Nitrostarch is a substitute explosive (used as substitute in case of TNT shortage), it has a velocity of detonation of approximately 20,000 feet per second . It is insoluble in water and does not gelatinize when heated with water (differing from starch), but is readily soluble in Acetone and in Ether-Alcohol . It is packed in ½-lb blocks which look very much like a TNT container . Nitrostarch is gray in color, and has a consistency almost similar to ordinary brown sugar . It is further more sensitive to impact than TNT, but again less sensitive than dry Guncotton or Nitroglycerin . Nitrostarch is highly inflammable and can be readily ignited by a slight spark (resulting from friction), it then burns with explosive violence . The product is packed in one-pound cube-shaped blocks . These blocks are wrapped in brown waxed paper. The paper may be removed and the block can then be divided into four (4) separate one-pound blocks . Nitrostarch is ¼ more sensitive to shock and friction than TNT, but is less powerful .

Another substitute explosive is 50% Nitroglycerin Dynamite. This explosive is packed in stick form . The sticks are issued in ½-pound paraffin-treated paper cartridges which are 1 ¼-inch in diameter and 8-inches long . Dynamite is dark brown in color . It is very much more sensitive than Nitrostarch and has a velocity of detonation of 17,000 to 18,000 feet per second .

Another military explosive is Nitramon . This is an Ammonium Nitrate type of explosive which is desensitized . It is packed in a tin can 8 ¼-inch in diameter and 17-inches long, it weighs 40 pounds and is essentially designed for cratering (e.g. road surfaces) . Nitramon is grayish purple in color . It has a detonating velocity of 14,000 to 16,000 feet per second . Nitramon is relatively insensitive, and therefore requires a booster charge of more sensitive explosive to set it off . A booster charge consisting of Amatol is embedded in the center of the 40-pound can just opposite the tunnel .

This explosive is a yellowish-white crystalline explosive substance, which is highly sensitive to heat, impact and friction . It is insensitive when wet and is usually handled wet in manufacture . It is produced by dissolving Mercury in strong Nitric Acid and running the solution into Alcohol . Mercury Fulminate detonates completely and with great violence on ignition by means of a flame or by means of an electrically heated wire . These characteristics together with its property of initiating detonation of other explosives, make it especially suitable for use as a detonator material . It is therefore widely used in Fulminate caps, usually mixed with Potassium Chlorate, Antimony Sulphide, or other materials .

Ammonium Picrate is used as a military explosive because of its marked insensitiveness to shock and friction, which makes it well suited for use as a bursting charge in armor-piercing projectiles (preference over TNT or Amatol) . It is however inferior to TNT . The explosive is soluble in water, crystallizing from its solution in orange-yellow needles darker in color than Picric Acid . It liberates free carbon on explosion thereby giving a black smoke, which is however less poisonous than those produced from TNT and Picric Acid .

Picric Acid or Trinitrophenol is a lemon-yellow crystalline solid high explosive, only slightly soluble in cold water, but soluble in Alcohol, Benzene, and other organic solvents . It is not as toxic as TNT, but also produces fumes when molten explosives are packed in loading shells . Picric Acid is entirely stable and has about the same sensitivity to shock or friction as TNT . Its high strength or concussive effect is due to its high rate of detonation which, for the cast or highly compressed explosive is approximately 23,000 feet per second (i.e. greater than that of TNT, but exceeded only by Tetryl) . Picric Acid also shows greater strength thant TNT, for it is found that a larger number of shell fragments are produced from it than from TNT, at equal loading densities .