SpudFiles

As much as these people's deaths would contribute to our gene pool, it would be nice if they could find a way of doing themselves in without giving us a bad name in the process.

And I don't think that any of those cannons had a single pressure rated part on them. Of course, that's what most people think of a spudgun being, and why our hobby has such a bad rep.

i have seen all of those videos before and get just as angry every time! why should you tell somebody to shoot you? to show off? thats a bad way to do it! he can just get good in something and do it in a positive way!

Most of the accidents are understandable, from people who don't fully appreciate the power of combustion and use inadequate materials and techniques.

It's those who deliberately shoot at others or themselves that truly deserve a Darwin award.

The scariest (assuming it's true) is this bit of shrapnel embedded in a trunk from the first video:

yeah i cant get marbles to do any damage like that. that piece had to go FAST

'Tis lucky that none of them got seriously hurt, and almost a shame aswell.

jackssmirkingrevenge wrote: The scariest (assuming it's true) is this bit of shrapnel embedded in a trunk from the first video:

Personally I find that hard to believe as a veteran of two PVC explosions at point blank range and at probably 3x the pressure of those combustions.

I'm sure it can be done, but not from a low powered combustion.

I know I shouldn't but I saw some of those, and couldn't help but laugh. I've seen a couple before, but it was quite fun to guess what was going to happen with the others, and I was mostly right.

Those are hardly smart people. I've had a couple of problems with potato guns, most notably my mistake with a springer (and my finger still occasionally aches), but my accidents are a result of my curiosity, not stupidity.
And I'm certainly not stupid enough to post my accidents on Youtube. (well, other than the humourous ones that aren't dangerous.)

However, I do have to say it's a weird hobby we have where a greater success comes from taming more dangerous forces.
I have to say, I would not want to be around if a high pressure or high power cannon went wrong... but I would have to be if HEAL played up, so that's why I always use safety kit.

EDIT:
That shard looks as if it's a broken piece resting against a tree, rather than a piece embedded in one.

Ragnarok wrote:EDIT:
That shard looks as if it's a broken piece resting against a tree, rather than a piece embedded in one.

Look at the shadow underneath it, it's definitely suspended in the air. And it seems to have a bit of bark over the tip, appearing to have dug into the tree.

Well still, I think the image has been set up - it doesn't look to me like what would really happen.
Whether that's through photoshopping in shadows, pushing PVC shards under bark, or finding a rotten log to push it into...

... if anyone were near something that could embed a shard into that tree as it appears to have done... well, you know.
I've put ball bearings through enough water that I know they'd probably go through both sides of a person, but when they've hit my backstop (an old tree stump), they'll only take relatively small chunks out of it.

And over fuelling is hardly going to result in a collosal explosion. I'm pretty sure it's faked. The chamber gets broken by some means, and then they pretend it was worse than it really was.

So I don't think that a chamber failing could do that, and I don't think they would have survived it if it had happened like that.

Could be, could be not, not likely to get much of an answer from the guys who did it.

I'm on the side of it being unlikely a plastic shard embedded itself in a sound tree trunk or branch.

Wouldn't surprise me if it was faked, gotta make it interesting y'know.

Ragnarok wrote:Well still, I think the image has been set up - it doesn't look to me like what would really happen.
Whether that's through photoshopping in shadows, pushing PVC shards under bark, or finding a rotten log to push it into...

... if anyone were near something that could embed a shard into that tree as it appears to have done... well, you know.
I've put ball bearings through enough water that I know they'd probably go through both sides of a person, but when they've hit my backstop (an old tree stump), they'll only take relatively small chunks out of it.

And over fuelling is hardly going to result in a collosal explosion. I'm pretty sure it's faked. The chamber gets broken by some means, and then they pretend it was worse than it really was.

So I don't think that a chamber failing could do that, and I don't think they would have survived it if it had happened like that.

See my previous post to JSR, I agree with you completely, from my experience that would not happen under those circumstances.

It's unlikely to happen, but not impossible.

Don't forget that a shard of PVC has a very small contact area assuming it strikes something pointy end first, giving it a penetrative advantage. Also, the shard in question is not embedded into the trunk directly but sideways into the bark, which tends to be weaker and easier to chip into.

The odds of this happening are pretty slim, but stranger things have happened and I'd say it could well be true.

jackssmirkingrevenge wrote:It's unlikely to happen, but not impossible.


The odds of this happening are pretty slim, but stranger things have happened and I'd say it could well be true.

I have to agree with Jack on this one. Stranger things have happened in cyclones/hurricanes. I would say it is a fluke that it happened that way though.....one in a million shot you could say.

Even if it was a fluke that it got stuck in the bark, doesn't mean it had the energy and velocity to pierce skin beyond a small cut.

Someting these guys must know. Treat any Potato Cannon like you would a real firearm, because at times they are more dangerous and deadly than firearms. Thats my 10cents worth