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Don't try anything you've seen on the show at home.

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We are what you call experts.

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Hail hijinks as Kari, Tori and Grant break the ice.

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Finding out if the mother of all hail storms can ever sink a ship.

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Who are the Mythbusters?

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Adam Savage

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and Jamie Heineman

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I'll be darned.

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Between them more than 30 years of special effects experience, together with Kari Byron

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Grant is messed up!

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Grant Imahara

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Somebody ordering explosion

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and Tori Bellachy

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Let's chop this car up!

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They don't just tell the Myths, they put them to the test.

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Jamie, you did a fair amount of mountain climbing in your youth, didn't you?

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I did.

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Alright, this story comes from the movie Cliffhanger about a mountain climber played by Sylvester Stallone.

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At the end of the movie, he is running across a suspension cable bridge on which the bad guys have put a bomb.

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They set off the bomb blowing up one of the moorings of the bridge and after the explosion, Sly, who's already running, takes two further steps and a final leap to safety.

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While the bridge is falling.

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That sounds dubious.

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I think the same thing and I think that's why we should tackle it.

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It's a Cliffhanger climax.

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When a blast destroys one side of his bridge, our high altitude hero hurls himself to safety.

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But can you really make a running jump on a rope bridge seconds after one side has been severed?

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Obviously, I think we have to finish this story by doing it in full scale, you and me on a bridge we built that we destroy repeatedly.

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Yeah, but you know what?

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I think we should do some bench tests first.

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I agree.

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Perhaps just after the object started falling there's some tiny period of time in which you can get a jump and maybe we can tease that out in scale.

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Sounds like a plan.

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So first up, they're scaling this mountain myth in small scale.

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Well, they'll need a baby bridge.

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That's a flexible bridge.

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A boom to bust it.

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That'll do it.

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And a gas-powered pint-sized piston.

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Hey!

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Now, to stick it all together.

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So we are trying to determine if after you've destroyed one side of a suspension bridge, could you still jump off that sucker?

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And this is the scale experiment we've built to tease this out.

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We've built a real suspension bridge, mounted hard on one side with an electrically activated solenoid on the other that allows us to precisely destroy the moorings on this side of the bridge.

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We also have a jumper built off of a pneumatic cylinder that we can also use to make a jump.

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And that's the pneumatic cylinder that we can also control precisely.

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That control comes from these two timers, which will allow us to control the destruction of the bridge and the jumping of the jumper to within one millisecond.

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If there is anything at all to this story, this rig ought to tease it out.

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Yep, it's a precision bridge drop mini-rig.

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But first up, they're going to do a control to measure the height of the jump on an unbroken bridge.

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Three, two, one.

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And with that leap reaching 22 inches, that's really nice.

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Yeah.

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Jamie jumps in with the plan.

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To figure out how long you've got to jump off the falling bridge, we're going to start by dropping the bridge 50 milliseconds before our mini-atom jumps.

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Now if he's successful at leaping away, we'll add another 50 milliseconds and try it again and keep doing that until he's just falling and not able to leap away.

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That way we'll figure out what our bugger zone is for jumping off the falling bridge.

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So it's time for test one, where Adam's mini-me will jump exactly 50 milliseconds after the bridge has been busted.

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50 millisecond delay in three, two, one.

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Adam sure shot up, but how did this leap compare with the control?

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You like the little pirouette?

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Sure.

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To find out, the guys check the high speed.

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Amazing, he really did jump off the falling bridge.

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Where the news is good and bad.

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Clearly the highest he reaches.

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While their jumper did jump, he peaked at a puny 10 inches, less than half the height of the control.

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I think we're ready.

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So what will happen with double the delay?

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You ready?

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I'm ready.

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100 millisecond delay bridge jump in three, two, one.

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It's starting to get bad at 100 milliseconds.

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Yeah, but he's still doing it.

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Jumping 100 milliseconds after the bridge gets broken, Adam did make the leap, but the height is slashed to just four and a half inches.

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And when they delay the drop again.

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There we go.

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150 millisecond jump, three, two, one.

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It really didn't look like anything.

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A fraction of a second later, there's nothing left for mini-me to jump off.

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Yet in cliffhanger, the hero seemed to have time for a running jump.

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Yeah, but you know what? In the clip, he's not jumping straight up. He's jumping forward.

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Right. Okay, so let's run these three tests again with him angled.

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So to match the cinematic scenario, they change the angle of the dangle and set a new control.

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Wow, he jumped really far.

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Yep.

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And then the delay tests can begin.

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All right, here we go. Angled bridge jump, 50 millisecond delay, three, two, one.

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He's jumping a lot farther at an angle. There might be something here.

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100 milliseconds, one tenth of a second. Here we go.

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But as the bridge plunges further into freefall, they spot the same pattern as before.

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150 milliseconds.

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As they up the delay, the leap length is slashed until, by 150 milliseconds, the miniature myth buster is barely making it to the end of the bridge.

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Well, the results from our small scale tests are interesting, but not necessarily making it look very good for this story.

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And while we found that a life-saving jump off a collapsing bridge is, in fact, possible, it's only possible within a window of about 150 milliseconds.

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Now, will that time change when we go to a full-scale 80 foot long bridge? That's what we got to find out.

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Now, backing down the hatches, because us storms are brewing.

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Alright, I love a bit of hijinks. What's the story, Torey?

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Alright, so this is an old fisherman's myth. Now, the story goes that a hail storm can be so intense that it can actually sink a boat.

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What kind of a hail storm are we talking about here?

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We're looking at hailstones around the size of a baseball.

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Okay, so does the hail penetrate the boat and make it sink because there's holes in it? Or does it fill up with hail and it sinks because it loses pointsy?

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Don't know, but that's what we're going to find out.

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There's no doubt that hail can be hostile.

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Get his ass down!

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But could a boat really go belly up by being hammered by hail? Or is this a classic fisherman's tale?

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Alright, so obviously the details of this myth are a bit cloudy.

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Yeah, I mean, we have no idea whether it was a hail fastball that punctured the boat or whether it was a sheer volume of hail that caused it to go under.

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Well, ultimately, we're going to have to test both. So why don't we start with the puncture theory?

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Alright, well we can't wait for a hail storm. Why don't we create our own?

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We'll get some hailstones traveling at storm wind speeds and we'll fire it at different types of boats.

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Oh, that's a great idea. I can build a cannon that'll fire hail that fast if you guys can find out whether baseball-sized hail even exists.

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Sounds good.

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So, first up, the guys are going to take aim at the sunk-bike puncture theory.

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And step one is to get some ice advice.

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Courtesy of Professor John Monteverdi.

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Alright, Professor, so we're talking about hail.

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What exactly is it?

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It's a glob of ice that grows in the upper parts of a thunderstorm cloud.

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When it grows too large, it will fall to the ground, usually in a large mass.

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Alright, so the myth talks about baseball-sized hail sinking a boat.

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Now, can hail grow to be that big?

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Oh, indeed. This video shows baseball hail.

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And those things are flying. Look at that. It's actually knocking down branches.

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Don't you think that hail ball that size could probably sink a ship?

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I think it's conceivable it could punch a hole in the ship.

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It depends on the material and the speed that hail gets accelerated at.

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So, according to the prof, this stormy story might be true.

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Meaning it's on to step two, nailing the hail.

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We learned from our meteorologists that hail at two, two and a half inches is not uncommon.

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So I've come to the San Francisco Ice Company to do a little carving.

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It always makes me feel dangerous.

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And she's dicing just the right ice.

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This block of ice I'm working with is completely clear because as it's frozen, air is circulating through it.

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Now that's going to make it the hardest that it can be.

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Give us the best possible chance.

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Now I've got my ice blocks. Time to press them into balls.

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The weight should slowly press this into the mold until it's a beautiful, perfect sphere.

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Yep, with her melting mold moving fast, it's not long before Carrie's box of balls are ready to get fired up.

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Hail balls!

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And while Carrie's been prepping the ammo, Tori's tracked down the target.

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A Vasque Scaliwags! We got ourselves a boat!

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Make that targets.

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To give this mid-the-fighting chance, we've opted for a single-hold boat.

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And by using all the most common materials, we've covered all our bases.

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And those common materials are wood, fiberglass and aluminum, all three of which may be tough nuts to crack.

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And that's where the cannon comes in. We've got this valve right here. It's going to go on the tank.

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We're going to run compressed air and have a super long barrel.

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Hopefully with all that, we'll get our hail to hail speed.

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And when Grant says super long, he's not exaggerating.

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We need the whole shop for this.

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Because the longer the barrel, the greater the chance their ice ball will fire intact.

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Oh my God, that is ridiculous!

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How long is this?

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40 feet.

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But to put that idea to the test, it's time for a test fire.

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We're going to be firing hail at different speeds at our boats.

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And we're going to start at 80 miles an hour, which is the terminal velocity for hailstones this size.

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And wrapped in a cloth sabote to ensure a strong seal, the question is, will the hail hang together for the steel plate test?

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Okay, ready for 80 miles per hour.

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God, I hope this doesn't pulverize the ball before it actually makes it out of the cannon.

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I know, this is either going to be a hail cannon or a snow cone maker.

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Okay, guys, ready?

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Yeah.

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Here we go. Calibration test in three, two, one.

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Oh no, that looks solid.

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It's mission accomplished.

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Their slice of ice survived the 80 mile an hour fastball without breaking out.

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But a bump.

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It's like snow glitter.

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Which means it's time to bust out the steel plate and take aim at the boats.

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What?

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Later.

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Oh gosh.

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Will the Mythbusters match Stallone's cliffhanger leap?

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One, two, three.

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In the movie Cliffhanger, our sly hero leaps up as a blown up bridge falls down.

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But back in the real world, the guys ain't jumping for joy.

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Because their mini Mythbusters bridge jump has fallen short.

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It is not looking very good for the story at this point.

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I mean, we are finding a little window where you can get some push-off, but it's a tiny window.

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And honestly, I don't think it's enough time for a human to react to the sound of an explosion.

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I think this is where we need to go full scale because as we move up in size, the mass increases,

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there's wind resistance to consider.

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A lot of the physics change.

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Alright, so shall we go on to building the full-sized bridge and launch ourselves into the abyss?

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Yep.

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Excellent.

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So it's time to launch from a full-scale rope bridge.

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But first, the guys are going to have to build it.

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So this is our bridge.

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This is it.

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They just delivered it.

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1,800 pounds of wood and cable.

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Well, let's start putting it together.

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Alright.

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The guys snap to it.

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They've got a design in mind for a classic cliffhanger rope bridge with wood planks underfoot

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and steel cables bridging the span.

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And making it all happen is Jamie's new favorite toy.

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This thing's awesome.

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I need to attach this cable to all these planks.

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Now, I don't know how this is normally done, but I've tracked down this machine here,

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which is a thing for nailing fences together.

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And it puts down really nice little staples.

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So that's what I'm going to use.

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It's going to make this happen really fast.

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And an hour later, you have a bridge.

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It's 80 foot long, heavy going, freaking hard to push that thing, and ready to roll.

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You know, I think we need to start marketing these and selling them.

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After carefully studying the footage from the film, we believe we've made our rope bridge pretty darn accurate.

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It's comprised of two wire ropes, about 130 pine boards at weighs about 1,600 pounds.

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All that's left for us to do is to attach some railings to this, take it out to location,

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and we start running from explosions.

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Did you hear me?

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I said running from explosions.

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And for running from an exploding suspension bridge, they've got the perfect location.

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Today, we are at one of our all-time favorite locations, the Mer Island Shipyard Dry Dog.

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They used to service nuclear submarines at the bottom of this thing.

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Today, the mythbusters will be stretched to breaking point, because across this dry dog,

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they'll rig their bridge too far before they commence their cliffhanger collaborscaper.

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Our plan here is really pretty simple.

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This is the side of the bridge that doesn't get broken.

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It's the permanently attached side.

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So we're going to weld a steel structure to hold the bridge on this side,

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and then we're going to lower all of this down to the bottom of the dry dog,

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pull it up, and attach it to its permanent mooring.

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Given that the bridge weighs about 1,600 pounds, you need a solid anchoring point.

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So what we've done is drilled holes into the concrete around here, inserted these anchor bolts,

229
00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:54,000
and then we've got this sturdy steel frame that we've welded together that'll get bolted to the concrete.

230
00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:57,000
And hopefully it'll hold.

231
00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:01,000
Indeed, with Adam and Jamie trusting their lives to this bridge,

232
00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,000
having it hold firm is vital.

233
00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:06,000
And thanks to a giant crane...

234
00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,000
Okay, I need all hands over here.

235
00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:11,000
Let's get on this side and flip.

236
00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:13,000
...and plenty of muscle.

237
00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:16,000
Beauty! Oh, it's like a DNA!

238
00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:21,000
With the forklift holding and the truck pulling, the bridge starts to take shape.

239
00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:23,000
Will you look at that.

240
00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:26,000
Just not quite the shape they had in mind.

241
00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:27,000
It's quite a droop.

242
00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:29,000
Oh, it is going to be a hell of a lot of droop.

243
00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:30,000
Yeah.

244
00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:34,000
After a bit of towing and froing, the guys soon zero in on the butter zone.

245
00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,000
Back up about one yard.

246
00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:39,000
That looks like the perfect amount of droop.

247
00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:43,000
And with that, the guys achieve suspension perfection.

248
00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:48,000
It's a real bridge. And all I can think is, I don't want to walk out on that.

249
00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:52,000
And if I don't want to walk on it, Jamie really doesn't want to walk on it.

250
00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:54,000
Oh, gosh.

251
00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:59,000
Get inside now!

252
00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:02,000
Hail can wreak havoc.

253
00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:07,000
But could a hefty hail stone really punch through a boat and sink it?

254
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:13,000
Carrie, Grant and Tori have their 40-foot cannon calibrated and their ice ball is ready to fire.

255
00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:15,000
It's time to go hail versus all.

256
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,000
Alright, that looks good. Let's start firing the hay walls.

257
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,000
And the aluminum boat is first in the firing line.

258
00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:25,000
The boat is perpendicular to the ground and the cannon is parallel to the ground.

259
00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:29,000
Now in this configuration, it's like the boat is getting rained down in a hail storm.

260
00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:33,000
Now we're going to take a shot and see how much damage it does.

261
00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:38,000
And with the hail all wrapped up for the tightest fit, its first launch is at its terminal velocity.

262
00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:40,000
Ready for 80 miles per hour.

263
00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:43,000
But will that be enough to hole that hole with hail?

264
00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,000
Three, two, one.

265
00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:50,000
Well, in a word, no.

266
00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:55,000
Hail versus aluminum boat at 80 miles an hour? No hole.

267
00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:56,000
No.

268
00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:57,000
Ain't that the truth.

269
00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:01,000
Their first fastball barely made a dent, let alone a hole.

270
00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,000
But their aluminum boat is just the tip of the iceberg.

271
00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:05,000
What's this boat named?

272
00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:06,000
Fiberglassy.

273
00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:08,000
Fiberglassy?

274
00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:11,000
Now fiberglass isn't as tough as aluminum.

275
00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:14,000
Good to go. Three, two, one.

276
00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,000
But it's still too tough for this stuff.

277
00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:19,000
No hole, didn't even budge it.

278
00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:20,000
Next!

279
00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,000
So what about a boat made from wood?

280
00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:24,000
Steady as she goes.

281
00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,000
And an old boat at that.

282
00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:30,000
Let's take a shot and see if it puts a hole in it.

283
00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:33,000
Here we go. Three, two, one.

284
00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:36,000
But the hail doesn't hole.

285
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,000
And that's three boats without a breach.

286
00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:42,000
At terminal velocity, their baseball hail has struck out.

287
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:46,000
Now we should, but what if the ice balls weren't just falling at terminal velocity?

288
00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:51,000
What if they were caught up in a hurricane and they were being blown down to Earth at 150 miles an hour?

289
00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:53,000
So it's time to up the ante.

290
00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:57,000
Could the force of a force ten give the ice the impact it needs?

291
00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:01,000
150 miles an hour, this is one serious hail storm.

292
00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:02,000
A aluminum boat.

293
00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:03,000
Go.

294
00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:05,000
Three, two, one.

295
00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,000
Well, not for the aluminum.

296
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:09,000
It can't really hit harder.

297
00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:10,000
You had to hit.

298
00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,000
Nor for the fiberglass.

299
00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:14,000
This ain't gonna work.

300
00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:18,000
So to keep this myth afloat, their wooden boat really needs to splinter.

301
00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:24,000
It looked like it did some damage, but did not punch a hole through it.

302
00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:27,000
The guys decide to take things to the extreme.

303
00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:30,000
So now we're ramping up to over 300 miles per hour,

304
00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:33,000
which is the highest ever recorded wind speed in a tornado.

305
00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:36,000
Now I know that there's not typically hail in tornadoes,

306
00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,000
but what this myth needs right now is more speed.

307
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:44,000
Will 300 miles per hour send their ballistic ice ball through aluminum?

308
00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:46,000
Three, two, one.

309
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:50,000
It's a good hit, but no hole.

310
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:51,000
How about fiberglass?

311
00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:53,000
300 miles an hour.

312
00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:55,000
Fiberglass boat.

313
00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:59,000
Hey, it's like it's snowing in here.

314
00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:06,000
So at 300 miles an hour, all the hail ball did was knock some of the paint off the fiberglass boat.

315
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,000
There is still no hole.

316
00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:13,000
So with two boats down and no holes to show, even at tornado speed,

317
00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:17,000
this myth's chances all ride in their old wooden boat.

318
00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,000
I know 300's ridiculous, but I got a good feeling about this.

319
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:21,000
It could happen.

320
00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:23,000
In three, two, one.

321
00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:27,000
I can't even see it.

322
00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,000
We punched a hole in the boat.

323
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:32,000
It's like perfectly clean.

324
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:38,000
Finally, at a worst case scenario wind speed, their boat failed to weather the weather.

325
00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:41,000
That's just silly.

326
00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:43,000
Or did they?

327
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:44,000
Oh, wait a minute.

328
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,000
I think we got a problem.

329
00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:48,000
I think this boat is rotten.

330
00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:49,000
It's rotten luck.

331
00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,000
They scored a direct hit on weakened wood.

332
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,000
We need to try this again.

333
00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:57,000
So they zero in on a zone that's rot-free.

334
00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,000
In three, two, one.

335
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:02,000
Oh my god.

336
00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:03,000
Did it go through?

337
00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:04,000
I mean, it looked like some serious damage.

338
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,000
It did some damage, but I don't think it punched through.

339
00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:09,000
Damage, but it's not a hole.

340
00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,000
Yeah, that is definitely not a hole.

341
00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:15,000
And you're looking at a hail ball that's traveling 300 miles an hour.

342
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:18,000
As far as penetration goes, the myth is busted.

343
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:24,000
But that's only half the story, because the boat may have been sunk by the sheer quantity of hail stones.

344
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:26,000
Oh my god, it's almost filled.

345
00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,000
But could MassAlone send a boat to the bottom?

346
00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:45,000
In a cliffhanger myth that's high on drama and long on suspense, Adam and Janie have strung a rope bridge to see if you can hurl yourself to safety when one side's in free fall.

347
00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:47,000
That's a bridge, man.

348
00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:49,000
I can't wait to walk on it.

349
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:58,000
I'm about to take an inaugural walk out on the rope bridge, and I honestly don't have any idea how this is going to go, but there's only one way to find out.

350
00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:00,000
Here we go.

351
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:08,000
It's the moment of truth, as Adam takes one small step for man and one giant leap for myth busters.

352
00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:09,000
Woo!

353
00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:14,000
My calves are tingling. I've never had my calves tingle before.

354
00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:18,000
And while the bridge is holding firm, it's not yet all systems go.

355
00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:23,000
Standing on our rope bridge is giving me some real pause about the experiments we had planned.

356
00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,000
It's making me feel a little bit spooked.

357
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:30,000
There's a lot of things that can go wrong with something this big when you're purposely making it fail.

358
00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:36,000
So before we continue, we're going to be discussing and buttoning down every last little bit of our safety protocol.

359
00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:44,000
And that button and down involves testing whether their bridge collapse system can safely drop first time every time.

360
00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,000
It's fully padded. Shall we do it?

361
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:47,000
Yeah.

362
00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:50,000
No mean feat given that it's triggered by explosives.

363
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:54,000
We need to release all four of these cables precisely at the same time.

364
00:21:54,000 --> 00:22:00,000
And so to do that, Matt Herron and his team here are setting up some quick releases with the squips.

365
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:05,000
They're small amounts of explosives that will be triggered electronically so it all happens perfectly.

366
00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:11,000
That's the theory. And once the bridge bombs are primed, it's time to put that to the test.

367
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:16,000
All right. Blow the bridge in three, two, one, go.

368
00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:18,000
Oh no!

369
00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:25,000
Oh no is right. Only three of the four cables break free, meaning that there's a smack literally.

370
00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:38,000
But moments later, the bridge falls fully, entirely and most importantly without any other complications.

371
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:42,000
It's a good thing we did a test run because that's when you work out the bugs.

372
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:48,000
In this case, the bug was a quick release that got jammed and it sort of left the bridge hanging in there, a cockeyed.

373
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:53,000
But now it's my turn to go out on the bridge and do the drop.

374
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:59,000
Yep, with the bridge hoisted back up, it's time for Janie to put this cliffhanger myth to the test.

375
00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:03,000
Armed, of course, with some serious safety supplies.

376
00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:10,000
It's called a yo-yo. It's got a little spring-loaded pulley inside that lets the cable out really nicely until you put too much force on it.

377
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:14,000
And it stops you from hitting the ground, thus saving your life.

378
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,000
Okay, let's go.

379
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:22,000
Janie tiptoes into position and once there, here's how the test is going to go.

380
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:26,000
To test this story, I'm going to start running full speed towards the end of the bridge.

381
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:34,000
Now when I cross that orange plank there, our pyro mat will release the bridge from its moorings here by detonating four explosive squibs.

382
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:40,000
When I hear that bang, I'm going to take a couple of steps and dive for that board and we'll see whether this is possible.

383
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:47,000
Yep, for the myth to be confirmed, that boom step-step leap is the play they need to see.

384
00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:49,000
But Janie's got other concerns.

385
00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,000
I should point out here that what we're about to do is not a stunt.

386
00:23:52,000 --> 00:24:00,000
In the movies, they do stunts. They can use computers, they can do wire removal, they can do all sorts of things that you don't see in the final edit.

387
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:06,000
In our case, we're doing it for real and that implies a certain amount of risk because this thing, it's heavy.

388
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:13,000
It's unpredictable what it's going to do once we get on it. Our lives are at stake and it's worth being really careful with.

389
00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:18,000
Very careful because Janie's life is literally hanging in the balance.

390
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:21,000
I'm hot. He's hot.

391
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:24,000
Alright, Janie, you feeling good?

392
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:25,000
Okay.

393
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,000
On my mark.

394
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:28,000
Hold on.

395
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,000
Just trying to get into the zone.

396
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:32,000
Okay.

397
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:37,000
This is it. There's no turning back.

398
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,000
Okay.

399
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,000
Alright, on my mark.

400
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:47,000
Bridge jump in three, two, one, go!

401
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:52,000
Coming up.

402
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:53,000
Here comes the hail!

403
00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:57,000
Could the world's heaviest hail storm sink a boat?

404
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,000
Do not try anything you are about to see at home.

405
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:10,000
What?

406
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:15,000
In hail hijinks, even a tornado-powered hail stone could not penetrate a boat.

407
00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:17,000
Damaged but not a hole.

408
00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:18,000
Yeah.

409
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:22,000
Alright, so the hail did not punch a hole in the boat. Ice penetration is busted.

410
00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:23,000
Totally.

411
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:29,000
Now, for this myth to have any chance whatsoever, it would have to be the sheer volume of hail that's going to sink this boat.

412
00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:33,000
Okay, well it sounds like it's time for us to put a boat in the water and load it up with ice

413
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,000
and see how much it takes to sink it if it does it all.

414
00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:38,000
Yeah, science is really interesting. I don't know which way this one's going to go.

415
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:40,000
Yeah, me neither.

416
00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:43,000
So solo hail stones seem some.

417
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:47,000
Yet overloading a boat is another way to send it to the bottom.

418
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:51,000
And if a heap of hail could do the same, this myth might be true.

419
00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:53,000
But how?

420
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,000
To find out, the guys hit the docks with their aluminum arc.

421
00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:00,000
Rough seas ahead.

422
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,000
And a plan for one hail of a hail storm.

423
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:09,000
Now we've seen the hail ball, even with a 300 mile per hour wind behind it cannot put a hole in the boat.

424
00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:13,000
But what if we had a huge storm? What if a massive amount of hail dropped into the boat?

425
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,000
Well, that's what we're doing out here at the Port of San Francisco.

426
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:17,000
We're going to throw a boat in the water.

427
00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:18,000
That's perfect.

428
00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:21,000
We're going to make a huge storm and we're going to see what happens.

429
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:26,000
And they'll rustle up that record breaking storm, courtesy of a freezer truck and a conveyor belt.

430
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:28,000
All right, that looks good.

431
00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:31,000
This is our own special Mythbusters massive hail storm right here.

432
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:35,000
These bags of ice are in our refrigerator truck at exactly 27 degrees Fahrenheit.

433
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:40,000
They're going to storm down this conveyor belt into the boat and hopefully sink it.

434
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,000
Looking at that boat, I think we might actually have a shot at this.

435
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,000
Okay, fire up the conveyor belt.

436
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:50,000
Here comes the hail.

437
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,000
Woo, it's coming down in buckets.

438
00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:58,000
All right, that's 100 pounds.

439
00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:02,000
We know the record amount of hail fall in an afternoon is four feet.

440
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:04,000
That's 200 pounds.

441
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:05,000
It's coming.

442
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:09,000
So what we're going to do is fill up our boat completely to the lip with hail.

443
00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:11,000
400 pounds.

444
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:13,000
If it sinks, this myth is plausible.

445
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,000
But if it doesn't sink, this myth is busted.

446
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:19,000
Oh my God, it's almost filled.

447
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,000
With the hail now piled three feet deep.

448
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,000
I see the bus starting to dip a little.

449
00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:28,000
The boat is surprisingly buoyant and Grant knows why.

450
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:29,000
Here's the catch.

451
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:32,000
See, the ice that we have, it's not just one big block.

452
00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,000
It's a bunch of little pieces.

453
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,000
500 pounds of hail and it's still floating.

454
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:39,000
This means that air can get in the middle.

455
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:43,000
So you're not entirely displacing the air as you would with water.

456
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:45,000
All right, that's 600 pounds.

457
00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:49,000
But you can stack the ice higher than the edge of the boat.

458
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:53,000
So at this point, it's not entirely obvious what's going to happen.

459
00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:58,000
All right, that is a whole entire pallet of ice.

460
00:27:58,000 --> 00:27:59,000
That's a ton of ice.

461
00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:02,000
Yeah, and it doesn't even look close to sinking.

462
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:07,000
The guys brought enough ice to recreate the world's heaviest hail fall of four feet.

463
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:09,000
Even that amount is proving insufficient.

464
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:10,000
How's it going, Grant?

465
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:11,000
Are we almost there?

466
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:14,000
Yeah, we're at 2,500 pounds.

467
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:16,000
There's just a few more inches of above water.

468
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:19,000
But by topping up with more ice...

469
00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:21,000
All right, we're at 2 tons.

470
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:23,000
Let's get more towards the back.

471
00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:24,000
Yeah, right there.

472
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:27,000
The boat finally starts to list and then...

473
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,000
It's sinking!

474
00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:30,000
It's going!

475
00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:33,000
I'm sinking the boat with 2 tons of ice.

476
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,000
At last, she's going down.

477
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:39,000
And while the scale of the hail may be unfeasibly large,

478
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:41,000
it is finally mission accomplished.

479
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:43,000
It's coming back up!

480
00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:44,000
That's cool!

481
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:46,000
Or is it?

482
00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:47,000
Whoa!

483
00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:49,000
I think we got a problem.

484
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:50,000
It's coming back up!

485
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:52,000
That's the last of the ice.

486
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:56,000
So we piled our ice onto the boat, piled it on, piled it on.

487
00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:01,000
It's going lower and lower in the water until finally the edge dipped into the surps of the water

488
00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,000
and it started filling up and it started to sink.

489
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,000
And then it popped back up.

490
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:08,000
What the heck is going on?

491
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:10,000
Well, ice floats.

492
00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:14,000
So once it hit the water, the ice actually started to support its own weight

493
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:16,000
and was no longer pushing down.

494
00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:20,000
We did technically sink the boat, but look at how much hail it took.

495
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,000
That's a totally unrealistic amount.

496
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:26,000
And even with this salvaged falling apart boat, it didn't entirely sink.

497
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:28,000
This one busted.

498
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:29,000
Busted.

499
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:31,000
But wait just a second.

500
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,000
Because this myth's got a twist in the tail.

501
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,000
And fire!

502
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:44,000
Welcome back.

503
00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:47,000
We are testing the exploding bridge jump from the end of the movie Cliffhanger.

504
00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:52,000
And in this movie, Sylvester Stallone is running from a bomb on a suspension bridge.

505
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:57,000
The bomb goes off and he takes two and a half more steps before leaping to his salvation

506
00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:59,000
at the very end of the rope bridge.

507
00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:03,000
Everything is in place and we are just about to test this in full scale.

508
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:07,000
And full scale means Jamie's going to need some fancy footwork.

509
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:10,000
Just trying to get into the zone.

510
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:17,000
Because if this myth is true, Jamie needs to make his step, step and leap after the explosion fires.

511
00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:19,000
Alright, on my mark.

512
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,000
But will he even have a leg to stand on in the first place?

513
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:28,000
Bridge jump in three, two, one, go!

514
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:31,000
Jamie sprints, the bridge blows.

515
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:36,000
And in the blink of an eye, he drops like a stone.

516
00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:38,000
Jamie are you okay?

517
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:40,000
I'm fine.

518
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:41,000
Excellent.

519
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:43,000
But did he make any headway?

520
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:49,000
Yeah, pretty much everything I was trying to do came to a halt the minute I heard that bang.

521
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:53,000
It was just no further progress. It's all there was to it.

522
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:58,000
Jamie's right. At the moment the cables are cut, the bridge goes into free fall.

523
00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:03,000
And almost immediately, Jamie has nothing solid left to run on, let alone jump.

524
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:08,000
So the boom step, step, leap combo is busted.

525
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:13,000
But if the guys eliminate the two step start, maybe the Smith will find its feet.

526
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:22,000
We find ourselves wondering if there is a tiny period of time when one could still get some push off the bridge even after it's been compromised.

527
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:24,000
So that is what I'm about to test.

528
00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:28,000
I will be standing on the bridge within leaping distance of the top bar of the bridge.

529
00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:31,000
I will wait until I hear the explosion.

530
00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,000
No one's going to tell me when it's coming.

531
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:37,000
In the moment I hear it, I'm going to push off and go for that top bar.

532
00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:45,000
If I make it, then presumably there is a tiny period of time when it is feasible to leap on a falling bridge.

533
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:50,000
But can Adam's reflex leap succeed where Jamie's running jump failed?

534
00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:51,000
Let's do this.

535
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:53,000
Or is it a bridge too far?

536
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:59,000
Based on my experience, once the bridge is released, the person on the bridge is pretty much done.

537
00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:04,000
So as far as what Adam does, I don't think we're going to be seeing any leaping.

538
00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:06,000
Jamie is skeptical.

539
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:07,000
Yep.

540
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:10,000
And after a few dummy jumps.

541
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:13,000
Yeah, that's it.

542
00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,000
It's time to put his prediction to the test.

543
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:17,000
Scary.

544
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:18,000
Are you all set, Adam?

545
00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:21,000
Adam doesn't know when the boom is coming.

546
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:23,000
I'm in possession. I'm ready. Go, man.

547
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:26,000
But he crouches, focuses, and then...

548
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:28,000
Oh!

549
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:33,000
There was nothing!

550
00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:35,000
There was nothing at all!

551
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:39,000
I tried to crack, and then there was no ground.

552
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,000
There's no grace period there.

553
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:49,000
The fall was so fast and furious that Adam had no time at all to react.

554
00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:52,000
From my standpoint, that was kind of anti-climactic.

555
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:54,000
One moment there was a bridge.

556
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:55,000
Next moment, no bridge.

557
00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:59,000
Yeah, it's like I said, once you hear that sound, it's like a knife edge. You're done.

558
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:04,000
Just like their small-scale tests, the bridge drops almost the moment the explosion happens.

559
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:07,000
There's just no time to think, let alone leap.

560
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:12,000
I know it looks like I'm hanging out over a void, but technically, experimentally, I'm dead.

561
00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:17,000
The moment I heard the sound, I didn't have time to actually leap or anything.

562
00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:18,000
I was just following.

563
00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:20,000
That's pretty definitive right there.

564
00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:22,000
Yep, there's no doubt about it.

565
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:27,000
Once the cables are cut, the bridge and its passenger are going down.

566
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:31,000
This is safety equipment, having kept me alive one more time.

567
00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:32,000
Hi, Mom.

568
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:36,000
And here's why. The moment the cable is cut, the tension disappears,

569
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:40,000
and the bridge acts like a piece of rope swinging through the air,

570
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:43,000
offering nothing for Adam or Jamie to jump off.

571
00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:47,000
This is totally impossible. This thing is completely busted.

572
00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:53,000
It is, but you know, if I was on a bridge and something bad was happening,

573
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:56,000
I would think that I would just hold on to my handrails.

574
00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:58,000
You want to try that?

575
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:00,000
I mean, it's an option, isn't it?

576
00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:01,000
I think it is.

577
00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:02,000
Let's do it. Let's try it.

578
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:03,000
Okay.

579
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:04,000
Still to come.

580
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:05,000
Fire!

581
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:10,000
It's hail on high water, but you'll the Mythbusters get that sinking feeling.

582
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:11,000
We have impact.

583
00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,000
That is definitely not a hole.

584
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:14,000
Totally busted.

585
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,000
That's 6,000 pounds down there.

586
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:17,000
It's still floating.

587
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:20,000
You guys, I think we're missing something really critical here.

588
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:21,000
What's that?

589
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:24,000
We've never fired a hail bolt at a boat while it's on the water.

590
00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:27,000
So do you think that because water is incompressible,

591
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:31,000
that it's going to make the boat flex less and we might have more success?

592
00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:33,000
I'm not sure, but I think we have to do it.

593
00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:34,000
Hey, I'm getting it.

594
00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:35,000
I'm getting it.

595
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:36,000
I'm getting it.

596
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:37,000
I'm getting it.

597
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:38,000
I'm getting it.

598
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:40,000
I'm not sure, but I think we have to do it.

599
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,000
Hey, I'm game. Let's try it.

600
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:46,000
So for this Myth's final, final test, it's off to a fresh location.

601
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:48,000
The water quality control plant.

602
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:54,000
We'll having water under the boat stop it from flexing and make a hail puncture possible.

603
00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:57,000
To find out, the guys will leave no cannon unturned.

604
00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:58,000
Is it in?

605
00:34:58,000 --> 00:34:59,000
Not yet.

606
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:03,000
And to cut to the chase, they'll only test their two most likely boats,

607
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:05,000
wood and fiberglass.

608
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:09,000
Next stop, cannon.

609
00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:11,000
So this is the plan.

610
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,000
We have our wood boat and our fiberglass boat.

611
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:16,000
What we're going to do is place each of the boats in the water

612
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:20,000
and start firing hail balls at 300 miles an hour into each of the boats.

613
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:21,000
Let's have loading.

614
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:25,000
And we'll find out if that's enough to punch a hole in the boat and sink it.

615
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:28,000
300 miles per hour is the most extreme wind speed possible,

616
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:33,000
but in the shop, it failed to fire up a hole.

617
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:36,000
Okay, fiberglass boat at 300 miles an hour.

618
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:41,000
But now, will water underneath the boat create the right conditions for a rupture?

619
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:43,000
Ready, fire.

620
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:49,000
Well, is there a hole?

621
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:51,000
I don't see a hole and the boat's still floating.

622
00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:54,000
While the water did dampen the flex of the fiberglass,

623
00:35:54,000 --> 00:36:00,000
this boat was still too tough to be torpedoed, even at tornado speed.

624
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:04,000
Which leaves them with one last shot across the boughs.

625
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:08,000
We had our best luck with this experiment in the shop when we used the wood boat.

626
00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:12,000
And if we're going to get any sort of penetration, it's going to be with this boat.

627
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:17,000
But if this wood boat doesn't get a hole at 300 miles per hour when it's on the water,

628
00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:19,000
we might see this thing sink.

629
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:21,000
Then this hail myth is going down.

630
00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:23,000
Okay, fire at will.

631
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:29,000
All right, this is 300 miles an hour hail storm versus wood boat on the water.

632
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:31,000
Fire!

633
00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:35,000
Is that a hole?

634
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:36,000
We got a hole!

635
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:37,000
Firework!

636
00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:41,000
Now that is what you call a bona fide hail hole.

637
00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:43,000
Man, it's taking water fast.

638
00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:46,000
Look at that, 300 miles an hour punched a hole.

639
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:49,000
All right, that did punch a hole, but I mean 300 miles an hour,

640
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:53,000
that is a ridiculous amount of speed for a hail stone to be traveling.

641
00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:55,000
Hmm, Tori's right.

642
00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:58,000
Hail has never been recorded at 300 miles per hour,

643
00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:04,000
so if they're to really confirm this myth, they need to slow their hail stone to a realistic speed.

644
00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:08,000
I want to know if just terminal velocity 80 miles an hour will do it.

645
00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:09,000
Let's patch it up and try it.

646
00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:10,000
Yeah.

647
00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:11,000
You ready, Grant?

648
00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:17,000
Remember, 80 miles per hour is the slowest speed that a hail stone this size would hit the ground.

649
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:19,000
Ready, fire!

650
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:23,000
We have impact.

651
00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:26,000
That's a negative on the hole, there's no hole.

652
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:30,000
But this time the water underneath the boat doesn't add to the impact.

653
00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:33,000
But there's one last speed they can try.

654
00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:37,000
And a more realistic speed with downdraft would be around 150 miles an hour,

655
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:39,000
just like our experts said.

656
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:42,000
So, we've repatched the boat, we're going to send it back out,

657
00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:45,000
fire at this boat with 150 miles an hour hail stone.

658
00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:49,000
If that punches a hole, then, and only then can we call this one plausible.

659
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:52,000
Remember, in the shop this test was negative.

660
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:55,000
So, will the water underneath make all the difference?

661
00:37:55,000 --> 00:38:01,000
Alright, this is 150 miles an hour hail stone against a wooden boat on the water.

662
00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:04,000
Okay, fire on my mark.

663
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:06,000
And fire!

664
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:11,000
We put the hole in the boat!

665
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:13,000
It's taking on water!

666
00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:15,000
It's going to sink!

667
00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:18,000
Yep, finally, there's fire in the hole.

668
00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:19,000
We did it!

669
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:25,000
So, we came out here to test whether you could sink a boat with hail while it's sitting on water.

670
00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:29,000
And what we found is that it requires a wooden boat,

671
00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:31,000
and 150 miles per hour speed,

672
00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:34,000
which is a recorded wind speed in a hail storm.

673
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:37,000
And we found that you could punch a hole in the boat.

674
00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:38,000
What does this mean?

675
00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:43,000
Well, it means that it is possible, but it requires an extreme situation.

676
00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:45,000
And that's what we call plausible.

677
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:53,000
The classic rope bridge is the simplest way to span two distant points

678
00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:55,000
when the ground falls away in between.

679
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:59,000
And it's the falling that interests the mythbusters.

680
00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:03,000
All episode long we have been falling off of bridges,

681
00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:06,000
literally trying to imitate Sylvester Stallone's

682
00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:09,000
jump from the exploding bridge at the end of Cliffhanger.

683
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:12,000
And, I'm sorry to say that we have failed.

684
00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:16,000
This one is totally busted, it's completely not possible.

685
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:20,000
However, Mr. Heineman, in his infinite wisdom, ponders the conundrum

686
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:24,000
that if he were running off of an exploding bridge and he heard a bomb go off,

687
00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:27,000
he would merely hold on and see what happens.

688
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:30,000
So that is what he is about to do.

689
00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:32,000
It's a substitute survival strategy.

690
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:37,000
In case of bridge drop, is your best bet just to hold on for dear life?

691
00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:40,000
To find out, they add some cushioning to the cables.

692
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:45,000
I tell you what, it's going to be a lot nicer holding on to that rope than a hard steel cable.

693
00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:48,000
And then Jamie assumes the position.

694
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:52,000
What's going to happen here is I'm just going to run like heck,

695
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:56,000
and when the bridge blows, I'm going to try and hang on to these.

696
00:39:56,000 --> 00:40:00,000
Unless you think the yo-yo here is helping Jamie hang on, it's not.

697
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:02,000
It's merely keeping him from dying.

698
00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:05,000
Dying may be off the agenda, but injury is always an option,

699
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:10,000
especially when you're hanging on to 1600 pounds of falling bridge 40 feet above concrete.

700
00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:12,000
You know, it's kind of unsettling.

701
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:17,000
Like, you know that any minute the rug is going to be pulled out from under you.

702
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:20,000
You know you're going to get creamed, but you're just going to have to do it.

703
00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:25,000
I know exactly what you mean. I felt precisely the same way out there.

704
00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:27,000
So with the tension dialed in,

705
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:31,000
All right, on my mark, it's the bridge's last call.

706
00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,000
Three, two, one, when you're ready.

707
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:35,000
And Jamie, please hold the line.

708
00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:37,000
Okay, here we go.

709
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:46,000
How you doing?

710
00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:48,000
I'm on. I'm holding.

711
00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:49,000
You're holding yourself?

712
00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:50,000
Yeah.

713
00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:51,000
That is manly.

714
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:56,000
It's taken the grip of a gorilla to hang on through the fall and the landing,

715
00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:57,000
but Jamie's done it.

716
00:40:57,000 --> 00:40:59,000
And the next question is...

717
00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:00,000
Climb up if you had to.

718
00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:08,000
Like a walrus on steroids, Jamie slowly inches his way up.

719
00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:11,000
The now vertical bridge has no footholds.

720
00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:13,000
Come on, you can do it.

721
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:16,000
But the Heinemann is climbing out.

722
00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:19,000
If you get to the blue bar, you are a hero.

723
00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:21,000
It's only 16 inches above your head.

724
00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:24,000
You're almost there.

725
00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:27,000
Yet when the target's just a whisker away...

726
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:31,000
Okay.

727
00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,000
Jamie's muscles give up for good.

728
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:36,000
If my life depended on it, I might have made it.

729
00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:40,000
But it doesn't.

730
00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:47,000
Once again, that was a scary experiment that went perfectly.

731
00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:49,000
At the moment Pyro blew the bridge,

732
00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:52,000
Jamie grabbed onto the railings, held on for dear life,

733
00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:54,000
and rode it all the way to the mountainside.

734
00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:56,000
It was beautiful.

735
00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:57,000
There you have it.

736
00:41:57,000 --> 00:42:00,000
I think we have tested this every way from Sunday.

737
00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:02,000
I think we're done dropping this bridge.

738
00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:04,000
So that story is pretty much busted.

739
00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:06,000
It is totally definitively busted.

740
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:10,000
I think the take-home here is that if bad guys are blowing up the bridge that you're on,

741
00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:12,000
don't waste time running or jumping.

742
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:13,000
Hold on for dear life.

743
00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:14,000
It's your best chance.

744
00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:15,000
Yep.

745
00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:16,000
Let's climb out of here.

746
00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:17,000
All right.