Quicksand Fans

I remember reading about an experiment (long ago, in the earlier days of the internet) the army did with a type of high-pressure chemical spray gun that shot a mix of two chemicals out at high velocity. When the mix hit, it foamed into a very adhesive sludge, with the idea that it could be used to stop riots. Unfortunately, while it was part of a study to develop non-lethal weapons, it was quickly shelved, as a rioter could easily be sprayed in the face, and suffocate. I remember being very tempted to volunteer to be a rioter in the study until I read that fact and one other: it also turned out the chemical mix was a fairly intense skin irritant.

Oh, well. There went what seemed to be a very wild party idea.

It was actually briefly used in an experimental capacity, from my understanding, although I do not know exactly where or in what capacity. The bigger problem was that cleanup was a serious issue. It took something like 20 minutes per square inch to safely remove from skin. The amount that would be needed to stop a grown human would have potentially required hours of cleanup for the victim, plus who knows how long for other areas affected (collateral stickiness?). Basically in the absence of some sci-fi quick-dissolve catalyst it would be a much more effective terror weapon than law enforcement tool.

Whoa! 20 minutes per square inch? I'm already fat and over 50. Enough of that stuff and I'd never get clean while alive!

it was called simply "sticky foam" I think there's some videos of it in action somewhere on youtube