried asking in a camping subreddit?

 

[expo180]

I think you might be onto something, nick!

Keep on digging my friend...and I'm loving these EFNY pics you're posting!

 

[Funky]

Man, I’ve been trying to ID this piece for years. I think you are definitely on to something, Nick. Well done, sir.

 

[Apollo]

Awesome find!!

 

[nick daring]

It's insane that it has stayed a mystery for so long.

It's such a boldly colored and uniquely shaped commercial object, you'd think someone would recognize it or have one sitting in their garage.

It's not like it's buried in a 80 year old ariplane engine or something.

So weird.

I might sit down an diagram it out and get an exact size using the walkie talkie measurements next. Get a solid idead of the size of the thing might stir some thoughts.

The search continues.

 

[OzReturner]

Just throwing it out there- is it possible the orange part is part of a modified skeet thrower handle?

 

[Funky]

Just throwing it out there- is it possible the orange part is part of a modified skeet thrower handle?
View attachment 1655332

I suppose it’s possible but the set designers and prop people gave him real world, practice pieces that he would need in case of trouble. I don’t think Snake would need target practice while he’s on the island. Hell, if he did he would just use the Crazies! LOL,,,

 

[smithjohnj]

This is to just to provide a couple more search options based some similar objects of which I am familiar. The upper octagon section reminds me of an Inova LED Headlamp. However the lenses would need to be rotated 22.5 degrees. The "handle" portion reminds me of a Lansky Knife sharpener with the thumbscrew replaced with a wire hoop. These parts would need extra mashup.

 

[expo180]

A Distance Line? (AKA penetration line, cave line or guide line).

Being bright orange, it could be a possibility I guess.

It looks like the octagonal part might flip up, as there appears to be a hinged section...?

Other thoughts are some kind of flare device, or maybe a mini winch?

I don't know

Snake Wiki

 

[Tiberius Kirk]

I have a memory of seeing these back in the 70's at an Army Surplus Store. The Bright orange color really stuck out. Probably a Trip-Wire devise.

 

[nick daring]

That's the weirdest aspect of this thing.

It's bright orange and feels vaguely familiar and yet no one can find one.

It should be a slam dunk for a found part find. It's not hidden in a hundred year old air[plane engine or something.

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

Watch, this will turn out to be a custom prop made from something buried in a hundred-year-old engine.

 

[SciFirepower]

I concur with the tripwire theory. You can see a pull ring in the screenshot. However, the receptacles seem kind of large for a 209 primer, almost wondering if they are for a pistol-caliber blank.

 

[nick daring]

That's what always got me on the trip wire theory. The ring of white circles are just so big that I can't find anything that matches that scale.

They are much closer to the size of a shot gun shell...



which then brings us back to the idea of it being a very odd form of flare launcher.

The search continues...

 

[TFickser]

The orange device is part of a tripwire alarm kit, like the one found by nick daring. The actual alarm or firing device was not used. The orange thing used in EFNY is the rack for replacement cartridges. The pull ring is attached to a rod used to eject the spent (fired) cartridges from the single shot firing device. The original has less cartridges because it used a .22 blank cartridge. The one found on Reddit uses a shotgun shell primer. Hope this was useful. EFNY is one of my favorites!

 

[nick daring]

I think you may have these examples switched in your description. The shotgun shells are much larger and the 22. based ones are tinier. Way too tiny to fit the large dial.

But for instance you can find blank/popper shells white white rear caps made for trip wire kits that closely resemble the white circles seen on the dial of the Snake prop. The size matches pretty closely too.

Although the shell based trip mechanisms seem to all have the shell clipped on like this -

Which doesn't seem to match the structure of the movie prop device.

So weird.

 

[Akin]

Crap, I wish I'd known there were people who didn't know what those were. My Scoutmaster used to set them up when we were camping in bear country... also to catch us when we were sneaking off to screw around at night...

 

[greenmachines]

I think the real question falls on the sword when its a brand and model number that ultimately wins this prize. Where and how can this exact model be found and purchased. Can you feel the number of hours I have looked?

 

[Akin]

Alas, that I can not help you with. This was like forty years ago... even if my old Scoutmaster is still alive, I have no idea how to contact him these days