A man in China has managed to cheat death for 25 years after only recently realizing a mysterious tool he was using to crack walnuts was actually a hand grenade.

The villager from Ankang, in China’s Shaanxi province, only became aware of the dangerous item he possessed when he was handed a safety leaflet by police, advising locals on explosives that were illegal to possess.

Amongst the items listed was one object that bore a striking resemblance to the man’s trusty nut cracking tool that he had been using for 25 years – a hand grenade.

The grenade was gifted to him by a friend, reported Huanqiu and had not detonated according to police, who were unsure whether it still contained explosives.

“It's more stable than a Samsung phone,” one commentator on Chinese social media site Weibo said, while another questioned why his friend would give him a potentially deadly explosive in the first place.

The explosive is now safely away from the Ankang man and with police. It is unknown whether he has made alternative arrangements for cracking nuts.