Comments on: Episode 79: Western Myths

By: paul wheaton

paul wheaton — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 03:51:21 +0000

Rope based jailbreak: one iron bar, pulled from the middle of the bar, with an adobe wall.

I suspect that that will work. If it doesn’t, then what about working in a stout tree and a pulley: a movie about the old west could be built on stories about jailbreaks where rope was used, but the pulley was left out.

By: Will

Will — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:19:34 +0000

In the movie lonesome Dove, during the cattle drive, they get caught in a storm where a sand storm hits followed by lightning and rain. In that seen lightning strikes the herd and lightning dances across there horns across the hole herd. Can this be confirmed. I have also heard several old time cowboys have also sworn this to be true.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:38:28 +0000

I think the Mythbusters fail to take into account the usefulness of silver bullets.

They’re a lot more effective to use against werewolves.

By: Hook

Hook — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:56:58 +0000

As the owner of a towing company My guys and I open locked car doors every day and have never had an air bag deploy while doing it.

By: Escapee

Escapee — Mon, 25 May 2009 05:10:52 +0000

I think the jail myth is done incorrectly, they should’ve tried to use the ATV to pull out the bar one at a time. As for the dynamite method, they should’ve placed buster away from the blast, as we can see there’s no shrapnel that made it inside the jail.

By: Disgruntled Inmate

Disgruntled Inmate — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:52:23 +0000

As others have noted, the jailbreak myth was not tested as we see it in the movies. Even the animation clip on the episode showed a brick and mortar type of wall, not one made out of wood. Logs bend, giving them much more resistance before breaking than a brick and mortar wall. I think they chose wood over stone because the site Adam visited had granite slabs as walls, which of course is pretty impenetrable. But still, I think the way they tested it was Historically accurate, but not from a movie point of view.

By: JohnnyW

JohnnyW — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:39:33 +0000

A horse can be used to pull the bars out of a prison window and help free the occupant inside: I think, that the prison wall must be made of bricks. Then you can pull the bars out with horse.

By: Emmett

Emmett — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 07:33:06 +0000

Shooting a hat off head.

It should work if they use a shotgun slug.

A shotgun slug is a heavy lead projectile, usually with pre-cut rifling, often used for hunting large game. The first effective shotgun slug was introduced by Wilhelm Brenneke in 1898, and his design remains in use today.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 05:02:55 +0000

As a former body shop manager, let me ask you a question about your side impact airbag scenario.
What if the thief was using the lockpick as we used to: by going inside the window and attempting to use it to move the actual lever of the lock on the inside of the vehicle? If that was the case, it is possible to have the lockpick ’shot’ IF the airbag was activated. As for how it is possible for it to be activated, I don’t know.
Just the thoughts of one guy, but I think it isn’t as easily busted as you communicated.

By: Gary

Gary — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:15:43 +0000

I am an American and I watch your show everyday in Uganda, Africa. I watched your episode where you took some rings and punched the pig. You showed that no marks were left on the pig. I think you produced the rings incorrectly. If you look at these Harley type rings you’ll see that the y have ridges and the ones y’all made did not. I feel that when you produce the rings, you should make the ring with the objects on the ring are ridges and not holes.