07x19 - Dumpster Diving

[bunniefuu]

It may not look like it,
but we're professionals.

Do us a favor.

Don't try this at home!
Whoa!

Narrator: On this episode
of "Mythbusters"...

[flatly] Jamie, don't jump.
You have so much to live for.

...Adam and Jamie
take out the trash...

Those things
will get ya.

Ow!

...as they test the movie myth

of a dumpster-diving
escape...

A perfect 10!

...and find out
if legging it

after a "trash" landing
is legit.

[Laughter]

- Nice job.
- Thank you.

Meanwhile, Kari, Tory, and Grant
go off the deep end...

[laughs maniacally]

...with a "ye olde"
diving myth.

Time to go divin'.

Narrator: Could an
air-supply failure up top...

You're kidding me.
This is working?

...spell a spectacular squeeze
and certain death down below?

[Air hissing]

Oh! Look at what's happening
to his head!

Kari: Yeah!

Narrator:
Who are the Mythbusters?

Adam savage...

I feel
perfectly normal

...and Jamie Hyneman.

Pain is your friend.

Between them, more than 30 years
of special-effects experience.

Joining them...

...Grant Imahara...

Burn!

...Kari Byron...

And I'm starting
to get the idea

that this shouldn't
be done inside.

...Tory Belleci...

[grunts]

...and featuring Jessi Combs.

That was awesome!

They don't just tell
the myths.

[Cheering]

They put them to the test.

First up, Adam and Jamie
dive into a film fable.

So I hear you have
a movie myth for us.

[British accent]
I do, old bean.

It seems that within
the logic of an action movie,

any building
can be escaped from

by handily jumping into
a dumpster parked next to it.

Hop out, dust yourself off
and walk away unharmed.

Well, that sounds
like rubbish.

It's an action-movie cliché.

After a roof runaround
with nowhere else to go,

a dive into a dumpster equals
a guaranteed getaway.

But can you really get up and go
every time

after a "trash" landing?

So, how is this
gonna go down?

Well, I figure that any line
of investigation we pursue

is ultimately
hopefully gonna end

with one of us
leaping into a dumpster.

So first things first.

I think we need to be trained
how to fall safely.

I think we need to call

one of the stuntmen we know
to teach us.

Well, I guess it's time
to jump right in, huh?

[Laughing]
All right.

Yep, this myth
can only end one way...

with an actual dumpster dive.

And to make sure our Mythbusters
will live to bust another day,

it's off to Treasure Island
for Stunt-Falling 101.

Adam: So in our ongoing training
to be action-movie heroes,

we are about to learn
how to take a high fall safely.

And this is the building
we're gonna start with.

This is the air bag
that's gonna break our fall.

And this...

...is the guy
that's gonna train us.

That's Randy Lamb,
stunt coordinator and fall guy.

Oh, this is cool
in here!

As Jamie said,

they're not starting
on the dumpsters just yet.

First there's this.

[Squeak! Pop!]

[Laughs] How does this
air bag work, you ask?

Well, it's called a two-stage
air bag, and it works thusly.

The first stage, this top part,
slows you down by popping,

by opening through this very
portal that I climbed out of.

The second stage,
that bottom layer, stops you.

It does not deflate.

Narrator:
And that's key,

because the name of this game
is deceleration.

Like they say, it's not the fall
that kills you,

it's the sudden stop.

A jump from a height
onto a hard surface

will bring you to a stop
very quickly.

And it's this sudden impact
that is potentially fatal.

But landing on a soft surface
maximizes deceleration,

dissipating impact
over a longer time,

reducing the risk of injury.

Randy, Falling 101.
What do we have to know?

When you jump,

you want to make sure
that you land flat on your back

and use up as much volume
as possible.

Awesome!
Can we get started?

Sure.
Who wants to go first?

Me!
I want to go first.

Is that okay if I go first?
Can I go first? Is that cool?

- Yay.
- All right. Follow me.

Narrator:
Unsurprisingly,

Adam is falling over himself
to get started.

Lamb:
Less is more.

Yeah, it's a lot higher now,
isn't it?

All right.
Here we go.

But at a height of 13 feet,

getting the technique right
is vital.

- Place your left foot
right here.
- All right.

Now, you're gonna take
one giant step out

and lay back just like
you were laying into a recliner.

Perfect.

[Laughs]

Wow!

That's cool!

And if at first you succeed,
why not go again?

And again.

And again.

It looked like
you did it perfectly.

With that
out of his system...

That was awesome!

Adam: Don't look now,
but there's a Hyneman

on the roof of that building,
and I think he's gonna jump.

[Flatly] Jamie, don't jump.
You have so much to live for.

Jamie: You know, it's a little
bit of a jolt, but it works.

Lamb: Much better. Excellent.
[Claps]

I think you guys have both
got this height down.

Awesome!
'Cause I want to go higher.

- Can we go higher?
- Let's go.

Narrator: Yep, it's as easy
as moving the air bag

to a new location.

Or is it?

Well, we're about to
bump it up a notch.

And make no mistake...

when you're looking down
at that bag,

there's a pretty big difference
between 13 feet...

[lift whirs]

...and 20 feet.

The stakes just went up,
and so did my adrenaline level.

Narrator:
And this time,

Jamie's drawn the short straw
to jump first.

[Groans]

Lamb: Perfect!

[Laughs]
How you feeling?

That was no worse
than the smaller one.

- [Laughs]
- Cool.

My turn!

Perfect.
[Claps]

Perfect!

- Nice job.
- How'd that feel?

Felt great.

Narrator:
And now that both the guys

have mastered the art
of falling from a great height,

they can get their hands dirty.

I think
I'm getting this down.

I think you are.

What's next?

You're gonna love this.

Now from high diving
to deep-sea diving.

Before the days
of scuba diving,

divers would go down
in those old suits

with those brass helmets,
just like this, right?
- Sure.

They would pressurize their suit
using a compressor

on a boat at the surface.

To counteract
the external water pressure.

Exactly.

That sounds like
an accident waiting to happen.

And that's what
this myth is about.

If that compressor were to stop
or the air hose would get cut,

that diver would come
to a grisly end.

Yeah, without
the high-pressure air

helping to keep
the suit inflated,

it would simply crush under
the weight of all the water.

That's right.

And the pressure would change
so suddenly,

it would be so dramatic,

that it would literally squish
the diver into the helmet.

Sick.

I love it.

Narrator: Yep, according to
this macabre maritime myth,

early deep-sea-diving suits
had a flaw,

whereby a failure
in the air supply

could cause
a drastic depressurization.

But could
the pressure differential

really put the squeeze
on an entire human body,

or is this a load
of "Pulp Fiction"?

So, how do we
test this?

Ultimately, I think we need to
build one of these suits,

put a human analogue
in it,

drop it to the bottom
of the ocean,

cut the line,
and see what happens.

See if we get
instant sausages.

Or whatever.

Okay, before we do
all of that,

I think we need to do
two things.

We need to go talk
to an expert,

and we need to do
a few proof-of-concept tests.

Narrator:
And at San Francisco Maritime

National Historical Park,

ex-Navy diver Mike Ward
is just the expert Kari needs.

What kind of diving
were these suits used for?

They were used
for salvage diving,

mariculture diving,
sea harvesting, construction.

They were used for virtually
every kind of diving.

This was the very first real
type of commercial diving suit.

How deep do they go?

Down to 300 feet
on average.


is quite a depth.

But as Mike explains
how the suit works,

there's one feature
that's troubling Kari...

the non-return valve.

In the event
that the hose gets cut,

the pressure differential

automatically forces
the valve shut.

Doesn't allow anything
to go up the umbilical.

You need a dive suit
without a non-return valve

for this myth
to be possible.

I would test it
as though

the non-return valve
wasn't working right.

A lot of times divers
wouldn't do the maintenance

and the valve
would get stuck,

and that would cause
the failure.

So according
to our dive master,

the particulars of this myth
are positively plausible.

Which means it's time
to get down to business.

As always on "Mythbusters,"

we're gonna start out
in the small scale.

Basically, I'm gonna make
a tiny little diver

that we can do
some experiments on

and find out what kind of effect
suction really is going to have

and let us design
our big experiment.

Narrator: And as Kari's
voodoo diver takes shape,

it's clear who
the sacrificial mini-me will be.

Kari: The diver is becoming
little Grant.

Tory: Kari's sculpture
turned out great,

and it looks just like Grant.

But in order to test this
small scale,

I need to turn this clay figure
into a ballistics-gel figure

wearing a watertight
diving suit.

Now, the way I'm gonna do that

is I'm gonna make
a plaster mold of the sculpture.

Hey, look at that.

It's like Han Solo,
frozen in carbonite.

That way I'll have
two halves of a mold

that I can paint in latex
and cloth.

So that way,
it'll be both watertight

and it'll be durable.

Once the latex is dry, I'll put
the two halves together,

and I'll fill the whole thing up
with ballistics gel.

Once the ballistic gel sets,

I'll be able to open up
the mold,

and what I'll be left with
is a mini Grant diver

made out of ballistics gel
in a watertight diving suit.

[Maniacal laughter]

Oh, look at that!

- Ohh!
- Look. His little
suit's there.

It's loose on his body.
That's perfect.

It'll fill right up
with air.

This is gonna be perfect.

I got to do a little bit
of repair work on the seams,

but we're good to go.

It's gonna work.

Now all he needs
is a helmet.

Narrator: Which is exactly
what his life-size namesake

is working on.

Now, this is an old-timey
dive helmet

similar to the one they describe
in the myth.

And I'm going to be simulating
it using this clear acrylic.

Now, I've chosen this so that
if we do in fact see a squeeze,

like in the myth,
that goes up into the helmet,

we'll have a full 360 view
so that we won't miss anything.

Narrator:
And the finishing touch...

a gauge to keep an eye
on the pressure inside the suit

once they throw him in
at the deep end.

[Chuckling]

According to Hollywood,

any dumpster
is a guaranteed getaway.

But what exactly will you find
inside one?

This looks like the place.
Look at all these dumpsters!

We've come to the natural
habitat of the dumpster...

Waste Management facility...

and we've got our pick
to look through.

Narrator: To find out
if here in the real world

a dumpster is the soft landing
this myth suggests.

[High-pitched voice]
Hi, Jamie!

Put us on your feet!

Jamie:
Looks like all cardboard,

but I see some wood
and some rebar down there.

[Normal voice]
Rebar?

And after a savage scavenge,

it's clear a fall
into this dumpster

will be anything but soft.

It's all wood under here.
This dumpster is deadly!

So they move on to two more
dumpsters picked at random.

All this blue stuff says, to me,
"hospital waste."

Yeah.

Kind of don't want to mess
around with this one too much.

[Laughing]
Yeah.

If you gave me the choice

of jumping into a dumpster
full of hospital waste

or dealing with
the bad guys,

I'm gonna think pretty carefully
about dealing with the bad guys.

[Grunts]

Ohh!

Hey, that's kind of neat.

Open cardboard boxes.

Except again, there's
this hidden stuff in there,

like those pallets.

Plus, the deeper
into the dumpster they dig...

You got to aim away
from the pallets.

Those things
will get ya.

...the worse the news.

This is clearly
one of those situations

where you can't judge a book
by its cover.

You're on top of the building
looking down into the dumpster.

It looks nice and soft, but you
don't know what's underneath it.

You could be
in for a nasty surprise.

Narrator: For soft landings,
they're zero for three.

But if any dumpster meets
the cushioning criteria,

Kevin Floyd will know about it.

Do you ever
have dumpsters come in

that just have
a bunch of soft stuff inside?

Occasionally.

But we get about 10,000
to 12,000 loads a year.

Maybe one or two a month
would come like that.

What I can think of is items
from a factory with foam.

That'd be a nice,
soft load.

But for the most part,

it's mostly mixed,
like what you've seen.

Adam: Well, I think our path
is pretty clear.

Jamie:
Yeah... down.

[Laughs]

So after their
excursion to Dumpsterville,

what have they learned?

You know, jumping into any old
dumpster is not a good idea.

You never know
what you're gonna get,

and, I mean,
it could be really dangerous.

It's not looking good
for the myth.

Yeah, but by the same token,
you could get lucky.

I mean,
for all you know,

you could be jumping into the
dumpster of a pillow factory.

I think we should
narrow down the field

to choose an ideal material,
a best-case scenario,

and fall into that.

- And see if it's possible.
- Exactly.

Works for me.

And courtesy
of garbage guru Kevin,

they've assembled
four likely suspects.

What we're gonna do
with each of our materials

is we're gonna put them
in a stack,

and I'm basically gonna jump
on them.

We'll use the high-speed camera
to analyze my jumps.

And for those of you playing
at home, what we're looking for

is the material
that decelerates me the best...

that slows my descent
better than all of the others.

That's the one we're gonna use
for our final test.

Narrator: First up...
potential filler number one.

Jamie:
Cardboard boxes.

We've used them before
on the show for safety,

and they do crush.

You find them everywhere
in dumpsters,

so they might be
just the thing for our test.

Right!

That wasn't as spectacular
as I was afraid it would be.

Jamie:
It did collapse,

and it did soften your landing,
didn't it?

Yeah.
Certainly did.

Narrator:
And alternative number two?

Shredded paper.

Not supposed to be finding it
in a dumpster,

because you're supposed to
recycle it.

But it could happen.



Enh.

Narrator:
Dumpster option number three.

Jamie:
Packing peanuts.

If they use them to protect
objects inside a box from shock,

they ought to work
to protect us from shock.

It's sort of
a neater stack,

but I don't know
whether it's gonna crush

as much
as the boxes did.

Well, let's see.

Not bad, really.

Narrator:
And the final contender.

Foam rubber.

Any place
that makes upholstery products

is gonna have foam cutoffs.

If it's good enough to sit on
or sleep on,

my guess is that it's
good enough to jump into.

Ooh.

That was nice.

That definitely
compressed more.

It compressed more
and was a nice, soft landing.

Narrator: And after taking
a look at the high-speeds,

it's clear the slowest landing
was the foam.

Compared to the other materials,

it brought Adam to a stop
in double the time,

meaning it put
the least impact on his body.

For my money,
I think we're agreed.

- It's the foam.
- Yeah.

Foam rubber is our winner.

Not only did it give us
the softest landing,

but it seemed to be
the most reliable,

the least likely
to kind of move out of our way

when we jumped into it.

So that's what we're gonna be
filling our dumpster with.

Narrator: In this
old time diving disaster myth,

an air-supply failure puts
the squeeze on an entire diver.

So could a mistake up top
mean death down below?

To find out...

[laughs]

...the team has found
the perfect location.

[Dolphin squeaking]

- Hi!
- Hi!
- Hi!

Narrator:
With an added bonus.

Tory:
That is so cool.

And after their brush
with the life aquatic,

it's down to business.

Kari: We're at Six Flags
Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo,

where they have a diving tank
that's deeper

than any pool we can find.

So we figured
this is the best place

for us to do all of our
small-scale testing.

- [Laughs]
- He survived the trip.

Oh, cool.
You painted him red.

Yeah, that way
if something does happen,

we'll be able to see
if his body

does get sucked up
into the helmet.

To test this myth,

Tory's going to take our diver
down to the bottom of the pool.

Grant and I are gonna be
at the top monitoring,

shut down the compressor,
see what happens.

Narrator:
Well, what should happen

is a drastic
pressure differential.

As the diver descends,
the compressed air counteracts

the pressure of the water
outside.

However,
when the air supply is cut,

the balance is lost,

and the force of the water
pushes in on the soft suit.

But at only 15 feet under,

will the water pressure
be enough

to squish the tiny diver
into his helmet?

The team is skeptical.
[Duck quacks]

My feeling is, since the gelatin
is the same density as water,

since it's basically
made up of water,

I don't think we're gonna see
much happen.

Kari:
Even though the gelatin

is much softer
than the human body,

I still have
a really hard time believing

that we're gonna get the kind
of pressure it's gonna take

to push the body
up into the helmet.

But that's why we do
small-scale testing.

Narrator: So to put
the theory to the test...

Okay.
Pressurizing the suit.

...Tory takes the diver
to the deep end,

and Kari and Grant pull
the proverbial plug.

Okay.
Compressor failure.

In 3, 2, 1.

That's good.

You're kidding me!
This is working?

[Laughs]

Yeah!

Narrator: Even at a depth
of only 15 feet,

the pressure differential
squeezes mini diver Imahara

like a tube of toothpaste.

Tory:
It totally worked!

It smashed the body
into the helmet.

Oh, my God!

Grant:
That is awesome!

Look at his
freaking rib cage!

Narrator:
And that incredible result

has the team
eating their words.

It worked!
It actually worked!

The water pressure was enough
to compress the suit

and squish the body
into the helmet.

Nobody expected that,
but I love it when we're wrong.

I think we have
a perfect proof of concept here.

We can totally move on
to large scale.

Tory:
I think you're right.

I'm calling it
"coolest small-scale ever."

Totally.

That was awesome!

Yeah. I've always wanted
to kiss a dolphin.

No, not that.
The experiment!

Yeah, that was awesome.

The second we turned off
the compressor,

the guy really did
get squished.

Yeah, but, you know,
there is a big difference

between human flesh
and that gelatin.

And would that
have really happened

if we had a more fleshlike
material?

Well, there's only
one way to find out.

We go full scale.
Who's in?

I'm in.

Actually, no.

As you can see, I'm about to
bring a mini Mythbuster

into this world any moment now.

So I've got a replacement
for you,

and she's going to be great.

But I'll see you guys
in a few episodes.

Bye, Kari.

Bye, Kari.
Good luck.

- Hi, guys.
- Whoa.
- Whoa.

What are you, a ninja?

Kinda.
I'm Jessi.

- Hi, Jessi.
- Well, welcome aboard.

I hope you don't
get seasick.

Nah, I'm good.

So, what's the plan
for the squeeze?

Well, we're gonna go
full scale.

And for that, we need
a genuine Mark V dive suit.

We're gonna take it
all the way down to 300 feet.

Yeah, and considering no one
wants to volunteer for this one,

we're gonna make
a human analogue out of pork.

- Sick.
- Did Kari warn you

about some of the weird things
we do on this show?

- Yeah, maybe not
this weird, but I'm in.
- Cool.

Narrator:
Speaking of weird...

Now, in order to go full scale
on this one,

we're gonna need something
more human-like.

So I give you...

Meat Man.

Things are gonna get creepy
around here.

[Mumbling]

Narrator: Actually it's going to
get creepy in a freezer truck.

[Thunder crashes]

So what I have here
is a bunch of pork,

which I've had the butchers
keep the skin on.

This is the meat that I'm gonna
wrap around the plastic skeleton

in order to make my meat man.

This is gonna be so cool!
[Laughs maniacally]

All right, this part might be
a little gross.

[Saw whirring]

[Groans]

Narrator: But luckily
for our squeamish viewers,

that ain't the only way they're
making this test more authentic.

This is an honest-to-goodness
commercial dive helmet,

just like the one in the myth.

I'm gonna clean up the view port
so we can see inside,

change out the valves,
and we should be good to go.

A little help?

Narrator:
Modifications complete,

Grant puts the entire ensemble
together for a dry run.

And to control the flow of air,
he's whipped up this.

The idea with the manifold

is that we are simulating
cutting the line

without actually
physically cutting the line.

The air from the compressor
comes in through here

and goes out to the suit here.

When I want to simulate the cut,

blow open the dump valve
and everything goes "whoosh!"

[Air hissing]

Yeah.
That's good.

So you're gonna cut off
the main air supply.

And put on my ear protection.

Okay. Everybody ready?
Here we go.

In 3, 2, 1.

Narrator:
Barely a breeze.

But that's exactly
what's supposed to happen,

right, Grant?

One second.

Well, it is venting,
which is good news.

I think the thing is,

there wasn't much pressure
in there to begin with,

only maybe 5 psi.

And the pressure on the outside
is zero.

It's just regular
atmospheric pressure.

So when we get
down to 300 feet,

there'll be a tremendous amount
of pressure on the outside

pushing in to exhaust this.

Hopefully that will generate
the squeeze

that we're looking for.

Narrator:
Absolutely.

Because although
there's no pressure

acting on the suit topside,

at 300 feet below the surface,

there'll be 135 pounds
of water pressure

per every square inch.

That's the theory.

But how are they gonna film
the experiment 300 feet under?

Light and motion
has hooked us up

with these state-of-the-art
underwater camera housings

so we can capture
all of the action.

Now, it's my job to make sure
all of them are mounted safely

and securely,
which is gonna require

a little bit of welding
and some modifications.

[Laughs]

Narrator:
As well as the cameras,

the cage will secure the diver
for his descent into the deep.

Bad piece of crossmember!

Narrator:
And while Jessi welds,

Tory has spent far too much
time alone in the ice truck.

[Laughing maniacally]

It's alive!

[Thunder crashes]

Meat Man is almost done.

I know what you're saying...
he's looking a little freaky.

And there's probably
a bunch of you out there saying,

"Why in the heck
are you doing this?

Why are you sewing a bunch
of meat together on a skeleton?

Are you trying to freak us out?"

Well, no.

What I'm trying to do
is make a human analogue.

With this I have actual muscle
tissue, I have fat, I have skin.

I mean, this is as close
to using a human being

without actually
using a human being.

So if I'm freaking
a few of you out, I'm sorry.

Science isn't always pretty.

Narrator: Not pretty,
but Meat Man will be

the best possible human
analogue for the test.

[Eastern European accent]
I present to you my creation...

Meat Man!

[Laughs]

Ooh. Almost threw up.
That's gross.

Narrator:
And while he stays on ice...

[thunder crashes]

...a similar-sized stand-in...

You okay in there?

...steps up
to test Jessi's cage rig.

Oh, yeah.

I'm like a cage dancer.
Yeah.

- Should we go to lunch?
- Yeah.

- Good job.
- Okay. Get me out of here.

Thanks for your help.

Oh, totally not cool.

So not cool!

Dumpster diving,
Hollywood-style.

We know that you
can survive a fall

from a reasonably high height

if you've got
the right technique

and your landing is soft enough.

But after rooting around
in three random dumpsters,

we've failed to find them

consistently full of soft-enough
stuff for a safe landing.

Ow.

However, after some scale tests
here in the shop,

we have chosen an ideal material
to fill our dumpster with,

and soon we're gonna find out

if you can survive a fall
into this.

We know it's safe
to fall into an air bag,

but we don't know whether it's
safe to fall into a dumpster.

That's where Buster comes in.

But wait!

We're not at that point
in the story yet.

First we need a safety control.

Which is why we're putting
accelerometers all over Buster.

These accelerometers
will yield for us

a graphical representation
of Buster's deceleration

into the air bag.

And it is this graph
against which

we'll compare Buster's dumpster
dive to make sure it's safe.

Narrator: Buster's living up
to his name

as a "trash-test" dummy...

Now, I have a plan.

...by finding out
the deceleration

of a safe fall into an air bag.

Thank goodness he's got an innie
and not an outie, huh?

Then they'll compare
the accelerometer data

with his dive
into a dumpster full of foam.

And with the accelerometers
in position,

Buster is hoisted to 20 feet
to take his dive.

You ready for this?

Ready when you are.

All right.

Okay. Safety control...
dummy into air bag.



A perfect 10!

Works for me.

Nice work, Buster!

Okay.
Go ahead and hook her up.

Let's see what we got.

And it figures
that the figures are good.

The accelerometers
worked like a charm,

and this graph right here
is a safe drop into the air bag.

Let's hope we get the same thing
out of the dumpster, huh?

Yeah.

Yep, now the Mythbusters have
the data for a safe landing.

Buster registered 11.4 G's
on that test.

A "G" is one Earth's gravity,

so that means that Buster
weighed 11.4 times as much

as he normally does
when the air bag stopped him.

Now, we know that you can
get up and walk away

from a jump like that.

What we need to know now
is how this compares

to our best-case scenario...

jumping into a dumpster
full of foam.

This is our dumpster.

It's empty right now,
but soon we're gonna fill it

full of the softest stuff
that we've been able to find,

and Buster's gonna jump into it
to make sure it's okay for us.

[Grunts]

R2! I need you to shut down

all the compactors
on the detention level!

If you've got to jump
into a dumpster,

this right here
would be you'd call

a best-case real world scenario.

Narrator:
But is it a best-case scenario

that you could walk away from?

If Buster doesn't survive
a fall into this,

this movie myth is busted.

Adam: Data collection...
dummy into foam.

In 3, 2, 1!

[Laughs]

That looks like
it's viable.

And a closer look at the data
backs Adam up.

The foam resulted
in 9.9 G's.

Wow.

It's effectively the same,

even a little more gentle
with the foam.

Yep, from 20 feet,

Buster's impact into the foam
was 1.5 G's fewer

than his fall into the air bag,

meaning that the foam
actually worked better

to maximize his deceleration
and keep him from injury.

I'm pretty impressed
with the foam.

I'd say that
that is a survivable fall.

Maybe even comfortable,
and the data backs it up.

Can I be the one to do the jump?
Can I do the jump in here?

You don't have some kind
of a costume, do you?

Yeah, I do.

I thought so.

Can I do it?!

Knock yourself out.

Yes!

All right.
Camera mounts, check.

Diving-helmet mounts, check.



Dive suit, check.

Helmet, check.

And finally,
Meat Man is done.

Now it's time to take all these
things out to the ocean,

take 'em down 300 feet,

and find out whether or not
Meat Man will get the squeeze.

Narrator: So to do that,
it's off to Santa Cruz Harbor,

where the experts
from North Coast Divers

will take them out to sea.

So, are we good to go?

We are.
Conditions are perfect.

Narrator:
But before they test the waters,

the Wizard of Odd
has to give Meat Man a heart.

Since the chest is the only
thing that is compressible

on a human being,
especially in this experiment,

it's important we have something
inside the chest cavity.

Right now, it's hollow.

So what we need to do is fill
him up with some kind of organs,

guts, blood, so that way,
if we do get that squeeze,

we'll be able to see it
come sh**ting into the helmet.

So I have some hearts.
I got some livers.

I have some fake blood.

I'm gonna fill up this chest,
sew him back up,

and we can get him
into the suit.

[Chuckles]

I have no idea what that is,
but it's going in.

Narrator: Meat Man really puts
the "meat" in "team."

Finally, it's out
to the open ocean,

with Meat Man
safe inside his suit...

at least for now.

If you see any sharks,
play dead.

And once they're in
deep enough water...

Grant: Jim, how are we doing?
Are we almost there?

We're in 300 feet of water
right now.

We've got lots of deep water
behind us

when we drift that way.

We're ready to go.

...preparation for launch
begins.

Yeah. Beauty.

Grant:
Now, it's not as simple

as just hanging Meat Man
over the side of the boat

and letting him drop
to 300 feet.

As he makes his descent,

the pressure
pushing in on the suit

goes up by .445 psi
every foot.

So in order to compensate
for that,

I'm gonna have to add air in
through this hose

and push back out.

Now, I've calibrated this gauge

to the approximate psi
that I need versus the depth.

Okay, so we're not relying
completely on Grant's math.

We have a live-video feed
from an ROV

that's gonna be
traveling around the cage,

and we also have a live link
from a camera

that's already mounted
on the cage as well.

So if the suit inflates
too much or too little,

we should be able to see
everything very easily

from sitting right here.

Grant: Okay, watch those cables
over there.

Tory: Hold it.

Man: Drop it.

- All right, let's drop it.
Jessi: Okay.

And Meat Man is in the water.

Bye-bye, Meat Man.

Say hello
to Davy Jones.

[Whirring]

Let's go maybe 30 feet at a time
just to see what happens.

Narrator:
With cameras rolling,

the diver is painstakingly
lowered into the drink

to, uh, "meat"
his deep-sea fate.

What's your depth, Jessi?



Copy that.

Narrator: But as they monitor
his slow descent,

the team is skeptical
of a full-body squeeze.

I honestly think

that there's gonna be
some juices flowing,

but I don't think it's gonna
suck the skin off his bones.

Grant: I don't think
the whole body is gonna come up.

I mean, there's a lot of meat
down there.

I don't think all of that's
gonna come to the helmet.

Tory: If my calculations
are correct,

we're almost
a third of the way down.

Looks like we are right on.



Narrator:
Two-thirds of the way down,

and everything is going
according to plan.

How is he holding up?

Yes.
Looks good so far.

Jessi: 235 feet
and it's getting really dark,

thank God we've got all those
lights all over the place.

Grant:
Okay. That's 300 feet.

Okay.
Stop the cage.

Narrator: At that depth, there's


pressing on every square inch
of the diving suit.

The only thing keeping the water
at bay is the compressed air.

So will cutting the air supply
lead to a spectacular squeeze?

There's only one way
to find out.

All right, you guys.
How's the suit holding?

It is looking great,
and we are at 300 feet.

Yes! All right.
Let's do it. Ready?

- You ready?
- Yeah.






[Air hisses]

Moment of truth, huh?

Yep.

You ready?

I am.

Actually, it looks like
it's gonna be fun.

Well, just remember,
this is about a chase scene,

so when you hit the foam,
you can't just lie there.

You got to get up
and take off.

That's great. Absolutely.
I will do precisely that.

That makes it
even more fun.

More fun
and more complicated.

Remember, this is
all about deceleration.

The principle
is that the foam

will bring Adam to a stop
gradually,

meaning he comes out
injury-free.

But so far,
that's just a theory.

A miscalculation here
could spell disaster.

Our jump height is 20 feet.

Now, that may not sound
like a whole lot,

but that's a two-story house.

And if you jump that without
something soft to catch you,

you're gonna be going so fast

that you're gonna have
some serious damage.

[Exhales deeply]

It's a long way down.

And, I mean,
although we've eliminated

any washing machines
or anvils in there,

it is still just
a dumpster full of garbage.

I mean, I've been trained,

I'm no longer as scared looking
over this ledge as I once was,

and the dummy says
it's gonna be safe.

So there's nothing to do now
but go for broke.

Narrator: But there's no time
to dwell on the danger,

'cause it's lights...

Camera...

And... action.

[Suspenseful music plays]

Getting my g*n out.

Eat your heart out, Hollywood.

Adam nailed the dumpster dive.

And as he makes his getaway...

...he'll live to see
another day.

[Dramatic music plays]

Hey.

So, how are you doing?

I'm doing good.

Fingers all there?
Everything all right?

Yeah. Little bit
of an adrenaline rush.

But it worked
beautifully.

It's actually a lot softer
than the air bag.

- Nice work.
- Thank you.

[Exhales deeply]

And that, as they say,
is a wrap.

Well, I think the call
on this one is pretty clear.

Yep.
It's plausible.

As long as the contents
of the dumpster are soft enough.

The thing is,

you're not gonna really know
what's in there

until it's too late.
- Until it's way too late.

Plausible,
but not recommended.

Let's get out of here.

[Beeping]

You're good
at dumpster diving,

but not so good
with the scissor lift.

[Laughs]

Five miles
off the coast of California,

a very strange occurrence
is going down.

Tory: We are about to find out
whether or not

this deep-sea diving myth
is true or not.

Ever since I heard this story,
I was like, "How crazy is this?"

This deep-sea diver
is down 300 feet.

He loses the pressure
in his suit,

and he actually gets squeezed
and sucked up into his helmet.

Narrator: The Mythbusters
have lowered their diver

into the murky deep...

Grant: 200 feet.

...making sure that
the air pressure inside the suit

is equal to the water pressure
surrounding it.

We are exactly 50 feet away
from our final destination.

Narrator:
But that's all about to change.

Grant:
Okay. That's 300 feet.

Okay.
Stop the cage.

You guys ready to cut the line
and see what happens?

- [Laughs]
- Yeah.

Ready in 3...




[Air hissing]

There it goes!

He's starting
to squeeze.

Look at that!

- Oh, my God!
- [Laughter]

[Air hissing]

Wait a minute.
Whoa!

Look at what's happening
to his head!

Oh, my God!
His head is... oh!

Yeah!

Oh!
[Rattling]

Meat Man is
in the helmet!

That's crazy!

- Yeah!
- Yeah!

It worked!

[Laughter]

Oh, my gosh!

Narrator:
Yep, the effect of the cut hose

was less than instantaneous.

But once the air pressure was
exhausted, physics took over,

and the drastic
pressure differential

pushed Meat Man into his helmet,
exactly as the myth predicted.

I don't even think
we need to bring him up.

- No.
- No.

Just leave him down there!

Wow!

Look at that.

Look at those side glasses.
Look at that.

That's amazing.

You can't even see
in the helmet anymore

'cause it's covered with flesh
and blood.

Who's gonna clean
the suit?

- Not it.
- [Laughs]

Narrator: And a closer
inspection of our diver

reveals the kind of damage


per square inch can do.

[Laughing]
Oh, wow!

Oh, my God!

Stop!

We totally
caved the helmet in!

Look at all the guts
in there.

[Laughs]

His stomach
is inside his helmet.

Jessi:
Just by the side of the helmet.

- Look at that!
- Dude.

Could you imagine
that pressure?

That is absolutely confirmed.
No doubt about it.

Totally confirmed.

Okay, so I definitely expected
the juices to be flowing,

but I didn't expect
to see them, like,

slowly rise up
through the helmet

and then... pow!..
Where everything...

it was just like an expl*si*n
inside the suit.

Completely unexpected
but totally awesome.

Now, the name of this game
is differential pressure.

They can withstand
a huge amount of pressure

when they're equalized.

But the second you take away all
the pressure on the inside...

[rattling]

...crush.

You can see this is what's left.

Tory:
I saw it with my own eyes.

I still can't believe
that this actually happened.

This one is completely
confirmed.

Jessi: I'm sorry, Meat Man,
but it was totally worth it!

Grant: You guys ready
to get out of here?

Tory:
Yeah. Let's go home.

All right, Jim!
Take us home!