This reply reinforces the need for examining the internal consistency of longitudinal and lateral stress data under plane shock wave propagation. This was pointed out in an article by Dandekar, Abbate, and Frankel [J. Appl. Phys.76, 4077 (1994)] to determine the shear strength of a solid. It also shows that shear strength of a crystalline solid under plane shock wave compression can be determined accurately from its reliable Hugoniot and applicable hydrodynamic compression of the solid.