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Coffin Punch/What is Bulletproof 2 |
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Written by river95
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Saturday, 15 November 2008 |
Coffin Punch/ What is Bulletproof 2
Episode #111
Original Air Date: November 5, 2008
Coffin Punch/What is Bulletproof 2
What is Bulletproof 2?
The Myth: Are police badges, MP3 players, pizza delivery boxes, fat, and muscle bulletproof?
The Experts: Jamie, Adam, and unnamed members of the firing range
Memorable/Quotable Moments:
Adam, standing in speechless wonder, at the firing range!
The Action/ Results:
The first part of this myth involved a policeman who was shot at close range with a 40-caliber pistol. The myth says that his badge caught the bullet. So, the guys tried several different kinds of badges to see if any of them worked.
The first one was a sterling silver star, with Jamie’s name and 3.14 on it, as his badge number. Adam’s bullet went right through it, and knocked it off the chest of the ballistics dummy. Then they tried a shield with a copper back and a bronze star. This time the bullet was slowed down, but not stopped. Finally, they tried a nickel badge with a bronze star. This time, the badge actually did catch the bullet! Adam was speechless as he held the badge for the camera to see! This myth is PLAUSIBLE!
Next, there was a myth that a soldier was wearing his MP3 player in his pocket, and it was hit with fire from an AK47 and the music player did not let the bullet go through. Adam fired the requisite gun at the player, and the bullet indeed did go through it. Jamie then pointed out that the researchers had found out a bit more about the story. The soldier had been wearing an MP3 player in his pocket, but he was also wearing body armor. The guys did not label this myth, but Jamie did say that his money was on the body armor stopping the bullet, and not the MP3 player.
Another myth stated that a pizza delivery person was shot at while delivering dinner. He held three pizza boxes up in front of him, and escaped injury. However, the myth did not state what kind of shot was fired at the pizza delivery person. So, the guys tested this one with birdshot first, and while the pizzas did slow down the birdshot, several pieces did make it through the back of the warming container. Then the guys tried buckshot, and all the pieces of buckshot made it through. Finally, they had to find out how many pizzas would it take so that none of the shot made it through. They lined up 15 pizzas in five warming containers, and the buckshot did stop at pizza 14. They did not label this myth, either.
Another question that was asked was if a person could either be so heavily muscled or so full of fatty tissue that they themselves would be bulletproof. So, Jamie and Adam found out that the largest person on the planet had 16 inches of fat in his midsection. They obtained 16 inches worth of cow fat, placed it in a tube with some ballistics gel at the bottom, and shot at it. The bullet went right through the whole thing. They also found out about someone who had 3 inch pectoral muscles and 11 inch bicep muscles. They packed 14 inches of knuckle meat, or top round, into a tube with ballistics gel, and fired at it. The same thing happened, and the bullet went right through. Both of these myths were ruled BUSTED.
Finally, the guys decided to try and make something that was bulletproof from stuff that was lying around the shop. Adam made a non-Newtonian fluid that Rob Lee referred to as custard. Teachers know it as oobleck, and it is the stuff that Adam walked and ran on at the end of the first Ninja Special. He made several layers of oobleck in plastic bags, and shot at it. He figured that, since it tends to become solid when impacted quickly, that it might be bulletproof. However, the bullets went right through it every time, even when he had six layers of it. Jamie fared better with his crushed aluminum cubes. These were made from soda cans, and then crushed into cubes, and layered together with FGR 95 cement and polypropaline. He also added some bathroom tiles that came in sheets. When they fired at the “Jamie tile” the bullets bounced right off, at least at first. The deer slug left a big hole. However, for the final details, Adam describes it best.
Adam: Well, it seems that the halcyon days where we all wished the Jamie tile was bulletproof are all going to go, for the 223 has pierced it completely. However, it is still Jamie tile 3, bullets and ammunition 2.
Coffin Punch
The Myth: In the movie Kill Bill, there is a scene where someone punches their way out of a coffin, and then digs through six feet of dirt. Is this possible?
The Experts: Jon Fitch – a mixed martial arts fighter who agrees to test the strength of a punch from a lying down position.
Memorable/Quotable Moments:
Grant, striking a pose when they dump the dirt in the yard.
The Action/Results:
First, the guys visit Jon Fitch, to measure the strength of a punch without breaking their hands. Tory can’t resist getting in the ring with Mr. Fitch, and he is knocked out quickly. Then they get down to business. They measure the strength of the punch at 1482 pounds of force in a supine position.
Once back at the shop, Grant builds a robot that can punch with that amount of force, while Kari builds a coffin, and Tory builds a rig that will hold dirt above the coffin. When they test the punching rig in the coffin without dirt on it, the robot makes cracks in the lid of the coffin, but does not punch through. When they add the dirt to the lid, the same thing happens – cracks form, but no hole.
Then, Tory re-engineers the burial rig so that it has a trap door that will let the dirt in on the person below – simulating what would happen if you could, somehow, make a hole in the top of the coffin. He manages to struggle out through two feet of dirt, but when Grant tries it with a full six feet of dirt, the convenient hole that formed when there was only two feet of dirt does not form, and then the bottom of the rig collapses. This myth is ruled BUSTED.
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Episode Descriptions 