Mythbusters 7x09 "Prison Escape" - Discuss and Grade
- Thread starter Hermiod
- Start date
It's not on next week either - typical, after all the joys of discovering the UK was in front, the fuckers go and stop showing the bloody season altogether!
Hmm. The former is a trope of action movies, and I think the latter is right out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon.
On the former, I'd guess it'd be hard without a really good handhold, but potentially doable if the car's velocity is steady. On the latter, I'd say the prisoner's more likely to lose a foot or a leg than to fly over the wall.
Somehow I think that the extra mass of the chain, not to mention the human analogue attached to it, is going to severely impact the cannonball's ability to gain any kind of distance or velocity. I'll bet they have to ramp this up to a ridiculous scale to duplicate the result.
^If the chain doesn't just snap. As we've seen in past episodes, like the police car axle myth and the Batmobile turn myth, things like cables and chains aren't always as sturdy when subjected to sudden stress as myths and movies would claim.
Although I still think the prisoner's leg would suffer structural failure before the chain did.
Although I still think the prisoner's leg would suffer structural failure before the chain did.
Car roof cling: Hey, that's not Buster! That's just some Simulaid. I know we've been through a few incarnations of Buster now, but they seem to have started applying the name to any given human analogue they use, and that's a shame.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that clinging to the roof didn't work under any circumstance. I briefly wondered if the fact that Jamie was wearing gloves might've impeded his grip, but they looked like the kind of gloves that have traction surfaces on the fingertips, so they probably improved his grip.
And I don't agree that swerving would be one's natural first response to having someone on the roof of one's car. My instinctive first thought would be to stop the car. Although I guess if it were a chase situation and I were trying to get away, at least if I were a panicking villain, I might not want to stop.
The hood-cling results were interesting, and I liked Adam's and Jamie's discussions of the physics involved. I guess the lesson is, if a bad guy clings to your hood, swerve.
I liked the gag at the end of the test with Adam turning around to ride home on the hood. Adam Savage, human hood ornament!
The car wash coda was cute, but it was an easy bust.
Prison break/floss: I wouldn't call this one plausible. It would be much slower for a person than a machine, so it'd take years. And that floss digging into one's fingers would be painful. Going through that eight hours a night for years? It'd be worse than just serving your time. Well, unless you're a lifer, I guess.
Prison break/Cannonball breakout: The myths from the fansite just keep getting sillier. Is this really just from one guy, or did they have their researchers check to see if the myth really existed? I miss the first season when they had a folklorist consultant. I mean, if it's just one guy on the Internet, that shouldn't be taken seriously enough to bother with.
One problem that immediately occurred to me was size. What are the odds that the ball would've been exactly the right size to fit the cannon barrel? Either it wouldn't fit at all or the guy would need some kind of sabot around it.
Ahh, at last, the real Buster (or the current one, the actual crash test dummy) makes an appearance! And did I call it or what? Leg torn clean off the body! Although they only replaced the hip joint with a human-analogue substitute; if they'd done the same with the ankle joint, I bet only the foot would've suffered that fate, though the leg would probably be pretty badly damaged.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that clinging to the roof didn't work under any circumstance. I briefly wondered if the fact that Jamie was wearing gloves might've impeded his grip, but they looked like the kind of gloves that have traction surfaces on the fingertips, so they probably improved his grip.
And I don't agree that swerving would be one's natural first response to having someone on the roof of one's car. My instinctive first thought would be to stop the car. Although I guess if it were a chase situation and I were trying to get away, at least if I were a panicking villain, I might not want to stop.
The hood-cling results were interesting, and I liked Adam's and Jamie's discussions of the physics involved. I guess the lesson is, if a bad guy clings to your hood, swerve.
I liked the gag at the end of the test with Adam turning around to ride home on the hood. Adam Savage, human hood ornament!
The car wash coda was cute, but it was an easy bust.
Prison break/floss: I wouldn't call this one plausible. It would be much slower for a person than a machine, so it'd take years. And that floss digging into one's fingers would be painful. Going through that eight hours a night for years? It'd be worse than just serving your time. Well, unless you're a lifer, I guess.
Prison break/Cannonball breakout: The myths from the fansite just keep getting sillier. Is this really just from one guy, or did they have their researchers check to see if the myth really existed? I miss the first season when they had a folklorist consultant. I mean, if it's just one guy on the Internet, that shouldn't be taken seriously enough to bother with.
One problem that immediately occurred to me was size. What are the odds that the ball would've been exactly the right size to fit the cannon barrel? Either it wouldn't fit at all or the guy would need some kind of sabot around it.
Ahh, at last, the real Buster (or the current one, the actual crash test dummy) makes an appearance! And did I call it or what? Leg torn clean off the body! Although they only replaced the hip joint with a human-analogue substitute; if they'd done the same with the ankle joint, I bet only the foot would've suffered that fate, though the leg would probably be pretty badly damaged.
Good episode with a lot of interesting builds. That crane thing they used to hang over the car looked dangerous as heck. 
I wanted to see a large-scale take on the cannonball escape myth, maybe using one of those several-ton civil war cannons. But I guess that would have just torn Buster's leg off again.
I wanted to see a large-scale take on the cannonball escape myth, maybe using one of those several-ton civil war cannons. But I guess that would have just torn Buster's leg off again.
So who is going to make a can(n)on violation avatar out of this week's episode ? 
For the record
Car Cling was broken down in to several parts. They were limited to 45mph due to insurance concerns. Only the first pair of tests were tried with the windows up and down.
Holding on to the roof with the windows down while zig-zagging - Confirmed. Jamie was easily able to hold on.
Holding on to the roof with the windows up while zig-zagging - Busted. Jamie fell off after the second turn.
Holding on to the roof while making a large turn - Busted. Jamie fell off quite quickly.
Holding on to the roof while braking suddenly - Busted. Jamie slid off and was disorientated afterwards.
Holding on to the hood while zig-zagging. Busted - Adam fell off at only 20mph.
Holding on to the hood while making a large turn - Busted. Adam fell off at, again, 20mph.
Holding on to the hood while braking suddenly - Confirmed. Adam was able to hold on.
Going through a car wash while on the roof - Confirmed. Jamie held on quite easily.
Going through a car wash while on the hood - Confirmed. Adam held on quite easily.
Floss to Freedom - Plausible. The myth was that it is possible to wear down the bars on a prison cell using dental floss. Grant went through several (!) iterations of a robot designed to do the job automatically and left it for a week. The bar was worn down by a fraction of an inch. Grant estimated that it would take around a year to get through one bar, flossing eight hours a night.
Cannonball Escape - Busted. The myth was that an 18th century prisoner put the ball from the ball and chain attached to his leg in to a cannon and fired it, with the cannon carrying him over the wall to freedom. The ball alone flew 80 yards, but when attached to Buster it only flew six feet. Further testing showed that the most likely result would be the complete removal of the prisoner's leg.
For the record
Car Cling was broken down in to several parts. They were limited to 45mph due to insurance concerns. Only the first pair of tests were tried with the windows up and down.
Holding on to the roof with the windows down while zig-zagging - Confirmed. Jamie was easily able to hold on.
Holding on to the roof with the windows up while zig-zagging - Busted. Jamie fell off after the second turn.
Holding on to the roof while making a large turn - Busted. Jamie fell off quite quickly.
Holding on to the roof while braking suddenly - Busted. Jamie slid off and was disorientated afterwards.
Holding on to the hood while zig-zagging. Busted - Adam fell off at only 20mph.
Holding on to the hood while making a large turn - Busted. Adam fell off at, again, 20mph.
Holding on to the hood while braking suddenly - Confirmed. Adam was able to hold on.
Going through a car wash while on the roof - Confirmed. Jamie held on quite easily.
Going through a car wash while on the hood - Confirmed. Adam held on quite easily.
Floss to Freedom - Plausible. The myth was that it is possible to wear down the bars on a prison cell using dental floss. Grant went through several (!) iterations of a robot designed to do the job automatically and left it for a week. The bar was worn down by a fraction of an inch. Grant estimated that it would take around a year to get through one bar, flossing eight hours a night.
Cannonball Escape - Busted. The myth was that an 18th century prisoner put the ball from the ball and chain attached to his leg in to a cannon and fired it, with the cannon carrying him over the wall to freedom. The ball alone flew 80 yards, but when attached to Buster it only flew six feet. Further testing showed that the most likely result would be the complete removal of the prisoner's leg.
By the way, I thought of an exception to the Mythbusters' conclusion that the windows would inevitably be rolled up in the "person hanging on the roof of a moving car" scenario. The exception is if it's a Dukes of Hazzard episode. The General Lee didn't have windows.
Of course, any bad guy would have to be suicidal to cling to the roof of the General Lee, since that car couldn't go two miles without jumping in slow motion over a gorge or something.
Of course, any bad guy would have to be suicidal to cling to the roof of the General Lee, since that car couldn't go two miles without jumping in slow motion over a gorge or something.
An episode or two ago, Christopher, they got a new Buster doll. I didn't pay attention to the one on the hood, but it could be the new one.
Can't believe they called the floss thing plausible. What about the fact that it would take FOREVER, and that at some point a guard or the jailhouse rat would see whatever progress had been made? Ugh.
What about the fact that it's actually been done? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincenzo_Curcio
The bedsheets he used to escape was called Confirmed last season as well.
No, the real new Buster, the crash test dummy with the weird holes in his face, was seen in the Kari/Grant/Tory myth, getting his leg torn off by a cannon. The dummy in the car-cling myth was completely different, one of the Simulaids they've been using for a few years now -- not a crash test dummy but a human analogue used in firefighters' rescue training. I find it annoying to have them both referred to as "Buster," particularly in the same episode. Although I do think Adam called the Simulaid "____ Buster," acknowledging the distinction, but I didn't hear the modifier he used, and the narrator just called it "Buster" as if it were the same "character."
An unsourced wikipedia page isn't very strong proof.
I was a little surprised by the clinging-on-car-roof myth. I thought it would be difficult, but I didn't expect it too be that obviously impossible. Maybe a real stunt man would have done better.
A real stuntman would've been strapped on by a harness, and therefore wouldn't need to develop the ability to do it for real even if it were possible.
As Jamie said, all the force is on your fingertips and there's nowhere to grip. Strength and skill are irrelevant without traction. Unless you're Spider-Man, there's just no way.
Hm, I disagree, it's amazing what people can do with enough training and determination. Professional rock climbers can lift their whole body weight on the finger tips of one hand...
Rocks provide more traction than glass. Also the force there is parallel to the body. If the mountain were made of glass and swerving back and forth, I doubt even the strongest rock climber could hold on. Determination doesn't override physics.
Well, it was just a suggestion. In the terms of the myth it doesn't matter anyway though since Jamie probably is just as talented in holding onto a car roof as the chracters in such movie scenes usually are.
^Indeed. If Jamie Hyneman can't do it, what hope does any mere mortal have? 
