Editing Land mine (section)

===Firing mechanisms and initiating actions===
A land mine can be triggered by a number of things including [[pressure]], movement, sound, [[magnet]]ism and [[oscillation|vibration]].<ref name=FieldManual/> Anti-personnel mines commonly use the pressure of a person's foot as a trigger, but [[tripwire]]s are also frequently employed. Because modern anti-vehicle mines usually employ magnetic triggers, they can detonate even if the victim's tires or tracks do not directly impact it. Advanced mines are able to sense the difference between friendly and enemy types of vehicles by way of a built-in signature catalog (an [[identification friend or foe]] system). This theoretically enables friendly forces to use the mined area while denying the enemy access.

Many mines combine the main trigger with a touch or tilt trigger to prevent enemy engineers from defusing the mine. Land mine designs tend to use as little metal as possible to make searching with a metal detector more difficult; land mines made mostly of plastic have the added advantage of being very inexpensive.

Some types of modern mines are designed to [[self-destruct]], or chemically render themselves inert after a period of weeks or months to reduce the likelihood of civilian casualties at the conflict's end. These self-destruct mechanisms are not absolutely reliable, and most land mines laid historically are not equipped in this manner.

There is a common misconception that a landmine is armed by stepping on it and only triggered by stepping off. This is not the case for almost all types of mine. In virtually all cases the initial pressure trigger detonates the mine, since mines are designed to kill or maim the victim rather than standing still until the mine can be disarmed. This misperception originated with the fictional portrayal of mines, often in movies in which the disarming of a mine is a source of narrative tension.<ref>{{cite news |author=Ju Shardlow and David Ibekwe  |title=Special forces bomb disposal expert rates 10 bomb disposal scenes in movies and TV |url=https://www.insider.com/sas-bomb-disposal-expert-rates-bomb-disposal-scenes-in-movies-2020-9 |publisher=Insider |date=2020-11-11}}</ref>