Latest Mythbusters Ep

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mwerner

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Had a two-hour segment on last night with "movie" myths. They dropped "Buster" through a series of awnings, ala Indiana Jones and others; concluded he might have actually survived.

Tried shooting locks off of doors, with pretty much expected results. 9mm and .357 handguns had little effect on even cheap padlocks and deadbolts, while a 12-guage slug and the ever-popular 30-06 left the locks in shards. I think the military is using a door-buster round for the 12-guage in Iraq, but I don't know the composition.
Then they tried the "shoot a hole in the floor" scene from Underworld. Kate Beckinsale made it look easy... They expended over 300 rounds of 9mm from a submachine gun, with a few rifled slugs from the 12-guage in an attempt to cut the joists-all to no effect. Busted...

Finally, they launched a car off a dirt ramp at 70+ mph to see if they could get it near the 175 feet they estimated as the distance portrayed in the Dukes of Hazzard film. They got the car to go the distance, but you wouldn't want to have been in it...
I seem to recall from the TV show that they used up an average of three "General Lee" Chargers per episode.
Likewise with the famous car chase from Bullit, three each Mustangs and Chargers, all junk....

A description of one (of several) 12-guage doorbuster rounds:

A.L.S. Technologies manufactures the Door Breacher with a 17-gram (262 grain) frangible projectile made of iron dust and a ceramic binder, which produces 1,489 foot pounds of energy into an area .75 inches diameter. The company advises that the Door Breacher must never be fired with the muzzle of the shotgun less than 1 inch from the door lock, so muzzle attachments are necessary.
 
mwerner said:
Tried shooting locks off of doors, with pretty much expected results. 9mm and .357 handguns had little effect on even cheap padlocks and deadbolts, while a 12-guage slug and the ever-popular 30-06 left the locks in shards. I think the military is using a door-buster round for the 12-guage in Iraq, but I don't know the composition.
Click to expand...

Allready been done over at the box of truth.
 
Yeah, the sword testing (trying to cut one sword with another) was pretty cool. They tried it by hand (Grant & Tori) and didn't have much luck. Then, they invited some professionals! :thumbup: These guys were from a local dojo, or were experienced collectors. They brought original handmade Katana's with them. 1 that was 200 years old, another that was 400 and a 3rd that was 800 YEARS old!

The pros did some straw mat cutting (to they could measure the max speed they used), then Grant built a sword swinger machine. The only time they had a successful cut, was a "good" sword (a modern replica using different types of steel) versus a stainless steel cheapie. Good on good resulted in a break, but it was caused by a stress fracture of the metal bending, and not from the actual cut. They also tried a rapier, a Viking sword and a Scottich Claymore, but pretty much busted the "cut a sword with another sword" myth. (But, I still think it's cool as hell, like in Kill Bill!:D)
 
didja see that rapier bend when they hit it with the katana? it looked like a "?".
 
I don't keep a goddamnnoisybox in the house (too snobbish, sorry) but when I go on vacation I watch a little tv in the hotel at night, just to see what I'm missing the rest of the year. I happened to see that show in the hotel.

It was fun to watch and somewhat educational if you watch the whole thing and think about it, but the conclusions were utter nonsense.

Early on they tested a replica sword on a soft stainless steel wall ornament and cut it. Doesn't count? What, do you really believe all real swords were made of such uniform steel that was so well heat-treated from guard to point that not one had any part that wasn't harder than that? In the real world, swords were made by hand and made to sell at all price points, and some were just plain junk.

Later they had two tests that at first looked like the sword had been cut, but after looking at the slow-motion replay they could see both swords actually broke. So, um ... that busts the myth? :rolleyes:
 
I got a buddy to tape the sword episode for me, but have not been able to watch it yet. I can't WAIT!!!
 
Certainly seems likely that in the rather extensive history of sword fighting, somebody's sword must have broken upon being hit. Even in Fencing, we had to watch carefully as the tips would break off of foils, if only due to metal fatigue.
Among the many millions of swords produced all over the world, some must have been made of inferior metals by the local contractror-with-the-lowest-bid.

Of course, it's more likely that he was beheaded subsequently rather than being sued...
 
There's a difference between truely cutting a sword in half and just bending it too much or hitting it in just the right place to make it break. The only one that really looked like it was cut was the stainless steel display sword, and that was just a stress fracture.

Unless a sword is made from zinc or crappy aluminum or something, there's just no way you're going to cut through it with another sword. For one thing, notice how much the other swords bend. That's what swords are supposed to do. Then realize that the target sword was very solidly clamped in place. Unable to move except for the bending of the blade. Hit a sword held by another person with that kind of force, and the person's hands/arms will take a lot of the force. There's also pretty much no way an experienced swordsman would block a full-force strike with a full on block (unless there was no other option) and would probably opt to deflect/redirect the strike instead.

I think the expiriment was completely viable, if only to show, that even under the most extreme abuse, the whole sword-cutting-another-sword thing is complete bunk. Breaking a sword, yes. Cutting it in half, no.

I think they kinda beefed the Indiana Jones falling-through-the-awnings thing, if only because they used modern acrylic fabric instead of period canvas or whatever they made awnings with in 1930s Europe. Something that you actually could tear and fall directly through like they did in the movie, not just bend the supports enough for them to fall past the awning.

Everybody's gotta admit, the Dukes of Hazzard jump was just plain cool. Full sized radio controlled car doing a 175 foot jump at 70mph. Don't get much cooler than that.
 
Years ago, when I was with the county PD here, we had an accident where a car going an estimated 90mph hit the edge of an overpass guard-rail. This angled launching ramp sent the car entirely across the 4-lane road that the overpass straddled, and resulted in a nose-in collision with the embankment on the other side.
All four people in the car killed instantly, of course....
 
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