text: vietcong booby traps? what were the booby traps? 'the vietcong frequently used booby traps. they would salvage just about anything including us materials, to build the traps and then carefully conceal them. the traps could be made of anything from explosives to being hidden pits with stakes in them (known as punji pits). any unexploded bombs from us air raids would be salvaged and reused. it was a risky business and people were often killed trying to dismantle dud shells. hand grenades or other explosives would be attached to trip wires and wicker baskets filled with clay and laced throughout with sharp bamboo sticks, would swing down from the trees, killing a soldier immediately.   in all, booby traps accounted for 10 percent of all americans killed or wounded during the vietnam war. '