Smoke grenade



Smoke grenades are common devices employed by the Equalists. They are frequently used because they help tip the balance between benders and non-benders.

The canisters quickly release a massive amount of green choking-gas, which doesn't have long-lasting effects. The gas is mainly innocuous and appears to affect neither the Equalists who wear their masks, or animals such as Naga or Pabu.

History
When Korra and Mako tried to find Bolin at the Triple Threat Triad's headquarters, they found some Equalists, and when they attempted to pursue them, the chi blockers fled and deployed a smoke grenade to buy them more time.

Soon after, Korra and Mako fought two Equalists head-on. The chi blockers prevailed and were approaching the two immobilized benders when Naga escaped her ropes and attacked. The non-benders retreated, throwing more smoke grenades, concealing their movements and escaping in their motorcycles.

When Tarrlok led a task force into an underground base where chi blockers honed their skills. One chi blocker let loose a smoke grenade, but Korra bent water and froze it just as it began releasing smoke, sealing the grenade.

Weaknesses


The smoke grenades only buy some time, they don't render people useless nor do they slow the people targeted by a huge amount of time. However, when a few seconds are needed, the smoke grenades are effectively the perfect device. To protect themselves from this effect, Equalists wear masks which hide their identities and act as a sort of gas-mask. Equalists-in-training also use these grenades, but lieu of the masks, they use cloths to cover their mouths and noses.

The grenade can be rendered useless by preventing it from releasing smoke, for example, using waterbending to freeze the canister, sealing it.