MythBusters (2003–…): Season 8, Episode 2 - Dive to Survive - full transcript

I know it looks like
we have fun on this show,

but we spend weeks
and sometimes months

planning how to do
our myths safely,

so, please,
don't try this at home.

On this episode
of "Mythbusters"...

Fire in the hole.

...Adam and Jamie
have a blast...

Oh!
Good morning.

...testing the cinematic clich?

that you can dive underwater...

Building your body
and your mind.



...to survive
an above-water boom.

Oh, yeah.

Wow.

Meanwhile,
Kari, Grant, and Tory...

...let their trigger fingers
do the talking...

Science gets more fun
when I get a bigger gun.

...to find out if you can
bulletproof a car...

I don't know about you guys, but
I'm having an "A-Team" moment.

...with nothing but phone books.

Yes, it's alive!

Who are the Mythbusters?

Adam Savage...

...and Jamie Hyneman.

We're gonna have
an adventure.



Between them, more than 30 years
of special-effects experience.

Joining them...
Grant Imahara...

It's lethal, people.

...Kari Byron...

But at least we still have
good chemistry.

...and Tory Belleci.

Crashes and fire...
this is awesome!

They don't just tell
the myths.

They put them to the test.

So, what's the story?

Well, I've been thinking,
wouldn't it be cool

if we were action heroes
in our own movie

and some bad guys were trying to blow us up,
but we manage to escape?

Is that a harp I'm hearing?

Shush.
Here comes a clip.

It's a climactic cinema clich?.

Our heroes are trapped
on a boat,

and a bomb's about to explode.

To escape certain death,
they take the plunge...

And, after a huge ka-boom,
resurface completely unharmed.

So, you're wondering
whether diving underwater

could help protect you
from an injury

in the case
of an explosion.

Exactly.

Sounds like a blast.

A shock wave is created

when the rapidly expanding gases
inside an explosion

travel faster
than the speed of sound.

And it's this shock front that
causes a wave of destruction.

But can you avoid
imminent annihilation

by leaping into water?

Well, to find out,

the Mythbusters are hunkering
in the bunker

for a proof of concept.

I put together
this bifurcated tank

with a plan to fill
this half with water

and that half with dry-ice fog,
or "air," that we can visualize.

We're gonna put a firecracker
right up here in the center,

explode it, and, hopefully,
we'll be able to view

that same shock wave
in the two different media

and see if there's a difference
on the high-speed camera.

And for that,
Jamie's turned to string theory.

These will hang in the water
and move if a shock wave hits.

With the tanks filled
and a firecracker primed,

stay by for mayhem in miniature.

Everything's perfect.

Ah, I saw
the water move.

Let's see how it looked
on the high-speed.

But a closer look
at the high-speed

reveals... not much, actually.

I think we need something bigger
than this firecracker.

I think we do.

Officer Smith, I think we need
something a little bigger.

Can you hook us up?

The M-80.

That ought to do it.

With shock waves,
apparently size matters.

Cue the M-80.

Come on, baby.

...Wow!
... Wow!

That was loud.

And, interestingly, I saw
the fog move but not the water.

Well, let's check it out
on the high-speed.

I didn't see much.
Did you?

I'm seeing
the smoke move around.

See that divot there?

Remember, they're looking
for proof

that a shock wave behaves
differently in water to air.

But the shock waves aren't
showing up on the close-up.

So, for a bigger boom,
it's back to Officer Smith.

The M-1000.

Ah.

...More?
... About 100 times more.

Hopefully, that should tie up
Jamie's loose threads.

Oh, it's getting close.

Here it comes.

Whoa.

I think we're going
to have seen something.

I think so.
Oh, did that blow the door open?

There's water
on the ceiling.

That's always
a good sign.

Yeah.

A good sign, but once again,

the high-speed replay
has the same problem.

There's no clear shot
of the shock wave.

It's reacting,

but they seem to be reacting
differently somehow.

Well, they're not telling us
what we want to see.

I think we're gonna have
to concoct a different test

if we're gonna learn whether
or not there's a difference

between a shock wave
in the water and a shock wave in the air.

...I think you're right. We're done here.
... Okay.

Every day
is the 4th of July.

Next up, the team calls
for directory assistance.

So, "phonebook freedom"...
what is this one all about?

Okay, so, this myth
comes from a spy TV show.

And they say that if you're
desperate and penniless,

there is an easy way to make
your vehicle bulletproof.

...Using phone books?
... That's right.

If you put the phone books
in the panels of your car,

you can actually stop
non-armor-piercing rounds easily.

Okay, I could see
how that could work.

The bullet hits the car door.

It hits the metal first,
absorbs most of the energy,

and the rest gets absorbed
by the phone books.

...It could work.
... Wow.

Sounds like they
really phoned this one in.

Well, according to this
small-screen spy scene,

you can bulletproof by numbers.

Just one layer of phone books
inside the doors,

and it's a free ride
to safety.

Okay, this one should be
pretty simple.

We get a bunch of car doors,
a bunch of phone books,

shoot at them,
see if they're bulletproof.

Yeah,
that's pretty much it.

But just to be thorough,

we should fire a bunch
of different types of guns,

'cause in the real world, you never
know what you're gonna be up against.

All right, well,
I think our first trip

should be the junkyard,
and we'll get some doors.

They'll test this myth
by the book.

So, first thing's first...
they need something to stuff.

Okay, my way's not working.

So, we got four doors
off of this car.

That's pretty much all we need
to take down to the range.

They're already hollowed out,

so we can just stick
the phone books in there.

This should be a piece of cake.

Back at the shop,
the cake comes together

in what has to be

the most low-tech build
in "Mythbusters" history.

Wait, round hole,
square peg, what?

This doesn't seem to fit.

And with one layer of phone
books wedged inside the doors,

they head
for the shooting range...

You guys ready
to start shooting?

...to hit the books.

For this experiment,
we have car doors

lined with a single layer
of phone books,

which, according to the myth, is
all it took to stop a bullet.

And on this side,
we've painted a target.

Then we'll set up the doors
at the end of the firing range,

and we'll start shooting at them
with a variety of guns

from 30 feet away.

We'll be firing
a 9mm handgun,

a. 357 magnum,
a. 45-caliber,

and, finally,
a 12 gauge shotgun.

Right, and before
they take a shot at the myth,

how about a prediction?

We're starting out
with the 9mm handgun.

I'm thinking
21/2 inches of phone book,

1/8 inch on the outside of
the car door of sheet metal...

yeah, we could be bulletproof
right now.

All right, this is the 9mm,

the smallest round
in our arsenal.

Here we go.

Whoo.
Good shot.

There's an entry hole
but no exit for the 9mm...

Look at that.

...No way.
... 2 inches in.

...meaning that's one
for the books.

But can they get the same result
with gun number two?

Firing at 1,450 feet per second,
it's the. 357 magnum.

Nice shot, Tex.

A clean strike,
but what's the verdict?

No way.

So, it didn't make it
all the way through.

That means the phone book
actually made this bulletproof.

The phone book's
blocked the 9mm.

They blocked the. 357 magnum.

But I've got one of these.
It's a. 45-caliber.

If this doesn't make it through,
I'll be really surprised.

Going hot.

The bullet punched
through the front panel.

Yeah.
... But the phone book?

...No way.
... But it stopped it.

That's astounding.

This myth
is looking really good.

That's 3-0 to the phone books.

The handgun rounds
didn't penetrate,

but next, it's
the toughest round so far...

the 12 gauge shotgun's
deer slug.

Nice.

Tory's aim is dead on,

resulting in the first
phone-book casualty.

So, the 12 gauge deer slug
went right through the door.

It went through the front panel,
the steel reinforcement,

the phone book,
and the inside panel.

Now, that is an intense shot.

Intense is right.

With the shotgun
firing a 385-grain slug

at 1,850 feet per second,

the phone book at last
met its match.

But now
it's gonna meet its maker,

'cause Grant's packing
an M14 assault rifle.

Okay, you guys ready?

Oh, look
at that bull's-eye.

Well, no surprise

that the bullet went
right through the door.

Look at that... it didn't
even slow down.

Oh, more like it tore
through the door.

With a muzzle velocity

1,000 feet per second
faster than the shotgun,

it's no surprise that this round
also sailed clean through.

But where does that
leave the myth?

So, this myth is about
non-armor-piercing rounds

being stopped by car doors

filled with phone books
like these.

This is true of the 9mm,

the. 357 magnum,
and the. 45-caliber...

all handguns.

Once you get anything larger
than a handgun,

the bullets go right through.

So this myth could be busted
right here, right now.

Or is it?

In this movie myth,

our heroes take cover underwater
to escape injury from a bomb.

But could taking a dive
save your life?

It's time to up the ante

at the Mythbusters' home
away from home.

A good day to blow
some crap up, huh?

You bet.

Blow crap up they will,
but this time,

instead of trying
to visualize the shock wave,

they'll measure it.

This plumbing equipment
here is a matrix

for holding together
our key piece

of detection equipment
in this myth,

and that is this...
an oseco rupture disk,

basically a calibrated piece
of aluminum foil.

When this is properly held
in the plumbing

and it finds itself
in an environment

over 13 pounds per square inch
of pressure, it will... burst,

telling you that if you were
standing where this disk was,

you'd encounter physical injury.

And our regular
explosives expert, J.D.,

has the C-4 to test them.

That may blow up,
but it...

J.D.,
it's not very pretty.

Got to make it round.

...Make it more like the cartoons.
... Yeah.

I have no doubt in my mind

you're gonna get
that road runner this time.

Then it's over to Adam

to explain exactly
how this all fits together.

We're going to ignite
this calibrated block of C-4,

and it will generate
a pressure wave...

quite a dangerous
pressure wave...

that will burst some

but not all of the burst disks
in this line.

Let's say it bursts all of them
up to here and none after that.

That tells me that this point
is the furthest point

at which
that explosive generates

a dangerous, injurious amount
of pressure.

Are you ready?

All right, J.D.,
go ahead and light it.

This is calculating
injurious distance of C-4.

We're gonna feel this one.

Yeah, I think so.

Wow, that was a rush.

That'll wake you up
in the morning.

Let's go check them out.

Great...
one Acme explosion down,

and the Mythbusters have

the dangerous-distance data
they need.

All the way up to here.

10 feet is it, then.
That's our danger zone.

Our danger zone...
all right, 10 feet.

Now it's time
for phase two.

What we want to know

is how well an explosion
that occurs in the air

can make the transition
into the water

and how potentially dangerous
that would be.

And to find out,
the guys rejig their rig...

Blah!

...so that for blast two,

it can simultaneously monitor
the effect

of the shock wave
in air and in water.

So, what's this test about?

It's actually pretty simple...

one burst disk in air,
one burst disk in water.

If there's any truth
to this myth,

what we should see
when we set off that explosive

is that this burst disk will
blow and this one will not.

Okay, take it up.

Well, it's time to put
that theory to the test

with the same amount of C-4

10 feet away
from the two pressure disks.

Go for it, J.D.
Light it up.

There it goes.

I don't know about you,

but I'm predicting that
there will be a difference.

I think so.

I'm just thinking
about the shock wave.

That's a...

This is invigorating.

...Oh!
... Oh!

Oh! Ohh.

Good morning.

Yep, that should do it.

Now to find out
how the burst disks compare.

Two blown burst disks.

Two intact burst disks.

Nice.
That's what I call a result.

There might be something
to this after all.

And a look at the high-speed
confirms Jamie's suspicions.

This high-speed shot
tells the whole story.

The rupture disk in the open air

is burst immediately
and clean through,

as opposed to the one
in the water,

which is affected,

but only with a ripple
and an instant later.

Now, what this tells us is

that the water is actually
diminishing the shock wave.

It's slowing it down and making
it much less powerful.

It's looking good for the myth.

The water does appear
to dampen the shock wave

and reduce the risk of injury.

But they won't know for sure
until they go full scale.

So, based on this test,

I figure we should take
tanks of water out

whenever we do tests
with explosives...

you know, get into the tanks.

That's a great idea.

When you're making
a quick getaway

from gun-toting bad guys,

a little extra protection
goes a long way.

But so far in this
budget bulletproofing saga...

Nice shot, Tex.

...the phone numbers
just don't add up.

The myth is that a single layer
of phone books,

when added to a car door,

will make an impenetrable
barrier to bullets.

This is busted.

Both our deer slug and our
M14 round went clean through.

And though that may be true for
a single layer of phone books,

how many phone books deep
are we gonna have to get

to make our car bulletproof
for the high-powered ammunition?

Ugh!
So, we're gonna carry on.

It's obvious that we need
more phone books.

So what we're gonna do is
we're gonna take

the same doors
stuffed with the phone book

and add more phone books...
10, to be exact...

and see if that's enough
to make our cars bulletproof

against these
higher-powered weapons.

The mythical one layer
of phone books is busted,

but by how much?

Okay, this is deer slug

into 10 phone books
behind the car door.

...Nice shot.
... Ah.

Once again, the slug

blew through
the door/phone book combo.

But how many more books
did it take to stop it?

Just one...
into the auto section.

...Huh, that's ironic.
... So, we got to page 151.

So it looks
like two phone books

is all you would need
to stop a deer slug.

Not bad, but there's
still the top gun to go.

I think this is
gonna cut right through.

Well, hold the phone,

'cause it looks like Tory
may have been wrong.

There it is, still warm.

And we got almost
to the backside

of the first phone book.

Plus the one nestled
inside the door,

that's still only two phone
books to stop an M14 bullet.

I thought it would easily have
gone through half that stack.

I thought it was gonna go
through the whole stack.

I mean, that's it...
two layers of phone books,

and you could turn your car
into a bulletproof vehicle.

Yeah!

After a hard day's shooting,

the myth is busted,
but only just.

And that's giving
the Mythbusters

something to think about.

So, the idea that you can
bulletproof a car door

with one phone book...
totally busted.

Yes, but I don't think
we can leave it there.

Go on.

I think since we were able
to stop all the bullets

using two phone books
in the doors,

this whole idea of a bulletproof car using
phone books is possible.

I say we try
to build one.

...A whole car?
... Yeah.

...Completely bulletproof?
... Yep.

I love it.

Okay, but I see
there are two problems.

First, we've established
that it takes two phone books

to armor a door,
but what about the windows?

And second, we may need
so many phone books

that the car
is too heavy to drive.

So we find out how many phone
books it takes to bulletproof a window,

we do a little math,

and we find out, if you load
this thing up with phone books,

will it still drive?

All right, and then we build
a bulletproof car.

Tory's all fired up,

but before any overhauling,

they're looking
into those windows.

Just how many phone books
will it take

to make them stop a slug?

To find out, Kari and Tory
position 10 phone books

behind the glass

and take aim
with the mighty M14.

3... 2... 1.

It looks like it went
through three phone books.

...Let's go take a look.
... Oh, yeah.

Three phone books is right.

...There it is.
... There it is. Ta-da.

But there's a problem.

Three phone books deep
inside the car

is pretty much gonna crowd
the driver out.

Right... there's not much point
in bulletproofing

if the driver won't fit.

So to give him some room,
they try a sandwich formation...

two on the outside
and one on the inside.

In 3... 2... 1.

But, unfortunately...

It blasted out
the backside.

...the bullet makes a meal
of the sandwich.

But that's crazy.

I mean, it's the same amount
of material

that it's passing through.

It's three phone books
and a pane of glass.

Well, I guess that means that
when the bullet hits the window,

which is a hard surface,

it deforms and then just gets
absorbed into the back three.

And that's key.

When the bullet hits
a rigid surface,

like metal or glass, first,

it expends a large part
of its energy.

But when the bullet hits
the flexible phone books first,

less energy is expended,

and it can continue
along its trajectory.

So, what they need to know now

is how many phone books
in front of the glass

will stop the slug.

Gun's hot.

In 3... 2... 1.

Did that go
all the way through?

I sure hope not.

Well, actually, the bullet made
it through 41/2 phone books...

more than double the phone books
needed for the doors.

Do you know how heavy
it's gonna be to cover

every single window surface
with five phone books?

That's better
than 10 phone books.

Okay, bright-side boy.

With a bomb about
to blow and no escape but down,

would taking a plunge
protect you from the blast?

Adam and Jamie
are putting that to the test.

Good morning.

We've just seen that there does
appear to be an advantage

to being submerged
when a bomb goes off.

The rupture disk that was
under the water was intact.

The one that was in the air
was ruptured.

Obviously,
we used a small tank, though,

and the scale of the tank
and the nature of tank

could've affected our results.

So they're not definitive.

What we need to do now
is go full scale

in an open body of water.

And we're creating
an aquatic rig

that will give us
the measurements we need,

both above and below water.

This is a complicated
rig with lots of parts...

Lots of pieces to cut.

...some that float,
and some that don't.

Yeah.

I know it doesn't look
like much, but trust me,

once this stuff
all goes together,

you will see that there is
a method to the madness.

You don't have
to take my word for it...

just probably
one more commercial break,

and you'll get to see it all.

Well, actually,

you don't even have
to wait that long.

I think
that ought to do it.

Let's go scuba diving
and blowing some stuff up.

All right.

With the rig flat-packed,
it's off to location.

It's a lovely lake,
isn't it?

In fact,
it's not actually a lake.

It's a man-made pit...
pit 232, to be exact,

here at Rancho Arroyo Seco.

And the fact that it has
no wildlife at all living in it

makes it ideal for what?

Yes, blowing stuff up.

It's gonna be a good day.

But before they start
blowing anything up,

they've got to get
their rig in position

and make sure it floats.

It's a dock.

The other one
will be just peachy.

So, how are we
gonna test the myth

that jumping in the water can
protect you from an explosion

in full scale?

Well, it all starts
with a body of water.

And continues
with this platform,

which soon will have
various types of explosives

placed right
where I'm sitting.

For measurement, we're using
oseco rupture disks,

and we're mounting them
in these things.

And they're calibrated
for 13 psi,

which is our threshold
for human injury.

We'll be deploying
our rupture-disk masts

at 5, 10, 20, and 50 feet away
from the explosions.

We're gonna be mounting
these things like so

on our floating masts

at 5 feet above water...

5 feet under the water...

And 10 feet
under the water.

And if the myth is true,

if jumping in the water

really can protect you
from an explosion,

we should find that
one of our masts

has its in-air disk burst

but the ones underwater intact.

And for an in-depth result,

they do three tests

with 50 pounds
of three different explosives,

starting with gasoline.

These are the buttons...
"arm" and "fire. "

When I push these,
50 pounds of gasoline

on that tripod behind me
are gonna go boom.

Will it demonstrate
an improvement

to being underwater
as opposed to above water?

I don't know.

Well, there's
only one way to find out.

You ready?

...I'm ready.
... All right.

I've had my coffee...
good to blow.

With the gas bobbing away
on the surface of the lake,

Jamie utters
those familiar words.

Fire in the hole.
Fire in the hole.

Fire in the hole.

And Adam's on the button.

3... 2... 1.

Wow! That was a lot.

It was.

All of our little holders
are still in place.

But the platform
is gone.

The pressure wave
from the gasoline

may have destroyed
the floating platform,

but, more importantly,
how did the burst disks fare?

Above and below the water

at 50 feet, 20 feet,
and 10 feet,

they're all intact.

No ruptures.

The burst disks
are intact.

At the 5-foot mast
above water,

that perfect record
is broken.

5 feet away...

Clean through.

But underwater,
it's a different story.

The burst disks
are totally intact.

Interesting.

I thought so.

It's looking good
for the myth.

At 5 feet,
the above-water disk burst,

but the ones below the surface
remained intact.

The gasoline explosion

didn't really create much
of a pressure wave.

It created a nice big fireball.

And I have to say
that if I was near one of those,

I'd want to get underwater
'cause I wouldn't get burned.

Indeed, but one shock
wave does not a result make.

So the Mythbusters
aren't gonna leave it there.

The team has their data

for the automobile
phone-book armor.

Two books behind a door
and five in front of a window

will bulletproof a car.

Look, diamonds.

So they're about
to throw the books at this.

...Dude, nice car.
... Thanks.

...But there's a problem.
... What?

Well, that car's carrying
capacity is 1,800 pounds.

Now, to totally bulletproof it,
we'd need over 900 phone books,

which will weigh
more than 4,000 pounds.

So, in other words,
what you're saying

is it would be so heavy,
it wouldn't be able to move.

Exactly... the maximum number
of phone books we can use

and still have the car
be drivable is 400.

Okay, well,
all is not lost.

Let's just be strategic
about this.

Let's strip out
all the extra weight

and then just bulletproof
to priority.

I mean, we'll do it around
the driver or the engine block,

and maybe the passengers
in the back could just duck.

All right, sounds like we got
our work cut out for us.

Well, if we're looking
to save weight,

we can get rid
of the seat.

Yeah, that should buy us
some phone books.

Clearly,
bulletproofing this car

is all about how you throw
your weight around.

We're on a roll now.

So, obviously, you're not
gonna bulletproof your car

with phone books
on the run.

So, okay,
maybe this is the scenario.

The three heroes
are trapped in a warehouse,

it's surrounded by crazy gunmen,

and there just happens to be a
car and some phone books there.

So you bulletproof the car,
make your getaway to freedom.

And that getaway
will be far too dangerous

for a real wheelman.

So it's over
to R.C. Whiz Grant.

Now, normally,
with the radio-control system,

you have something called
a servo, which is a small motor.

But we're talking
about a full-size car

that's potentially loaded
with a lot of weight.

This isn't gonna cut it.
That's why I have this.

I made my own servo
out of this huge motor.

And this is gonna be
what's steering our car.

And while Grant installs
his remote-control system,

thanks to the time-lapse camera,

Kari and Tory
are making light work

of the phone-book papering.

I don't know about you guys, but
I'm having an "A-Team" moment.

With the car fully booked

and the remote control complete,

the paperback rider
is loaded onto the truck,

and they're off
to a familiar location.

Back at the quarry...
I love this place.

Exploding cars,
exploding train stations,

and, of course,
exploding cement mixers...

this place has seen it all...

well, except this...

The world's first
phone-book-armored car.

Whoo!

And first up, they need to check
Grant's remote control.

Look how low
it's riding in the front.

Yeah.

With an almighty 400 phone books
weighing it down,

the car is not exactly built
for speed.

So, how fast is
our getaway car going?

Uh, 10 to 15 miles
an hour.

So it's bulletproof, but you can
catch it on a bicycle.

Hey, if it's
bulletproof enough,

it doesn't need
to go any faster.

Grant's right.

But how are they going to know
if it is bulletproof enough?

Come on, Trudy.

That's right... we've got
a whole inflatable family

that we're gonna put in here.

And if any
of these guys deflate,

we'll know that a bullet
made it through.

Ready?

Ready.

Right, and with our
inflatable friend at the wheel

and the passengers lying in
the fully-fortified footwells,

what's the plan?

We are going to have
our bulletproof vehicle,

armored with phone directories,
at that end of the quarry.

It's going to make
a mad dash 200 yards

in that direction to safety.

I'm gonna be up on that ridge
right there with my M1 Garand,

Tory right there
with a shotgun.

...You ready?
... Ready!

...Grant, you ready?
... Ready!

Great.
It's time for science.

Remember,
they could use only 400

of the 900 phone books
it would take

to create a fully armored car.

So will their
strategic stuffing succeed

in protecting both the engine
and the passengers?

Shooters ready?

Ready!

Hitting the gas.

Grant flicks a switch,

and the paperback rider
lurches across the quarry.

Then it's lock, stock,
and two smoking barrels

as Kari and Tory
unload a barrage of bullets

into the paper armor...

Until the phone-book jalopy
makes it to safety.

Gas off, brake off, killing it.

I know I hit it, but I'm dying
to see if it made it through.

That was so much fun.
It was like a shooting gallery.

There's no doubt
the bullets hit their mark,

but did
the passengers survive?

Yes, it's alive!

They survived.
Yeah.

Oh, my gosh.

We made this vehicle bulletproof
with nothing but phone books.

Wait, let's check
the passengers.

One.

...There's Chapman.
... He's looking all right.

...And two.
... He's all right, too.

The whole family survived.

Against the shotgun
and the M14,

the phone-book armor
did its job.

So, the car
is in perfect working order,

and all the passengers are alive
and accounted for.

At this point,
the myth is looking very good.

The guys are
understandably psyched.

Feel like
swing dancing.

But the firearm fun
doesn't end here.

Now I think it's time
we take it up a notch.

Oh, really?

Let's say these guys
are real bad guys

and they have
some serious weapons.

Science gets more fun
when I get a bigger gun.

Oh, it certainly does.

And this time, the bad guys will
be packing some serious heat.

Kari and I are gonna be
using the UMP-40

and the M16 fully automatic.

Now, if it gets
past those guns,

we're bringing out
the big guns.

And just to make sure we get
enough rounds into our vehicle,

we have a guest shooter...

deputy Eric from
the Calaveras County SWAT team.

Folks,
welcome to the gun show.

With our phone-book
behemoth at the starting line

and a trio of fully automatic
weapons trained on it,

Grant calls the shots.

All right, brake is coming off.
Here goes the gas.

Just like last time,

the car trundles
into the line of fire.

The guns blaze, and the
phone-book confetti flies...

...until it reaches the end
of the gunshot gauntlet.

Brake's on.
Killing the engine.

...That was fun.
... Good shooting.

Whoo!

I say get
the yellow tape.

I don't think Trudy's
making it out of this one.

I wonder if...

...Dang, look at how many hits we got in this time.
... Whoa.

The phone-book armor
is riddled with bullet holes,

but what about
those passengers?

...Hey.
... Hey.

I see shredded paper.

She's okay.

Yeah, there's
definitely confetti.

I mean, this is
not necessarily bulletproof,

but she's
one lucky blow-up doll.

And she's not the only one.

Amazingly, the other two
passengers are also unharmed.

This vehicle had a small coolant
leak, but it's still running.

For all intents and purposes,
it's bulletproof.

But, you know, the next thing
is likely to kill the car.

To test this myth,

we used a shotgun, an M1 Garand,
and some machine guns.

And it was a fun little game
of shoot-'em-up...

not quite adequate,

so now we're moving on to...
The big guns.

We have a. 50-cal,

we have a. 416 Barrett,

and a. 338 Lapua.

This should be fun.

Fun could be an understatement.

All right, one shot, one kill.
Let's do this.

Shooters ready?

...Ready!
... Ready!

Here goes the gas.

Let the car carnage begin.

It's a rain of fire

as the car is bombarded
with bullet after bullet...

...until Kari lines up a shot
at the engine block, and...

...it's all over for
the phone-book-escape escapade.

Something stopped it.

Oh, I think
I know what stopped it.

Kari took her shot.

I swear to God,
I almost had a heart attack.

I mean, the whole ground shook,

there was
this big cloud of dust,

and, basically, it was that shot
that stopped the vehicle.

Man, these weapons
are incredible.

Incredible and lethal.

Oh, geez.

...Oh!
... Oh!

Yeah.

She didn't make it.

I don't think anybody
in there made it.

Nobody made it.
They're both dead in the back.

There's no denying that
the phone books bit the bullet,

but where does that
leave the myth?

Well, it's looking like
no amount of phone books

is gonna stop
one of these rounds.

Yeah, but up to a. 50-cal,

this phone-book armor stopped
just about everything.

Well, this is a perfect
progression of a story.

I mean, with the first round
of guns, we're bulletproof.

The second round of guns, we're
like, eh, bullet-resistant.

And with the final round
of guns,

we're more like, um,
like bullet-absorbent.

All right,
who's driving home?

Shotgun.

Jamie and Adam
are having a blast...

The platform is gone.

...to find out if a quick dip
could save your life.

Wow!

And now they're amping up

for even more boom
for their buck.

For this blast,

we're gonna use a blasting agent
called anfo.

It's ammonium nitrate,

which is basically fertilizer
and diesel fuel.

Now, that's gonna create
a pressure wave

moving out from the blast
at 4,000 feet per second.

That pressure wave is
what's gonna burst our disks.

That's the theory.

And with a new set
of burst disks in place,

they're ready
for a big anfo bang.

Everything's in.
It looks great.

But how will it compare
to gasoline?

It's definitely gonna burst

the 5- and the 10-foot
burst disks in air.

I don't think it's
gonna burst those in water.

I think this is gonna
demonstrate a clear difference

in the shock-wave propagation
in air as opposed to water.

Well, all is
about to be revealed

as Jamie takes the controls.

We're good to go?

You're good to go.
You are in control.

All right, then.

And remember,

don't try this kind of boom
in your own lagoon.

Fire in the hole.

Fire in the hole.

Fire in the hole.

Take it away.

50 pounds of anfo...

In 3... 2... 1.

Bye-bye.

Wow!

Whoops.

50 pounds of anfo almost
obliterated the rig entirely.

It's suddenly become
a recovery mission.

A recovery mission, indeed,

but what has the
4,000-feet-per-second shock wave

done to the burst disks?

Okay. Oh!

...It's burst?
... It's clean through.

...Really?
... Yeah.

Well, God, I wonder what it's
gonna look like underneath.

Yeah,
that's the big question.

So, at 50 feet above water,

the furthest distance
from the explosion,

the disks are burst.

But underwater...

Both burst disks
are burst.

Wow.

50 pounds of anfo burst
every single pressure disk,

but that huge blast
is making it difficult

for the guys to call this one
just yet.

Not really the definitive result
we're looking for.

I'm hoping for more
from dynamite.

That's right...

the Mythbusters have one more
explosive for bomb disposal.

This time around, we're using
50 pounds of dynamite.

That's 25 of these things.

Now, dynamite is
a high explosive

that creates a pressure wave

that moves at 9,000 feet
per second in air.

Ready for detonation.

Look at it go, our little
tetrahedron of death.

Yep, it's all down
to that little tetrahedron.

The gas explosion showed you'd
be better off underwater,

whereas the anfo detonation
was total devastation

above or below the surface.

So now it's all down
to the dynamite decider.

Fire in the hole.

Fire in the hole.

Fire in the hole.

All right,
I'm gonna do it.

50 pounds of dynamite...

In 3... 2... 1.

Oh, yeah.

Wow.
That was a thud.

That was more
than the anfo.

The dynamite explosion
was, well, dynamite.

I can only see
one of our things left.

...Yeah.
... Salvage operation.

The rig has clearly been
decimated by the dynamite,

but will
the underwater burst disks

have suffered the same fate?

It's a hilarious horror show
down here.

The 5-, the 10-,
and the 20-foot marker

are all huddled together.

They're still attached
to the rope,

but every single burst disk
on all three of them

is completely blown...
over.

Well, I'll be darned.

Underwater at 5,
10, and 20 feet,

the disks are broken,
a pattern mirrored above water,

but how about the 50-footer?

Well,
that's clean through.

Above water, it's burst.
However...

You're gonna love this,
Jamie.

The 50-foot mast
10 foot down...

the burst disk is intact.

Well, that says something
really strong about the myth.

That's great.
What about the 5-footer?

The 5-footer
is also intact.

Repeat...
the 5-footer is also intact.

What happened
at this 50-foot marker

is really interesting

because we have a blown disk
above water

but we have intact disks
below water.

So that's a bombshell result.

Just like
the gasoline explosion,

when it comes
to a dynamite bomb,

diving underwater
would make a difference.

Explosives are funny creatures.

The anfo broke our rope

and decimated
two out of our four masts.

The dynamite
did not break our rope

but decimated
three out of the four.

However, it burst
all of the in-air burst disks

but not the two underwater
burst disks on the 50.

That is the kind of result
that I was hoping for.

That tells me that there really
might be something for the myth.

Am I gonna use
one of the three magic words?

No, not until I'm with Jamie
at the very end.

So, where do we stand?

Well, in a situation
like this...

...it's plausible
that the water

would protect you
from an explosion.

...Plausible, it is. Let's get out of here.
... Okay.