Originally Posted by Bart

I'm not a chemist and can't speak with much authority on this. However, my experience in the Army tells me that the reason we worked with ready-made explosives is because they were stable until detonated. In other words, to work with any improvised explosive charge is to work with something that is unpredictable and unstable. There are too many ways it can detonate prematurely or accidentally, or not detonate at all. So I'm scratching my head trying to figure out what it is about this specific threat that prompted this general ban on all liquids, gels and lotions.