Narrator: on this episode
of "mythbusters"...
Yeehaw!
...get ready
to saddle up and ride out.
We put old-west myths
to the test.
Narrator: adam and jamie are
given the okay
To corral some
classic cowboy capers.
I love that.
Can you take someone's
hat off with a b*llet?
[ Laughs ]
Can you bust
your buddy out of jail
With old-fashioned horsepower?
Or do you need something
with a little more kick?
Danger! Warning!
Warning!
Gatkin: three, two...
Narrator: meanwhile...
Whoa!
Yes!
...kari, tory, and grant
Are on a collision course
with a modern motoring myth.
Are you getting frustrated?
'Cause I am.
Can an airbag
turn a lockpick
Into a skull-cleaving spear?
[ Laughter ]
Who are the mythbusters?
Adam savage...
Danger is
my middle name.
...and jamie hyneman.
Behave, or we're gonna
make you into a coat.
Between them,
Over 30 years'
special-effects experience.
Yeah!
Joining them --
tory belleci...
Kari byron...
Don't try what you're
about to see at home.
Narrator:
...and grant imahara.
He's alive!
[ Laughs ]
They don't just tell the myths.
They put them to the test.
--[Font color="#ffff00"] captions by vitac[/font] --
[font color="#00ffff"]www.vitac.com[/font]
Captions paid for by
discovery communications
Now, that's what I call
a quick draw.
Adam,
what are you doing?
Shh,
shh-shh-shh-shh-shh.
What do we got?
Well, it looks like
you already know.
We've got wild-west myths.
Excellent! Like what?
Well, like, can you sh**t
somebody's hat off with a g*n?
You're gonna sh**t
my hat off?
I'm gonna sh**t
your hat off.
[ Laughs ] oh!
Can we break out of jail?
That's the other one.
Yes! I've always wanted
to do that.
Yippee kay-ay.
You wanted to see adam and jamie
strap on their chaps,
So you got it.
The guys are gonna
circle the wagons
And throw themselves
Into busting
some frontier-style fables.
All right, so, which one
do we start with?
Let's start with the hats.
It's perhaps the most famous
wild-west cliché,
As predictable as a stoush
in a saloon.
Right in the middle
of some western-movie mayhem,
A shot is fired.
The cowboy's hat
is gone with the wind.
Is it true grit, or just
hollywood g*n smoke and mirrors?
Okay, I can see us needing
some period-correct hats,
Some period-correct g*ns,
and period-correct a*mo.
Okay, well, I'll track
down the g*ns and the a*mo.
Why don't you deal
with the hats?
Adam's got a fistful
of dollars.
He's gonna do just that.
We've come to the expert.
Bill here at golden gate
western wear
In pleasant hill, california,
Should be able to answer
all of my questions.
Narrator:
bill's hats match those
Worn by cowboys
in the late 19th century.
But this is the style that was
the most popular cowboy hat.
This was?
[ Camera shutter clicking ]
After posing as a hat stand,
Adam chooses eight
classic cowboy hats --
Four wool, four beaver.
But as keen as he is
to try them on,
He's decided he won't be
under them
When the b*ll*ts
start blasting.
Not that I don't trust you --
I know you're a good shot,
But I don't want to let you
sh**t a hat off my head.
I think we should have
a ballistics-material head,
And I think that
both grant and I
Have done our service
as cast heads
And it's time to make a mold
of your head.
I got no problem
with that.
Good.
Jamie takes a seat
on the casting couch
While adam prepares
to tar and feather him.
This is basically the same stuff
that the dentist uses
To cast your teeth.
It's seaweed-based.
Water's the binder.
This is gonna get drippy.
You ready?
So, come on
over here, jess,
And help me
keep it up on jamie.
It's gonna drip down
past his shoulders.
Don't get it
near his mouth.
Narrator: the alginate goes on
like campfire beans.
Getting
your left eye, jamie.
Only his mouth is left uncovered
so he can breathe.
[ c*ck accent ] he's like
the incredible melting man.
It's an uncomfortable,
claustrophobic process.
He has to spend
nearly half an hour
Cocooned in his
seaweed face mask.
[ Normal voice ] I'm gonna slice
up the back of your head.
Uh-huh.
Here it goes.
We're gonna start
peeling this off.
Oh, oh, oh. It's good.
It's good.
Is it moving?
Uh-huh.
Let's clear his ears.
Excellent.
Ears off here.
And you're free.
Excellent.
You can
go get cleaned up.
That was
kind of unpleasant.
Narrator: the alginate
deteriorates quickly,
And adam has to race the clock
To get
the ballistic bust finished.
But a few cracks
are starting to appear.
[Bleep] this whole thing
is going crazy on me.
Narrator: with time running out,
He sticks the mold together
using silicone and straps.
Adam: complete failure.
Narrator:
but all the king's horses
And all the king's men
Won't be able to rescue adam
this time.
As he pours the molten
ballistics gel,
The mold cracks like an egg.
[Bleep] you want to get me
some foil tape?
And the yolk's on him.
Pretty much total, total failure
in every way possible.
I haven't failed this badly
in a long time.
It's all right, adam.
It's been said when they made
jamie, they broke the mold.
You've just gone
and done it again.
Now it's over to the good,
the bad, and the ugly.
I'll let you decide who's who.
Okay, so, lockpick of death?
What is that?
This one's actually
an airbag myth.
The scenario is a guy
is breaking into a car,
Using one
of those flat lockpicks,
Triggers
the side airbag.
The airbag explodes,
Launching the lockpick
through his skull.
Sweet.
Sweet.
Narrator:
it's another story
From that font of urban legend,
The famous
"mythbusters" fansite.
A would-be car thief is using
a lockpick to break into a car.
While poking
around inside the door,
He unwittingly triggers
the side airbag,
Which expands with such force
The lockpick
becomes a m*ssile,
And the thief suddenly finds
himself picking his own brain.
I think we should learn, first
of all, how to pick a car lock.
Do either of you know
how to do that already?
No.
Well, short of getting
a criminal,
I think maybe we should see
if a fireman can help us out,
'Cause I know they have
to pick locks to get into cars.
Narrator: the guys are going
on a fact-finding mission.
We need to learn
how to use a lockpick,
And we hear you can teach us.
Well, we do have
some cars over here.
We do have some tools. Let's see
if we can actually get in.
Excellent. Let's do it.
Narrator:
at the livermore-pleasanton
Fire department's
training facility,
Firemen do take
lock-picking lessons.
And while we're not allowed
to show you how it's done,
The mythbusters take
careful note of the technique.
All right, matt, you want
to give it a shot?
Kari: so, you are leaning
directly over the lockpick
As you're trying
to get in the car?
Narrator:
it's worth noting, too,
That these guys don't
practice this
On vehicles with side airbags,
just in case.
If you were leaning
over that tool
And the airbag went off,
I could see
How that would launch up
into your neck.
This demonstration shows that
a person using a lockpick
Would be in the correct position
to be impaled.
He's almost got it.
Hey!
Gatkin: outstanding.
Narrator: but would an airbag
really go off
With a big enough bang to send
that tool through your skull?
We have a driver's airbag
out of a small vehicle.
And I put a traffic cone on it
So we can see it a little bit
better going up in the air.
And we're gonna launch it.
Do not try this at home.
[ Laughter ]
do not.
The airbag's rigged
for remote ignition.
Everybody ready?
Hey, we're ready.
Three, two, one!
Yeah!
Run!
Good. Good shot.
Gatkin:
the leading edge of this bag
Is coming at you
about 500 miles an hour.
It's deploying in about
a quarter of a millisecond,
And then it deflates
almost immediately.
Kari:
how cool was that?
I mean, those airbags
must have shot the cones
Like 50 feet
in the air.
That's 'cause, technically,
they are expl*sives,
Which is ironic because
they're meant to save your life,
But they go off right
in your face.
What happens is,
Sensors on the car
detect a crash...
They ignite the airbag,
Which inflates
a nylon fabric bag full of gas
In a split second.
Narrator:
one thing's for sure --
These firefighters have
failed to hose down
Speculation about this myth.
Tory:
these things are powerful.
I mean, I can see how this
whole thing might work.
All right.
Let's get going.
We can get some lockpicks
on the way home.
Narrator: when a cowboy's hat
takes a b*llet in hollywood,
It takes flight
like a startled bird.
Does the science stack up,
Or are those hats flying
in the face of physics?
Our own butch and sundance
aim to find out.
Are you ready?
And as we know, the mythbusters
always feel right at home
On the range.
[ g*n clicks ]
what happened?
You must be frank.
That's my name.
Narrator: frank tabor is a
wild-west-firearms aficionado.
How do you do?
Narrator: frank's wagon contains
an arsenal of archaic weapons.
Adam: frank has brought
so many options for us,
From long rounds, short rounds,
black-powder, smokeless r*fles.
Let's do it.
Narrator: our hollywood
hard guys use handguns,
So adam and jamie select
an 1860 army colt revolver.
If that doesn't work,
They'll try a winchester
lever-action r*fle.
I love that.
The weapons are authentic.
The eight target hats
match those worn by real cowboys
In the real wild west.
Nice, high crown.
It should be easy to sh**t
and miss the head.
You ready?
Yeah, let's do it.
That's pretty darn good.
All right. You want to take
the first shot?
Sure.
First up, the oldest firearm,
the revolver.
Range is hot.
[ g*nshots ]
Adam: that was perfect,
right through the top.
It didn't take it off.
No, it c*ck it
a little bit to the side.
The b*llet left the muzzle
at 750 feet per second.
In b*llet terms,
that's not fast.
But it was still fast enough
to drill a neat hole
Straight through the crown.
You got a lot of leverage
out of that. See?
The b*llet went in here and tore
out through the top.
Again, it was moving
a lot of material.
Okay,
here comes the winchester.
Nice shot.
Look at that --
right through the center.
That did not budge the hat.
It could not be
a more perfect shot.
Narrator:
the hat didn't take off,
But it's way too early
to call it busted.
This is the charles bronson
"Once upon a time
in the west" hat.
You ready?
Ready.
Range is hot.
Hey!
He knocked the hat off!
Narrator:
hang on, guys, let's see
the movie footage again.
b*ll*ts send
these hats sky-high.
Jamie's shot was
slightly less spectacular.
Your hit could not have been
more perfect.
You went through more material
of that hat
Than any of our hits
before.
You went through the brim,
through the brim,
Through the brim,
and through the brim.
Yeah, but it kind of like
fell off sideways.
Yeah, but if you're
the guy wearing this hat
And someone shoots
at you,
You're gonna say,
"he shot my hat off."
Spurred on...
Find the red lady.
Find the red lady, it pays $20.
Narrator:
...our gunslingers take potshots
At their whole hat collection.
[ Laughs ]
right between the eyes.
But those brims hardly budge,
and the reason is simple.
When it strikes the hat,
A small projectile traveling
at around 1,000 feet per second
Doesn't encounter
enough resistance
And rips
straight through the material.
So the question is,
what does it take
To flip the lid on this myth?
Time to pelt the felt
With something
a little more powerful.
[ Laughs ]
Now, that's more like what
we see on the silver screen.
All the pellets
went in here.
All the pellets
came out there.
The bird shot sprays out
at a slower speed,
Striking a larger surface area.
The force is enough to make
hat and head part company.
There's one tiny problem.
But it doesn't quite leave you
able to tell the tale.
It looks like he's got
an acne problem right now.
The dummy's forehead looks like
a lunar landscape.
Jamie: oh, I think
that's a record.
[ Laughs ]
That hat is gone!
He's definitely
not going around, going,
"And then he shot
the hat right off my head!"
'Cause he'd also be like,
"Then he shot the top of my head
right off my head."
It's looking like this
first cowboy myth
Might need to be run
out of town on a rail.
Yeah, you know,
that was fun.
We culled from 15 g*ns
down to the 3
We thought
were most likely.
We had 8 different hats,
Some 25 to 30
different sh**ting tests.
Yep, and the only one that
consistently shot off the hat
Was the shotgun.
Yeah, but I think that's --
It's going a little far
to say it shot off the hat,
'Cause I believe a good portion
of your head
Would be going
with that hat.
I think we can definitively say
that the movie myth
That someone can fire a g*n and
your hat flies off your head --
Totally busted.
Narrator:
could an expanding airbag
Send a lockpick
through a person's skull?
...two, one!
Whoa!
Yeah!
Well, we've seen an airbag
launch a traffic cone
Weighing several pounds.
So what might it do
to a thin sliver of metal?
In order to test this myth,
We're gonna need to get some
car doors with side airbags.
And we'll get some lockpicks
And see if we can set off
the airbags with them.
Yeah, but if this
actually works,
I think it'll be too dangerous
for any of us to do.
Even for him?
Yeah, even for him.
I think we should make
a robot.
A robot?
That's an original.
Shocking.
I would have never guessed
you wanted to build a robot.
Well, hey, we don't have
any trained monkeys,
So we're gonna
have to use a robot.
Narrator: I don't know
about no trained monkeys,
But here's what
we might loosely call the plan.
Grant will build a pair
of remote-controlled hands
To operate the lockpick.
A ballistics-material baddie
boasting a real human skull
Will be leaning over the tool.
When the airbag deploys,
We'll see whether it's curtains
for our car thief.
While grant gets to grips
with his robotic robber...
Danger, will robinson!
Danger! Warning!
Warning!
...kari's going head-hunting.
To properly test
the lockpick of death myth,
I really feel like I need
a real human skull.
A casting just isn't gonna give
me the same sort of information.
So, come to the bone room
'Cause I know that they have
a lot of skulls here.
Do you think it's possible
For a lockpick to be shot
through a human head,
Just from the force
of an airbag?
There's parts on the skull
that are fairly delicate --
You know, the nose,
inside the eyes.
But underneath
is pretty solid.
Yeah, this is -- you know,
There's a lot more here
than I'd expected.
Yeah, I mean, it's -- your
brain's pretty well-protected.
Narrator: now she's gonna make
like the wizard of oz
And give him a brain.
This is sort of a gory myth,
The idea of a lockpick sh**ting
through your head.
So I'm gonna make
a little bit of blood and brain
That I can stuff up
into this cavity here,
And that way -- whoops!
He's fine.
If the skull gets damaged
in any way, we'll know.
Narrator:
kari mixes up some fake blood.
And for the old grey matter...
Kari: that looks a little
like brain, doesn't it?
Just a little?
Narrator:
now, that's using your noodle.
When kari's finished filling
his head with nonsense...
Kari:
brains are made of noodles.
Narrator: ...she puts the skull
inside the grant mold...
I think this skull might have
been bigger than grant's head.
...and pours ballistic gel
around it.
I just can't tell
if it's leaking out or not.
Aah!
Narrator: meanwhile,
the real grant
Is still wrestling
with his robot.
Lockpick sits right here,
in between two grippy hands
With ballistics-material
fingers.
Those are held securely
in two linear actuators
That will move basically
in a straight line like this
Or angling like that.
Narrator: so, we've got
a ballistics-gel car thief,
Complete with human skull.
Tory: oh, yeah!
And we've got
a remote-controlled,
Lockpicking robot.
Now we just need a car
to break into.
Are we sure that the airbags in
here are actually operational?
I think they've already been
set off, to be honest.
Narrator: no, tory, the side
airbag hasn't been deployed.
We just don't know
if it can still fire.
Mechanic thomas hannan runs
a complete diagnostic check
And, not surprisingly,
finds plenty of faults.
Grant:
now, for this myth,
We're focusing
on the side-impact airbags.
Will those faults inhibit
the system from firing those?
No, they shouldn't.
Grant's robot is wrestled
into position.
Okay. Just gonna get
the tip inserted here.
Too dangerous
for the whole lockpick,
'Cause that's what this myth
is all about.
Narrator:
using the remote control,
Grant plunges the lockpick
deep into the door.
Okay, so that is as deep
as it can go in there.
Finally, enter our car thief,
Ready for
a little grand theft auto.
His head's placed directly
above the lockpick.
That's perfect, man.
It's right under
his chin.
All right, let's see if you can
fire off this airbag.
Okay, guys, lockpick of death.
Are you ready?
If this works, we are going
to get a lockpick
sh**ting through
the guy's skull like a spear,
And there's gonna be blood
and udon everywhere.
Here we go.
Narrator:
grant goes fishing.
It's got to be really hard
to pick a lock
When you can't feel
or see it yourself.
No.
I hooked something.
Check it out.
Pull up.
Ohh!
It looks like
it got away.
Narrator: remember, he's not
trying to unlock the door.
It's all about triggering
the airbag.
Are you getting frustrated?
'Cause I am.
But the airbag
doesn't deploy,
And the dummy's chin
is still in one piece.
Grant decides to let his robot
get rough.
Let me get
a little bit more vigorous.
Kari: now, that's good, 'cause
if you were breaking into a car,
You probably would be a little
more frantic about it.
Narrator: grant gives
the remote-control unit
A thorough thumbing,
with no result.
Thomas, how come we're not able
to set off the airbag?
The airbag's actually inside
the car, not inside the door.
Narrator: well, what they have
to do -- wait a second.
What did you say?
The airbag's actually
inside the car,
Not inside the door.
So, you knew this
all along,
And this is
what you're expecting?
You watch us
bumble around with this?
Yeah,
I was pretty certain
That the airbag
would not deploy.
[ Laughter ]
Well, okay, then.
Man: yee-haw!
Narrator:
meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Breaking out of jail --
tell us the story.
Okay, picture me having
been put in jail wrongly
By a corrupt sheriff under
the pay of a local land baron.
I'm rotting away in my cell,
and you've got to break me out.
So in the middle of the night,
you come on your horse.
You tie one end of a rope
to the bars of my jail cell
And the other end
to your horse,
And you pull the bars
right out of my jail-cell wall,
Setting me free.
When you're locked up
in a lowdown, filthy cell,
What are you gonna do?
Easy -- tie a rope
onto the bars,
Lasso your horse, and get
that trusty steed to back on up.
Them bars are just gonna
pop on out of the wall,
And you're free as a bird.
Well, that's how it's done on
the silver screen, any old how.
Yeehaw!
So, where do you want
to start
With this
breaking-out-of-jail myth?
Well, first I think we need
to learn a thing or two
About old-west jails.
Fair enough.
Then we'll replicate
what we learned about,
Put them all to the test.
In fact, there's
a historic old-west jail
Nearby in monterey.
Let's check it out.
Jesse james hyneman's
Come for a peek
at a period prison.
Now, this particular one
was built in 1854.
And I hope we'll learn
a thing or two
About how these jails
were made.
Narrator:
conducting today's tour --
Local historian jim conway.
We do have a jail that was built
between 1854 and 1855.
It's one of the oldest jails
in california.
And one of the most secure.
It was
a state-of-the-art fortress.
Wow, that's a door.
Not one prisoner ever escaped,
and you can see why.
These would be the jail windows
to the cells.
Those sure ain't
windows of opportunity.
They're made out of plate steel.
There's no bars there.
There's no bars.
Well, that's a problem.
The roof
is actually granite, also,
And the floor's granite.
Jamie: so it's like several feet
of granite everywhere.
That's correct.
Bummer.
[ Chuckles ]
Besides,
you'd have to be thinner
Than a consumptive coyote
to squeeze out through there.
This is just a slit.
I mean, it's solid granite.
There's a slit.
There's a bar right here
that goes floor to ceiling.
And then outside of that
there's plate steel.
It's like --
you're not getting through this.
Narrator:
thanks for the look-see, jim,
But the mythbusters
might be needing
Something a little more,
well, rustic.
So, what did you come up with
on your reconnaissance mission?
There were bars on that jail,
but they were on the inside.
I mean, there was nothing
on the exterior of that jail
To tie onto.
There's no way a horse
is gonna do anything.
Well, we are in luck,
'cause while you were gone,
The researchers found us,
I think,
Something that's ideal
for our needs.
Fort dodge, just outside
of dodge city --
An original frontier jail,
Built solely
out of railroad ties.
Is that it?
That's it.
It's got a one-foot window
with four steel bars in it.
They don't go
floor to ceiling.
They're only augured
in about an inch, inch and half
At the top
and the bottom.
And as you can see, it's, like,
the perfect size for us.
Works for me.
We can totally build this,
And we can totally
try and destroy it.
Okay.
The weeds around these parts
might not tumble,
But this old abandoned
military base
Sure has the feel
of a ghost town --
That is,
till the mythbusters ride in.
Yeehaw!
Ride 'em, cowboy.
We're gonna build a jail,
frontier-style,
Out of railroad ties.
We're gonna auger some bars
into a small window,
And jamie and I are gonna try
to break out of that jail.
Narrator: using authentic
building materials,
The mythbusters set about
replicating the fort dodge jail.
Adam:
all right, so I'm thinking --
The jail we're trying
to replicate
Had a window that's
about 12 inches square.
These beams are just a little
over six inches high.
A window of maybe about
Okay.
Adam: oh.
Yeah, there we go!
Now I'm in a rhythm.
Whoo!
Oh, my god!
I'm gonna be sore tomorrow.
Narrator: it's basic
frontier construction --
No mortar, no nails,
Just a round peg
in a round hole.
Yeah, I know you might be
yelling at your tv right now
That this doesn't look like
a jail that you've been to,
But this is an exact replica
Of the fort dodge jail
built in 1865.
Now, we didn't construct
the entire jail.
We just constructed one wall,
which we braced with steel.
But the bars are
in accurate spacing.
They're accurate size.
They are accurate material.
And we're gonna try
and pull them out of that wall.
Narrator:
luckily, a couple of hombres
Are willing to let adam and
jamie use their trusty steeds
To test this cowboy cliché.
You must be our cowboy
That's gonna help us
break out of jail.
That's correct.
I'm old buckaroo.
Old buckaroo.
Adam.
Ozark outlaw.
Ozark outlaw.
Who are these guys?
This is snakey poo,
the wonder horse.
Hey, handsome,
how you doing?
And this guy?
This is sully.
He's a 17-year-old
rope horse.
Narrator: our own horse
whisperer is gonna saddle up
For the first jailbreak attempt.
I'd love to attach a scale
Between the bars and you
and the horse
So I can tell
how many pounds of force
You're putting on pulling
those bars out with the horse.
Okay.
Well, let's set it up.
All right.
You got it,
or you need my help?
Nope,
you can stay right there.
All right.
Where do you want to go?
[ Horse neighs ]
Adam throws a rope
around the bars
And ties the other end
to a force gauge.
A second rope links the force
gauge to jamie's saddle.
All right,
so, are we ready?
Whenever you're ready,
sir.
All right,
let's break me out of jail.
Come on, boy.
That's it. Come on.
Jamie gets snakey poo
to back on up.
The horse strains
against the rope,
But those bars ain't
so much as bending.
This is only putting
about 400 pounds on it.
Right to the saddle.
The saddle wants to go
one way or another.
It's not designed
to do anything
Other than hold a person
on there.
And it was in the process
of pulling the saddle off.
Next up --
two cowboys on the bars.
All right.
Cowboys, break me out of jail.
We got ourselves
two lots of heaving horse flesh.
Come on! Hyah! Hyah!
Come on!
But it looks like our inmate
is staying in for the evening.
Well, we're up
to about 500 pounds.
Actually, we just busted --
yeah, we just busted 500 pounds.
Maybe we need to use something
other than a horse.
In fact, I got something
over here that I think we can --
We might be able to do
a little bit more than that.
Jamie wheels out some --
yes, you guessed it --
Modern horsepower.
Jamie:
what we've got here is a machine
That actually weighs as much
as a single good-sized horse,
And we don't have to worry about
yanking the saddle off of it
Or breaking the horse's back
or something like that.
We can actually get it rolling
and jerk on these bars a little.
Narrator: the rope is attached
to the all-terrain vehicle,
And jamie digs in his spurs.
What was that?
You got up to 900 pounds,
but then the rope broke.
I think we're gonna need
a stronger rope.
That's almost twice
the amount of horse force
Our four-legged friends
were able to generate.
The better blue rope.
This rope is rated
for 6,000 pounds.
Okay.
Whenever
you're ready.
Narrator:
seems like the guys
Are just spinning
their wheels.
Jamie:
what did we get up to?
I think we broke 1,000 pounds.
I think you put
like 1,200 pounds on it.
Well, our modern
Was able to put on
well more than double
The amount of pulling force
the two horses did.
And still our jail is in place.
And we exceeded
what our scale could measure.
So it's time to bump
up to a new scale,
And we have one more vehicle,
I think,
Which we can test
this myth with.
[ Beeping ]
yee-haw!
I think this ought to do.
So, the sling on the the bars
is rated to 16,000 pounds.
The scale can measure
up to 20,000 pounds.
Jamie: that thing weighs
about 28,000 pounds.
I'd say we've got enough force
to apply to this myth.
Narrator:
cowboys had their horses.
[ Engine turns over ]
Jamie has
a giant mechanical workhorse.
Will this rip out the bars
and set our friend free?
The sling goes taut.
Once again,
the bars don't buckle.
But the steel beams
supporting the wall do.
Those bars
aren't going anywhere!
And the whole structure
starts to come down.
Wall failed at 4,000 pounds,
and the bars haven't budged.
Is a lot of horses.
That's a lot more
than what we see in the movies.
And this is
the most makeshift jail
That our researchers could
turn up for this myth.
Well, I guess
I'm still stuck in jail.
My avocado crop's
gonna rot.
Whoa, not so fast, adam.
We're not ready to give up
On a wild-west prison break
just yet.
Narrator:
after trying in vain
To trigger some airbag
bloodshed with a lockpick...
What is it doing?
...the mythbusters
have discovered
That a side airbag is not
actually inside the car door.
It's in the car,
hidden behind the upholstery.
Hannan:
this is the airbag.
Okay, well, it seems that
jiggling around the lockpick
Isn't enough
to set off the airbag.
This one is looking busted.
Not so fast.
Now, we know that airbags
are set off by impact.
What if the crook is
creating his own impact,
Like he gets really mad and just
starts kicking the door?
That is a great idea.
But, you know,
I think it's too dangerous
For any one of us
to kick the door.
So what I'll do is I'll modify
the sword-swinging rig
And turn it
into a kicking machine.
Yeah!
A super-kicking rig!
Yeah!
I like it!
Narrator: so, scenario "b" --
unable to break into the car,
Our frustrated felon
kicks the door,
And that impact triggers
the airbag,
Really giving him a problem
to get his head around.
This air-powered rig
has been used
To swing swords
and heft hammers.
Now the shoe's
on the other foot.
Who's gonna lose
their teeth today?
We need to make sure
our rig is calibrated
To what a human
can actually kick.
Kari and tory take turns
sinking the boot
Into a force plate.
Anytime, actually.
That's -- you peaked
at 485 newtons.
Imagine what I could do
if I had steel toes.
You ready?
Yep.
That was a good one.
You peaked
at 1,056 newtons,
More than twice
what kari did.
Oh, my gosh.
Wow.
I think I might have done
twice as much damage to my foot.
Narrator:
That's what the kick rig
has to match.
Air pressure of 25 pounds
per square inch
Will get the job done.
So we're gonna keep
the head in place.
We're gonna keep
the lockpick in place.
And now we're gonna bring
in a machine
To do a little kicking.
Narrator:
is 1,000 newtons of force
Enough to set off
a side airbag?
Is the lockpick about to burrow
into our dummy's brain?
They're about to take a punt.
Whoo-hoo!
Well, the rig is.
Here we go.
In three, two, one.
Whoa!
We just dented
the car door.
The airbag didn't deploy.
The lockpick didn't launch.
That dummy's
still got his head together.
I say we ramp it up
from 25 to 125.
Yeah!
So, way beyond anything
any human could possibly do.
Superhuman.
Narrator: kari ups the air
pressure to 125 p.s.i.
We're closing in on 100.
That boot's about to get
five times more forceful.
All: whoa!
[ Laughter ]
Kari: oh, my god!
Look at this.
Grant: what happened?
Nothing.
Did he kick himself
in the head?
Narrator:
the car might not be intact,
But the car thief's
only a little shaken up.
Well, kicking the door
does not set off the airbag.
In any way at all.
And that was
at superhuman strength.
As a last resort,
they rig the airbag
To go off remotely,
With the lockpick
and the dummy in position,
Just to see what would happen.
Two, one.
Well, I think
that answered the question.
Narrator:
and there you have it --
Lockpick and airbag are
not in the same vicinity.
So this one's double busted.
Not only can a lockpick not
set off a side-impact airbag,
But an impact from a human
can't set it off, either.
Well, the airbag is
deploying inside the car.
The direction is not up
towards the lockpick,
So the lockpick would never
get launched into your skull.
It's busted.
Well, that means it's
my favorite part of the myth.
This is where we get
to replicate the results.
I did not make those brains
for nothing.
Narrator: so, to pick our car
thief's brain once and for all,
The plan is to, yes,
build an air cannon
That'll fire that lockpick
straight into the dummy's skull.
To get this lockpick
up to lethal velocity,
We're gonna need as much air
as possible
Going through here
as quickly as we can.
Narrator: the lockpick is set
in a foam sabot,
Which fits snugly
down the barrel.
This is lockpick of death,
the final blow.
Here we go.
In three, two, one!
[ Laughter ]
Oh, my god, it did it!
Yeah! Yeah!
Dude, it shot straight up
through the top of the head!
Dude, it's totally curved
through his skull.
Oh, that is it!
It's dripping blood.
That's what you wanted.
I know an airbag
won't do that,
But I guess an air g*n will.
If ever there was
a "mythbusters" experiment
That does what it says
on the tin, this is it.
The skull is skewered.
Kari:
looks like it took 125 p.s.i.
For me to meet my demise.
Now, that's so far
out of the realm of reality,
It's just ridiculous.
Yeah, you know,
the whole idea of,
In the middle of breaking
into a car,
The airbag going off
And launching the lockpick
into your head --
I mean,
it's just busted.
It's busted.
It's busted like me.
Narrator:
outside of a cinema,
There's no way a horse
can muster enough horsepower
To pull the bars
clean out of the jail wall.
Maybe we need to use
something other than a horse.
But adam and jamie
haven't given up hope
Of staging a breakout.
Those bars
aren't going anywhere!
In their final western myth,
They'll try to remove
the bars using
[Chuckles]
a stick of dynamite.
Question is, can you blow a hole
in the wall
That's big enough
to crawl through
Without harming
the incarcerated cowboy?
Well, we've come out
To the alameda county sheriff's
b*mb range
To do this experiment.
And we're gonna build
a real frontier jail --
Three walls, the last wall
is for the bars,
The sheriff's office --
Out of railroad ties,
And we're gonna try out
the equivalent
Of a stick of dynamite
And see if that
will break me out.
Narrator: expl*sives expert
sergeant j.d. Nelson
Has grave doubts
about this movie myth.
And I mean grave.
Well, I think you could
definitely get in the jail.
Now, whether you can do that
Without k*lling somebody
that's in the cell
Is a whole other story.
Well, that's what
we're here to find out.
Whoa.
[ Laughs ]
Narrator: once again,
they'll base their design
On the fort dodge jail.
Things are moving quicker
than a whiskey shot
Along a saloon bar.
Before you know it, they've
built themselves three walls
And a barred window.
This is like a really cool,
sadistic playhouse.
Percentages on dynamite breaking
your friend out of prison?
I don't think it's gonna --
what?
Hey, get back in there!
All right.
I don't think it's gonna work,
personally.
I give it about a 20% chance
of actually working,
A 60% chance
Of damaging the wood
until we have to replace it,
And a 20% chance that something
we did not foresee
Will flummox us completely.
Get back in there!
For this myth to be true,
we need to blow out these bars
Or the window around them
Without k*lling the guy
inside the jail,
And we need to create
a big enough hole
That he can actually fit
through it.
Obviously, neither adam or jamie
Will be in the cell
when the charge goes off.
I'm coming to bust you out,
little buddy.
You just sit tight
and plug your ears.
It'll be buster's job
to get banged up.
Eh, it looks like the vigilantes
have already got to him.
Buster, if you don't want
to do the time,
You don't do
the crime.
Now, if you were in a jail cell
And dynamite was about
to go off at the window,
Where would be
the safest spot?
We should turn him over and have
him sitting up in the corner.
That's where I'd want to be
If there was dynamite
coming in the window,
Like against this wall,
don't you think?
Buster should be
out of the firing line
If the cell's
showered with shrapnel.
Shockwatch stickers
on his chest and head
Will measure the force
of the blast.
Red registers a shock of 50 g's,
which is survivable.
Orange is
a bone-splintering 75 g's.
Green trips
at a lethal 100 g's.
All inside of his face.
So, the theory here is
if he sustains any kind
Of lethal shock wave
"g" load,
We should be able to see it
in the shockwatch stickers.
That's it.
Our stick of dynamite
isn't actually dynamite.
It's a secret expl*sive compound
That's more stable
than the real thing.
Right, it has the same
properties as dynamite.
It has the same
feet per second.
In fact, I even have it
disguised as dynamite.
The charge is laid.
Don't you try
and break out, now.
And the team hightails it
to a safe distance.
Will buster be busted
out of jail,
Or will our detainee
be detonated?
Okay, we're gonna blow
ourselves out of jail
With one stick
of dynamite
In three, two, one.
[ Laughs ]
Look at that!
Well, the jail's
still there.
The jail's definitely
still there.
Let's go look.
Let's check it out.
Do you think the bars
are still there?
The blast doesn't look to have
done a whole lot of damage,
Not by mythbusters
standards, anyway.
Some of those bars are
coming out of there.
Dude, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Don't pull from there.
Why?
Let's see if I can get out
from inside.
Ah! One bar gone.
Narrator: adam makes
like doc holliday
Pulling out
some loose teeth.
There you go.
That's it.
Okay, here you go.
Now...i'm gonna try
and climb out.
Here -- take my hat.
[ Grunts ]
The bars may be gone,
But is that wide-open space
wide enough for adam's abdomen?
How much
were you gonna bet me
Whether you can get
through there or not?
This is gonna be tough.
[ Chuckles ]
It's that prison food that's
kind of fattened you up.
[ Laughs ]
All those beans.
Narrator:
so, one stick of dynamite
Is enough to loosen the bars.
And it is possible, eventually,
To make it out
through the window.
I could totally get out now.
That's two ticks for the myth.
Okay, move forward.
Move forward -- over here.
Yeah, form a little table
for him.
All right.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!
Ah!
Okay.
Freedom! Yes!
That was some nice precision
demolition there, dude.
Narrator:
but hold your horses, guys.
Remember, for this myth
to be confirmed,
Buster has to have
survived that expl*si*n, right?
Buster's totally dead,
dude.
That's the 100-g trip.
He did not survive.
He took 100 to the face,
and he took 75 to the chest.
[ Laughs ]
I'm sorry, buster.
The concussive force
of a single stick of dynamite
Has saved the hangman
the trouble.
You have
to keep in mind also
That we just barely
blew out those bars.
That was
precision demolition.
You could not have him escape
through that hole
With any less expl*si*n,
and that expl*si*n k*lled him.
This actually worked perfectly.
It worked just like we planned.
But in my mind,
this is silly as heck.
You k*lled your buddy.
And, furthermore, with all this
ordeal with dynamite
And, you know, noise and
potentially k*lling your buddy,
It would've taken me
about five minutes with an ax
To dig a hole like this.
Narrator:
like a frontier town,
Our final cowboy myth has gone
from boom to bust.
So, breaking
out of an old-west jail
Turned out to be harder
than we thought, huh?
Yeah.
Personally, I'd rather have
one of these
Than anything
that we tried.
Yeah.
As far as ropes go,
one horse didn't work,
Two horses didn't work,
And even
our 30,000-pound hauler
Didn't successfully
remove the bars from the wall.
Yeah, and we chose
our design of a frontier jail
As specifically the one
that was most vulnerable
To having
its bars pulled out.
Yep, and expl*sives --
They removed
the bars okay, but...
You're not leaving that jail
through the window.
You're leaving
in a pine box.
Myth busted.
So our two techniques that
you've seen in the movies
For busting your buddy out
of jail -- totally busted.
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05x10 - Western Myths
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A weekly documentary in which two Hollywood special effects experts attempt to debunk urban legends by directly testing them.
A weekly documentary in which two Hollywood special effects experts attempt to debunk urban legends by directly testing them.