Can A C4 Be Used As Cooking Fuel? | MythBusters | Season 8 Episode 13 | Full Episode

[@szwolinski4587]

Ask any combat veteran from Vietnam. We used C4 to heat our meals all the time. It was so common that Claymore mines had to be inspected before being used to ensure that the C4 had not been removed. Everyone said to be careful not to drop anything heavy on flaming C4, but I have seen people stomp on small chunks of burning C4 without incident. That being said, I never knew anyone foolish enough to smack it with a hammer.

[@steverman2312]

majority of the mythbusters' job title is "those people who are foolish enough to do [x]"

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

@@steverman2312 C4 is a high explosive as in it requires an explosive detonator in order to explode. In some respects that makes it a bit less dangerous to work with as it's not going to go off without the detonator near by. However, once it does go off, it will explode with a significant amount of power for the amount of explosive used.

[@adenanthony5257]

I always figured cuz those c rations came in cans you just put some c4 in a tin or something and out the ration tin on top

[@Night-Jester]

Fun story but if someone took the c4 out of a claymore and it led to someone not being protected with that claymore I'd be pissed.

[@slimnim1753]

That Sir is exactly the comment I came here to find.

[@geekimusprime]

Grant’s design was way too dangerous! Spring-loaded knives that spring OUT toward the user? What?? No way I’d go anyway near it, let alone actually arm it! Grant, you truly were a daredevil.

[@MGower4465]

Geez, something called a flying guillotine is unsafe? Imzgine that.

[@imd3shy212]

@@MGower4465 unsafe to the user, not that hard to understand what he said.

[@terryhatcher9644]

@@geekimusprime Rest in Peace Grant. You had to leave us way too early.

[@rubberwoody]

he did make an interesting "more humane" guillatine for execution though

[@benmaynard3059]

I missed a chunk of these when they aired so I truly am grateful and lucky to have the gift of these episodes ✌✌

[@fartsparkle]

kzbin.info

[@LEE-BX5VC]

True, the first time I ever came across them was when they put the pig in the car then into a shipping container and tried to get rid of the smell.

[@Kiwi.Rascal]

Oh Grant - you are missed.

[@teamcyeborg]

Such a shame, his own decapitron got him

[@devoncantrell3311]

He is the only celebrity death that has actually had me bent up.

[@CanadianFighter2k]

@@devoncantrell3311 At the very least he went peacefully

[@devoncantrell3311]

@@CanadianFighter2k very true. I’m glad he did. That’s so important

[@AmberAnthrax]

THIS is how I find out? How did I not hear about this 🥲

[@AVASdesertRACER]

I love this episode because it allows Kari, Grant, and Tory to free think and design, engineer, and build a contraption. Fantastic.

[@BlackSoap361]

Love the use of a power strip as a safety switch. “We know what we should do for safety, but we’re prop-makers.”

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

A power switch is technically a switch with a safety. You plug it into the strip with nothing plugged in, which reveals a lack of any lights. Then you can plug the item in and then you can flip the switch to energize those outlets. It's probably not that much less safe than the official switch with a cover to prevent accidentally flipping the switch.

[@BlackSoap361]

@@SmallSpoonBrigade those switches on power strips are really easy to accidentally hit. Also, labeling?

[@yomama269378]

2:14 "when in doubt C4" XD XD one of my favorite Jamie quotes. That laugh XD XD

[@MadHax-wt5tl]

Cooking with C4 & building a flying guillotine. It doesn't get more Mythbustery than this!

[@themonsterunderyourbed9408]

Their theories are the worst kind of popular tripe, their methods are sloppy and their results are questionable. They are poor scientists.

[@nbbran]

Grant you were so awesome, wish we could have seen more of you. Rip my man

[@I_DoThingsSometimes]

What happened?

[@Otakunopodcast]

@@I_DoThingsSometimes died of an aneurysm in 2020 :-(

[@OneMadGamer]

Rest in peace, Grant. Thanks for all the laughs through the years. Miss you man!

[@AkiSan0]

i love the difference: mythbuster: these are highly controlled chemicals, we dont always name, you need to mix them perfectly to get termite. codyslab: heres some black sand, aluminium cans and some foil i had laying around. boom termite foundry!

[@dominomon7117]

congratulations, this is the definition of KZbin

[@Lilly_the_Snek]

Heh, termite. I didn't know you could make a bug using aluminum, and sand

[@demomanchaos]

Mythbusters originally aired on Discovery Network, aka televsion. YT and TV have different regulations.

[@dirtydan9785]

Closed-source vs. open-source science

[@austins.2495]

“termite” stay in school, kid…

[@Megoover]

As usual Grant's design is overengineered, Tori's brutally straightforward and simple

[@gabrielv.4358]

Bro, that profile picture is so suspicious

[@IDuBStepSZ]

Tori understands how a knife works, lol.

[@rickjames5998]

​@@gabrielv.4358lol why

[@gabrielv.4358]

@@rickjames5998 Its sus

[@rettbull9100]

In afghanistan the locals would remove C4 from munitions and use it to make fires. I worked with EOD and went on a trip where they recovered some shells that had the explosives removed from it.

[@DinobotTM2]

18:47 That's not Grant, that's MELONLORD!

[@terryhatcher9644]

My father used C3-C4 during the Korean War extensively since he was a combat engineer explosives tech. He would shave the square long blocks of the plastique to fit the round holes they drilled. It scared the hell out of the Korean troops working with him, and later, the Japanese National Police he trained in Japanese for a year. He always saved the shavings to cook with and heating fires to their amazement. He told me this 60+ years ago. C3 is brittle when cold and he said he was always cold in Korea. Also as Korea had few trees, unlike the MASH show depicted, so little firewood was available.

[@BadwolfFPV]

Tori's feinting goat impression just might be my favorite mythbusters gag ever.

[@matheusfiorelli8829]

32:10 Mythbusters in a nutshell 😂

[@hanbill]

well said xdd

[@crackerjaq9974]

The only thing i never liked about their testing of flying guillotine is that it was never meant to be a direct combat weapon. It was meant to be an assassin's weapon. It was meant to kill someone when they had their guard down, not during an actual fight. The target would likely already be stationary and would be dead or at least gravely injured by the time they realized that a hat with a blade in it was thrown on them.

[@cameronwise-maas5610]

I mean they basically say that at the end. They can’t do better than plausible without historical confirmation.

[@Mrbananasgfan]

Even if it's meant to kill a stationary target, there are simply far easier and more practical ways to accomplish that.

[@davidblanck4131]

Tory, Grant, and Kari were so young. And, im younger than them. This hits hard. This was a staple of my childhood.

[@DracoTheDragonVR-mh2ti]

Grant just about got spring locked!

[@fraaggl]

they should update this myth to "can you cook your meal with Liion 18650 batteries ?"

[@polarknight5376]

I think a hollow point might've detonated it. If you've never seen slowmo footage of them, they actually make a small explosion when they hit something soft, like ballistic gel. Hollow points are banned in warfare though, so I don't know why c4 could logically get shot by one.

[@peatmoss4415]

MRE stands for Meals Refusing to Exit ....

[@ChrisCrond]

As a content creator I would never upload a video that showed people decapitating a realistic head with a pig neck, or upload a clip from this episode because the video would get age restricted (which kills videos). It's disappointing that people aren't making content like this because of that. I love that Mythbuster's channel is setting precedent for this kind of content on KZbin and hope it means well will start to see more!

[@danielkinton7193]

Its because they're big, just like the weed shows getting all banned except for Doug Bensons.

[@PanEtRosa]

@@danielkinton7193 more a matter of them having insurance and working with certified professionals in dangerous fields, two things that KZbin content creators have far less access to. would fucking love to see a union of STEAM content creators that can negotiate those things. call it STEAM Tube :b

[@JoCaTen]

When you mix fuel, metal oxide and metal powder in just the right way, it burns at 2000 degrees Celsius. Hot enough to cut through nearly any barrier known to man. Throw some C4 into the mix, and you've got one hell of a combination. or so i heard...

[@ryadramirez4948]

ik your main

[@JoCaTen]

@@ryadramirez4948 no you don't

[@generalmcterror2718]

Someone likes to blow things up as everyone’s favorite hard breacher in Siege

[@SyntheticFuture]

26:13 camera man just standing there hoping his insurance covers this bullshit xD

[@terrydarhk]

I love all the engineering in this one. Typically, it’s some trivial wooden box or a bit of welding.

[@dakarpsi]

The problem is that rdx(the explosive in c4) is very toxic, you wouldn't want the residue in your food

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

Fair point, although this was being used during a war where agent orange was being deployed to certain areas and a lot of other toxic substances were in the air much of the time.

[@websterri]

You wouldn't have any residue in your food....

[@XXhite]

10:48 Grant getting closer with his God... after realizing he almost Disemboweled himself for a tv show🤣🤣🤣💯💯💯💯💯

[@gunier.j.kintgenanimations]

I find it really funny that Adam is just using a regular power strip to ignite the C4. I have the same exact detonator switch underneath my TV stand, we all do!

[@fredsorre6605]

one of my favorite Episodes but it has one dumb ending the flying Guillotine is supposed to be an assassin's weapon meaning it is mainly used for ambush attacks not in actual combat.

[@Gamer3427]

Not to mention that realistically, if you were going to use such a specialized weapon to begin with, you'd probably have spent a long time training with it, rather than just the presumably few throws they had done all in all while testing. It's still highly impractical in general unless you just *really* need to bring back someone's head and can't risk leaving it behind, but like anything highly specialized, it'd be more usable once you were more experienced with it. All that said, I'm fairly certain that bit at the end was just for the sake of entertainment and padding out the runtime a bit.

[@austins.2495]

Can you say, over analyze? It’s an entertainment television show… chill.

[@erikabimbo7555]

All I know is that Grant's was the dumbest design from the beginning.

[@jarrodbright5231]

Tori getting ready to throw that hat looks so much like Kung Lao from Mortal Kombat

[@billstapleton1084]

We used C4 to cook our C rations in Nam.

[@ohno5507]

Grant building his guillotine without any regard for having to throw it or conveniently activate it is so funny.

[@MrHaterplease]

RIP grant. you were a legend.

[@jonelectronics510]

If you understand the chemistry then you would realise there is no need to be in a blast chamber to set fire to C4

[@reddiz]

well tory,s devices looks best but grants is the scariest,,

[@hizzy70]

How Grant could be holding that thing all proud of it while the thing could easily cut off his fingers even from the outside of the ring

[@Sakura_Kudo]

3:06 That's one dangerous bunny!

[@ShinoSarna]

The funny thing about final flying guillotine design is that it's sorta similar to a chakram, which is a real thrown weapon from Asia - but Chakram has a blade on the outside, not inside. But it is very plausible an 18th century Chinese bladesmith would've seen one.

[@ShockerTopper]

I was going to say if the C4 didn't work to cook the food, then I wouldn't believe it's the same C4 they used in Vietnam. That was all my Dad and his entire unit uses essentially, and I have zero reason not to believe him.

[@genmasaotome3503]

C4 is the duct tape for other applications...

[@EthanTheWerewolf]

I think i know why i LOVE fire and explosions. I used to go FERAL over Mythbusters, though i still do at 20

[@skonky]

bro cannot say “go feral” with a pfp like that 😭😭😭😭

[@biddinge8898]

C4 really is thst stable. Its crazy but yeah. It takes a blast to set it off. A real blast. From a blasting cap.

[@jeffburnham6611]

I've heard of C4 being used in Korea and Vietnam to heat coffee, but never an entree pack. During those two conflicts, the K and C rations were in metal cans and not an MRE pack.

[@Blackpheonix99]

13:40 .... To answer the question... We eat it cold... Usually we eat it cold anyways... Don't have time to sit and wait for food to be all hot and enjoy the meal lol

[@Eleni_E]

I do appreciate that they just had a gong laying around. I too keep finding weird stuff in supply closets at work.

[@MGower4465]

I remember reading the memoirs of a Navy corpsman who served a tour in Vietnam with Marine long range recon. Fairly sure that's where I saw the story of heating water with C4, and "just don't stamp on it". The Marines actually took a little C4 from the Claymore mines that they would set out at night. They left the heating tabs behind since they were unreliable in humid, damp conditions, and took too long to do the job.

[@LegoLordPro]

C4 being used for cooking. DRG Driller: *writes down recipe ideas with the satchel charge*

[@neonnerd1364]

I blame Mythbusters for my love of fire, explosions, and destruction.

[@SivaExperiment]

Omg same

[@ThunderTheBlackShadowKitty]

Same

[@nbarrager]

I only ever got to watch this show on Netflix back in the day and a lot of episodes including this one never made it on there. Watching these guys build cool stuff helped make me the man I am today, it's a shame Adam and Jamie didn't like each other.

[@PanEtRosa]

they respected each other and still do. they just didn't personally get along. just the nature of being a professional.

[@rjspires]

I watched the UK version of recently. I'm surprised that cuts were still being made this late into the shows run. They cut the choosing the meal eat and the a few of the sound effects from the UK version.

[@josephtortona824]

the grill was set too high in camping kits with heating tablets/bricks the distance between the fire and the cooking container is less than 1.5 inches high

[@BashoftheMonth]

2:20 That's the coolest clip I've ever seen in my life.

[@JoshuaMiller-ny5uf]

Hey, MythBusters channel, loving that you put all these episodes up, but could you change the title? It should probably be "Can C4 be used as a cooking fuel?"

[@SJR_Media_Group]

Oops typo....

[@johnclonch738]

C-4 was used with C rations when in a pinch.

[@Otakunopodcast]

13:11 A bit disappointed that they didn't put those MREs into a tray. "Let's get this out into a bowl" just doesn't sound as nice.

[@brendanmatelan2129]

29:15, this little bit with Adam always made me chuckle.

[@Bonjour-World]

Well having watched the entire thing, I think that I will stick with charcoal for my next cookout.

[@FennecTECH]

He’s running XP on a PowerBook G4 and using it to run windows 98 age cad software.

[@slimnim1753]

I can't believe it's taken God knows how many years this is what 20 year old footage and people still don't understand the high explosive is different than a low explosive

[@dustinmeek4032]

You have to keep adding more c4 when the fire dies down

[@gabrielv.4358]

10:08 That is cool, they had their own folders

[@pirobot668beta]

Copper oxide/Aluminum thermite can explode, even when unconfined! Much faster release of energy than iron oxide thermite..not slag, all vapor! Makes a pretty orange cloud of copper-vapor.

[@NoPegs]

RIP Grant.

[@Istandby666]

MRE bombs are good for July 4th...😁

[@andrewmangini9004]

Personal experience…. Yes, yes it can.

[@brycelynch2138]

12:16 - MRE: Meals Rejected by Everybody.

[@corruptedproject7047]

xD fax tho

[@lektik2941]

The movie version of the flying guillotine looks like it can fold up really small and slip into a sleeve or a pocket.

[@IronPhysik]

TNT is also very stable, infact when people first discovered it they used it as paint pigment to make yellow paint only much later it was found out that the stuff can detonate.

[@bachvaroff]

The same is also true for TNP (picric acid), though both TNT and TNP are quite toxic and it's not a particularly good idea to use 'em as pigments…

[@WalkerRileyMC]

@@bachvaroff If you do some research on various toxic materials we've used as pigments over time, you'll be impressed at how we managed to survive as a species into the modern age.

[@demonknight7965]

Not sure which was better. The myths or the bad jokes

[@williambryant6175]

Yes, lol

[@michaeldelazerda4434]

My late Stepfather, Bob Hastert, was Marine Recon in Nam(69ish) and told stories about them cooking beenies and weenie with C4... said it worked great for them because they didn't want it to show for too long... he said, "lukewarm was better than the can and Tabasco alone"

[@whyme224]

Genius combined with insanity. That’s all I can say.

[@GeneralWeirdness]

25:01 The ladder says Dookie Waggon lolol!

[@fartsparkle]

kzbin.info help

[@fartsparkle]

NOT A REAL LINK... just messing around haha1 !

[@ArtThingies]

I remember the flying guillotine part; but not the C4 part of the original episode.

[@grahck4391]

I know that the c4 to cook with is a viable option. My dad swore by it and claimed to have a block or 2 on him at all times in Nam for cooking because it was fast and more efficient than what was provided.

[@hizzy70]

When Adam said "its stuck to his shoe" made me laugh 😂

[@hrodga]

That's the real reason you don't want to stomp out a C4 fire.. I think the myth comes from senior leaders just telling the lower enlisted not to do it and not _why_ not to do it.

[@hizzy70]

@@hrodga ohh true that's a good point

[@marybdrake1472]

It is really interesting that the C-4 myth was both confirmed and busted at the same time. I don't remember another test that had that result.

[@tristindurocher-batley4780]

Tori’s salad bowl of death might not have been what the device actually looked like (then again no drawings of the real deal are accessible in the modern era and the only designs come from kung fu movies) but not only was it simple enough that it could’ve been the real deal in the era it supposedly existed in but was also the safest because Kari’s and especially Grant’s designs were more likely to Seaver their hands off considering Grant’s almost bore a deep gash on his belly. Ps I this makes me wonder if Tori’s salad bowl of death worked better with a saw edge wouldn’t the Chakram be deadlier if it had a saw edge

[@thijsdeboer389]

Saw blade on a throwing weapon like a chakram would lower the cutting ability because you wouldn't get enough rotational force because of the increased friction. Which would probably leave a nastier cut but a way more shallow . The same goes for the salad bowl but with some very small blades it worked because the user can still apply more rotational force after throwing it by pulling on the chain.

[@occasionalart7597]

​@@thijsdeboer389 Not mention the saw teeth could get stuck on the spine in the neck while the smooth edge can just slice through.

[@DaniTheNachoPirate]

6:15 god, I love how that sounds.

[@poshrat993]

This has led me to believe I can be extremely comfortable around c4 both when it’s burning and with active gunfire

[@LogicalNiko]

As denoted in the title, what is A C4 (singular)? Is it an US Military standard M114 Block of C-4? Composition 4 is a combination of RDX, a plasticizer (usually DOS or DOA), and PIB (synthetic rubber), and mineral or light motor oil. The single smallest amount of C4 would be measurable in the micrograms (which would not really work as a cooking fuel as it would be to small to effectively light and cook anything).

[@Arkouchie]

It's being used as a shortening of "a c4 plastic explosive".

[@PopupH88terILoveJuice-iz7sx]

That acting at 6:20 is primo. "This is awesome!"

[@TacComControl]

The chafing dish one is weird. We used to use Sterno cans to boil water for coffee.

[@keithgill-s4g]

I’ve always loved MythBusters

[@bruhpopoppoop2759]

Thank u myth busters for being my childhood

[@Brion57042]

about 30 years ago, I was at a small town antique auction, and an old guy had set up a pretty big trap. I remember it being kinda like a body grip trap, expect that one side had smaller jaws, and as it went off, the jaws spun shut multiple times, crossing over each other. I'm sure with some slight modifications, it could take a person's head off. Yep. old dude set up a leg-breaking trap in the middle of a small town auction and set it for the ten-year-old. 90s were wild, yo.

[@chrisharte4280]

Actually, I think you could roast marshmallows over a burning C4, and then makes smores while you're at it.

[@dannyslag]

This was the best show ever made.

[@Istandby666]

There are army books that teach you how to make C4. When I was a young teenager I got a hold of my biological father's books and started making some. C4 basically needs an electric charge to detonate it.

[@5Ci0N]

13:07 let's get this out on a tray. Nice.

[@SJR_Media_Group]

Army heats their MRE's with C4... Marines just eat the C4... a Standard M112 Demolition Block of C4 weighs 1.25 Pounds and has enough Energy to keep a Platoon of Marines fully energized for 1 week... Oorah...

[@samuzamu]

Busted and confirmed at the same time, wouldn't that be combusted lol?

[@dylan6366]

10:46 BROOOOO 😭 PLEASE

[@longrider42]

Already knew about C4. Just don't try and stomp out the fire or, KaBoom, there goes your leg.

[@Lagbeard]

It's the Brainiac Slow Release thermite garden pot.

[@danisgay100]

I could see Attila the Hun using the flying guillotine.

[@Jadiaz-ev9hm]

Tory's would have worked with a head giving resistance.

[@lordnul1708]

The blades from Grant's design could probably have been added as a mechanism for locking the head in the bag for more vertical retrieval like that one scene in the movie... 🤔 But we'll never know now, at least not from the Mythbusters themselves.

[@scinanisern9845]

Oh yes, without a doubt. Results however are MOST impressive on an electric grill.