What is the source of the term, “The Inflat-A-Gator?”

After a briefing regarding a South American mission, I offered a team of agents seven options in experimental equipment for ICON Field Trials: W.A.S.P Tactical Knife – Injection, Drone Hoverboard, Tactical Communication and Protective System (TCAPS), Spy Glasses, Multi-Utility Tactical Transport (MUTT), Quadrotor outfitted with a Machine Gun, and Bomb Disposal Robot used to Deliver a Bomb. One agent quickly chose the Tactical Knife described below:

W.A.S.P. Tactical Knife – Injection ($499.95) (WEAPONRY, ASSET DIE: D6) is a trade name for a large knife that contains a cylinder of compressed gas in the hilt. When stabbing a subject, about one cubic foot (or 28 liters) of gas stored at 800 psi is rapidly injected deep into the wound site.

The injected gas causes much more damage than a single knife wound, both from the displacement of internal organs and from the freezing effect of the free expansion of the gas.

One well-placed hit can easily kill or immobilize a large shark. When used underwater, the freezing effect helps to keep the animal from bleeding profusely, while the injected gas causes the animal to float to the surface. This can be very helpful in defending against aggressive sharks, while avoiding the blood release that can trigger a feeding frenzy in a group of sharks.

When the other agents saw the first agent’s choice, they all wanted a W.A.S.P. Tactical Knife – Injection ignoring the other six experimental equipment options.

During the mission, the first agent decided to swim alone from boat to shore. Along the way, the agent did not encounter a shark. Instead, he encountered a 13-foot alligator (roll 1d20 for length). (There was a chance of a school of 1d10 piranha.)

The agent efficiently and effectively dispatched the aggressive animal by stabbing it in the belly with the Tactical Knife and pressing the compressed gas button. The expanding gas killed the alligator, but the gas could not quickly escape the alligator’s thick, leathery hide. The deceased reptile floated to the surface and was brought to shore by the agent to be used to manufacture souvenirs.

The agent asked me if the knife could be reused. I answered it could continue to be used as a Tactical Knife, but the compressed air had been exhausted (and no one had asked for additional compressed gas cartridges). One of the agents dubbed the weapon, “The Inflat-A-Gator,” much to everyone’s amusement.