Combat powders are a fairly rare term. However, they do exist and even formally fall under the definition of a throwing weapon. Since they are used to hit a target at a distance, albeit a fairly small one. In fact, any combat powder is a simple improvised self-defense weapon. The simplest example is sand, salt, or no less commonplace black pepper. All of them can temporarily blind and disorient the enemy, ensuring you win the fight.
The most advanced among all combat powders are metsubushi - special powders that were widely used in Japan by ninja, including with the use of special spray devices. It is these powders that rightly most of all fit under the term not only of throwing weapons, but also of simple weapons. For the rest, for the most part, this is a rather primitive "weapon", which had both its own advantages and a number of serious disadvantages.
The advantages of combat powders include: low requirements for the qualifications of a fighter - any person, even a child, can throw a handful of powder into the enemy's face; compactness - the container with the powder easily fits in your pocket, which is ideal for hidden carrying; a sufficiently large area of destruction - it is extremely difficult to dodge a cloud flying in your direction, given that they use combat powders at a very close distance. In the best case, a person who has been attacked can only cover his eyes or hold his breath for a while, cover himself with his hands, which, in turn, will give the attacker extra seconds to deliver a crushing blow in hand-to-hand combat, and the defender will give time to try to escape.
The main disadvantage of all combat powders is their extremely small effective range. The very low weight of individual "dust grains" and the resulting poor ballistics and high dispersion of powder, even with the use of special devices, seriously limit the effective range of use of such mixtures, reducing it to only a few meters. The only exception to this rule are throwable containers containing combat powder inside, such containers in particular were used by Japanese ninjas. A striking example of the use of such containers can be called the famous Soviet comedy "Operation Y" and other adventures of Shurik, in which the hero of Shurik (actor Alexander Demyanenko) throws torn packs of snuff at Experienced (played by Yevgeny Morgunov).
Shot from the film "Operation Y" and other adventures of Shurik"
Sand
One of the simplest examples of combat powders is ordinary sand, which, along with stones and clubs, is most likely one of the most ancient types of throwing weapons. As an improvised weapon, sand could be used at the dawn of human civilization during inter-tribal and intra-tribal conflicts, especially in the coastal and desert areas, where sand was abundant. If sand gets into the eyes, it may well temporarily blind the enemy, disorient him.
During a judicial duel (also known as "God's judgment" or "Field" in Russia) in Moscow near the Church of the Holy Trinity in the 16th century, one of the fighters threw sand from a stored cloth bag in the enemy's face, and then finished him off. Judicial duel was called one of the ways to resolve disputes in medieval Europe. It was also used in Russia and was known under the name "field". It is known that the custom of resolving disputes in this way existed in Russia until the 17th century, when it completely disappeared. Subsequently, the technique of throwing sand into the eyes of the enemy became so widespread that it became a proverb “to throw sand (later - dust) into the eyes. In those years, this meant fighting against the rules, achieving victory in a dishonest way. Over time, the meaning of the saying has changed - to fraudulently create in someone a false impression that they have non-existent means, abilities or opportunities.
At the same time, sand has been part of the arsenal of street fighters and criminals in many countries for many centuries, it is used in fights today. It is easy to find, which makes it a handy weapon and very easy to carry, for example, just at the bottom of pockets, less often in special containers. The division of the concept of street fighters and criminals lies in the fact that the traditions of hand-to-hand combat between men (especially young men) at different times in many regions of the planet (especially typical for rural areas) could be attributed more to the peculiarities of ethnography and psychology than to the field of crime.
Salt
Salt as a throwing weapon is almost always used only by criminals. In the Middle Ages, this would hardly have been possible, given the importance of salt and its cost in those years. When salt gets into the eyes, it causes a very strong burning sensation and painful sensations. When it comes into contact with moisture, it begins to intensively corrode the cornea. If the eyes are not rinsed promptly enough, the result can result in severe eye burns, which can lead to partial loss of vision or even complete blindness.
Today, salt is often used as an improvised weapon during table fights, when it is very easy to get it from a salt shaker on the table. If necessary, it, like sand, can be easily carried in outer pockets of clothes, or less often in special containers, cloth bags. The combat use of salt was reconstructed in the Russian feature film The Thief.
Pepper
Along with salt, ordinary ground pepper was also quite often included in the arsenal of criminals and street fighters. Unlike salt, using pepper as a throwing weapon is safer for your opponent's health. In contact with the eyes, pepper can cause only temporary loss of vision, and it also irritates the mucous membranes of the nose. Like salt, pepper very often becomes an improvised weapon in noisy table quarrels, it is very easy to use, since there are salt shakers and pepper shakers on almost every table. There are no problems with the ability to carry it either.
Separately, you can highlight the pepper-salt mixture, which combines the qualities of both constituent elements. According to some reports, this mixture could be used by soldiers during the First World War. It was used in hand-to-hand combat in trenches (50/50 ratio). This information seems to be quite realistic, some soldiers could indeed use such a mixture to provide themselves with an advantage over the enemy. In addition, the lack of short-barreled and especially automatic weapons in the early years of the First World War forced them to go to various improvisations designed for hand-to-hand combat, as well as combat using cold weapons in narrow spaces of trenches. It is no coincidence that the First World War revived such seemingly gone forever weapons such as homemade clubs, maces, clubs, and flails.
Metal filings
Metal filings or small shavings can also be used as throwing weapons. Such combat powder is a rather cruel weapon, as it can cause very serious damage if it gets into the eyes. They will be significantly stronger than normal sand and comparable to minerals with hard edges, such as perlite, which is widely used as an abrasive material, in terms of the effect on the eye.
Cayenne blend
Cayenne mix gets its name from one of the varieties of pepper - cayenne. This and other types of red strongly hot peppers in our country are very often combined by one term "chili pepper". It is believed that during the Great Patriotic War, such a mixture was widely used by the soldiers of the SMERSH units (short for "Death to Spies"), using it for defense against dogs. At the same time, cayenne pepper could be replaced with ground (black or red). The mixture itself consisted of 50 percent ground pepper (preferably black) and 50 percent shag. It was possible to use finely ground tobacco obtained from the cheapest brands of cigarettes. This mixture was transferred in plastic containers, for example, film boxes. The container was usually placed in the chest pocket of the garment for easy access at all times.
Against dogs, this mixture is quite effective, which is confirmed by dog handlers. Cayenne mixture is able to cause a burn of the upper respiratory tract in animals, which can disable the dog for a long time, regardless of the aggressiveness and size of the animal. When attacking with cayenne, aim for the dog's nose, eyes and mouth. It is worth noting that this combat powder is effective against people, but to a lesser extent.
Tobacco
Another example of fighting powders is tobacco, which can be easily used as a substitute for cayenne blend when defending against aggressive dogs. It can be used as snuff, which is carried in its original packaging or in a snuffbox (there is an episode with snuff in the Soviet comedy "Operation Y" and other adventures of Shurik), and smoking tobacco, which is obtained in advance by crushing tobacco from several cigarettes in the hand or cigarettes. Tobacco is considered not a very reliable fighting powder and, unlike cayenne mixture, incapacitates a dog for a much shorter time.
Matsubushi
Matsubushi (literally eliminator or destroyer of eyes), under this name passed various types of blinding powders and the very method of their use. It was widely distributed in Japan and was used by ninja (assassins, scouts, saboteurs, scouts, spies). Ninja were quite common in medieval Japan, very often they were also called the demons of the night. They flourished during the era of the warring provinces and the unification of Japan (1460-1600), while by the 17th century there were still about 70 ninja clans and two main schools in the country: Koka-ryu and Iga-ryu.
When preparing, they paid enough attention to the techniques of stunning their enemy, so that in the event of the discovery of the scout, they would be able to escape or gain an advantage over him. The modern ninja Hatsumi Massaki described several techniques for the possible throwing of the metsubushi. Of these, the most interesting is the method of throwing with an arc movement of the hand. This is done in order to increase the area of destruction of the war powder. Most likely, this method was intended and was most effective for attacking two or more opponents.
The metsubushi technique or technique included a fairly extensive set of means to blind one's opponent. It used both complex (composite) and simple (homogeneous) powders and mixtures. For example, a complex composition was a mixture of iron filings with toad caviar burnt into powder - hikigaeru, and simple compositions were ground pepper or ordinary ash. That is, there was a clear division into complex powdery compositions (could be poisonous) and simple "improvised" means that could often be found almost everywhere. Such powders were conspicuous to the enemy in order to blind him at least for a while. To achieve this goal, earth, ash, mud, stones, sand, pebbles, peppers, dried nettles and much more could be used.
The purpose of using metsubushi was to stun the enemy, depriving him of his sight, even if for a few seconds. Under the influence of such a combat powder, the enemy began to hesitate, while even a short time interval was enough to make a decision: the ninja could easily carry out a dangerous counterattack on his enemy or simply flee. Choosing the latter option, the ninja often only confirmed their legendary "mystical" abilities, which were attributed to them, for example, to "disappear" right from under the noses of their enemies.
In order to improve the efficiency of the use of metsubushi in Japan, a variety of spray devices have been created. For example, a common bamboo tube was filled with metsubushi and sealed on one side. Such a tube was at the same time a container for carrying war powders. Reconstruction of such a device shows that for the most effective use as a spray device, the tube had to be filled incompletely. With such filling, in the event of a sharp wave of the hand, the "charge" of the combat powder located in the tube acquired the necessary kinetic energy. After stopping the hand, he quite sharply "shot" in the direction of the target, preliminarily accelerating and moving through the free space in the bamboo tube ("bore").
Also, the ninja used special containers made of paper or empty eggshells, which were filled with various combat powders. Such containers were thrown in the face of their opponent (this was the first stage of the attack) without opening them. Upon contact with the target (the second stage of the attack), the shell of such containers was destroyed, and the powder was scattered in the air. The use of fragile containers made it possible to significantly increase the effective range of use of combat powders, bringing them into the category of full-fledged projectile weapons, the range increased to 15-20 meters. However, this method also had a drawback, the small size and increasing distance gave the enemy more chances to dodge such an attack. Theoretically, such containers, which, after colliding with an obstacle, threw out a metsubushi cloud, could also be used to defeat the enemy by throwing at objects located next to him (ceilings, walls, columns). With the proper level of dexterity, this could allow hitting an enemy standing with his back or side to the thrower and even out of his field of vision (around the corner, behind an obstacle).
Sokutoki was a decorative means of carrying the war powder. Such a container was worn around the neck, it looked like a decorative pendant and did not cause any serious suspicion in a person. Sokutoki looked very much like a whistle. The hollow box had two holes of different sizes. The larger hole was plugged with a stopper, and the narrow one often looked like a mouthpiece. As a rule, Sokutoki was filled with various types of ground pepper, sealed with a cork and then hung around the neck using an ordinary string. During the attack, the ninja brought such a device to his mouth, removed the plug and exhaled air into the mouthpiece quite forcefully. A cloud of hot pepper almost instantly fell into the eyes of the enemy. Over time, even the Japanese police began to use such devices, who suppressed the resistance of violators with it. The remedy was quite humane, since pepper could not blind a person for a long time or lead to serious damage to health, at the same time, such a primitive pepper spray was enough to pacify lawbreakers.
The poison fan can be distinguished separately, which was a special model for spraying poisonous metsubushi. In this case, the powdery substance was placed in a small space between the two paper walls of the poison fan. A sharp swing towards the enemy - and he was amazed. Given the specificity of the item, it can be assumed that it was used by female ninja, who were called kunoichi. It is worth noting that the fan was an indispensable attribute of the Japanese medieval woman from the upper classes, under which the kunoichi were usually disguised. The poison fan itself could be attributed to a disguised throwing weapon; it can be separately noted that there were a sufficient number of disguised weapons in the arsenal of Japanese ninjas, since they ensured stealth and suddenness of use.
In conclusion, we can say that combat powders, one way or another, have been with a person for thousands of years from the dawn of our history to the 21st century. At the same time, they almost completely disappeared from the scene, as they were ousted by more efficient, technologically advanced, inexpensive and affordable gas cartridges. In real battles, they are almost never used, even their more traditional "users" - criminals and fans of street fights mainly use gas cans to blind their opponent, extremely rarely using combat powders as an improvised weapon, which is still can be used as a last-chance weapon and an element of improvisation in a street fight.
