How Orbeez Can Stop Very Fast Bullets (And Why It Matters)

Today I'm getting the help of my wooden friend to investigate terminal ballistics of liquids and semi-solid materials. In one of my early videos I used that mannequin to make a thumbnail, and some people were disappointed that it wasn't featured in the video, so I thought I could bring it back this time.
Rest in Pieces Woody.
I'll also show you the useful ballistic properties of Orbeez, and how to make a simple bullet trap for recovering fired bullets.
Special thanks to Carson Pollard for inspiring the making of this video.
If you can and want to help me making videos like this, you can directly support me on Patreon:
/ backyardballistics
with your help, I can keep making educational content without having to give up my freedom of speech to the advertiser's needs.

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

Rest in Pieces Woody.

[@luca.652]

😔✊

[@SomeKidFromBritain]

Are you itallian?

[@tannhausergate7162]

Not gonna lie, I felt bad for the timbered fella.

[@easterriot1916]

Some skilled craftsman spent a good deal of time creating that mannequin. Lets keep things.... more european, shall we?

[@francescopili5076]

@@henncssy Snake, you created a time paradox!

[@KiithnarasAshaa]

One possible difference in materials could be to use a clear polycarbonate tube lined with a clear silicone coat, in order to enable viewing depth of travel without having to open and retrieve the fired projectiles. Just an idea.

[@crimsonhalo13]

It's possible to source clear PVC in a wide variety of sizes all the way up to 14 inches in diameter. They definitely make the same diameter as the tube in this video. There is also clear silicone sheeting that would probably replace the black stuff shown here.

[@innercityprepper]

You always know business is going to be done when Maurice shows up.

[@darkrage1138]

"This video is too long" lies, I love the knowledge dropping you do

[@ElementalMaker]

Awesome work as always! Btw I just finished building an FGC-9, you should come over here and test it out! If you ever do a video on 3D printed pews let me know and I will help in whatever way I can.

[@TechGorilla1987]

Any news on your check mark and play button? I hope you're well.

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

Hello Bob! Sorry for the late reply, I think KZbin is messing up with the notifications (or I am... actually that's the most likely scenario...) anyway I was actually planning on making a video on 3d printed "tools", I'll send you an email later ;)

[@pablowentscobar]

The saluting dummy had me rolling.

[@planken203]

mate this is way more interesting than the physics lessons we have at school, where as my school does physics lessons essentially as maths, but you explain the concepts so clearly and i actually understand what is happening. thank you so much for this channel, i love it

[@TechGorilla1987]

Sometimes, KZbin has it's algorithm shit together and gives me something good. Subscribed.

[@JTA1961]

Same here 👍

[@RedTSquared]

LOVE the science involved! Definitely a step above most other Gun Channels! Thank you for taking the time and effort this required! And Thank You for Your Service Woody!

[@LuizBarros99]

That aftermarket AK magazine blooper surely gave me a laugh

[@mistaBorg]

There is an underwater rifle and pistol that fire brass needles, it aligns kinda nicely with what you said, finally I understood some of the science behind that xd

[@MECHA_DI]

I only knew about the underwater AK style rifle, I did not know there was a pistol. what is it called?

[@bogdanbogdanoff5164]

@@MECHA_DI It's called SPP-1

[@MECHA_DI]

@@bogdanbogdanoff5164 thanks. ill def take a look at it

[@bogdanbogdanoff5164]

@@MECHA_DI it even has a wiki page, you'll find it

[@roflkopter]

"this time I had forgotten to screw the cap all the way on" *Kentucky ballistics type beat starts playing*

[@robinlaszlo]

untasteful joke, he had his cap on all the way. The only thing Scott did wrong was not make sure his ammo source was legit.

[@roflkopter]

@@robinlaszlo I know that, the breach wouldn't have closed if the cap wasn't screwed all the way on. He made the mistake to shoot ammo he couldn't be sure about if it was legit and told everybody not to do the same mistake. Glad that man is recovering that well, the joke was definitely tasty in my opinion tho😂

[@jpdesimone]

I love this YT channel. It provides the scientific side of projectile ballistics that other channels only occasionally offer. Thanks.

[@SavageGreywolf]

This is a great demonstration of the science behind the reason why a meter of water can stop even high powered rifle rounds.

[@KiithnarasAshaa]

4:25 I feel like Mythbusters did a pretty decent job on their "survive by diving under water" myth with their angled rig firing into a large pool from a 30 degree angle; it reduces the necessary depth of the container and allows for a longer container, but the principle is still the same - it still needs a very large container full of water, which can be damaged or ruptured from the hydraulic shockwave of supersonic projectiles if it isn't large enough or robust enough.

[@stevecastro1325]

Excellent episode, thanks for the info! I fully plan on using Orbeez for my own testing.

[@andik.4235]

I`m not really into terminal ballistic, but I have learned something today. Excellent content as always. Thank you.

[@rhorho6538]

I absolutely love the level of detail and engineering you get into, i dont believe there is anyone else on youtube doing this kind of work. I was always curious if layers of cordura fabric can stop bullets, seeing how the old flak vests were made of nylon.

[@btria03]

Love this channel, fun and quality explanation and science. Keep up the good work!!

[@vincentbaelde-millar670]

I too enjoy spicy loads. The spear shape is also seen in the Russian underwater firing guns with their steel bolts.

[@ciscosugui8290]

Your videos are very informative. Keep making these!

[@wiley8976]

Man I could sit down and ask questions all day. Thanks for sharing your videos ! RIP woody

[@kurtanderson9309]

Very interesting. I do enjoy learning. You are a very good teacher. Thank you.

[@garrettmandujano2996]

The explanation is fantastic, thank you!

[@mariosebastiani3214]

High quality content and a flawless explanation, as usual. There's only one thing I disagree upon: the sentence "this video is already too long". As for the pipe, I suggest buying those used for acoustic performance: high density material, thick and possibly multi-layered (like the one you used) or additioned with mineral charges.

[@lexzoolia1]

Excellent video as always

[@Codevil.]

This true ballistic science, well done.

[@ReavinBlue]

One of the best gun channels out there. or ballistics channel? idk wich but I love it

[@A407RAC]

Love your work my friend, keep it up! 100k subs will come by in a blink of an eye

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

He will be missed

[@virutech32]

Great work, interesting topic, great presentation. always up to learnin somethin new

[@pant0sand0hat]

Awesome. Thank you!

[@ReavinBlue]

Massive video as always

[@wheresthecat]

I have big bones too. Awesome video, awesome channel. Thanks!

[@Crazylegs650]

“Walmart brand demo ranch”, I’d say you are a couple leagues above 🤣

[@WvlfDarkfire]

I actually learned something! Thanks!

[@mlgsquirrel]

Hey vsause Michael here. Lots of information, Great video!

[@ThomasRonnberg]

I'm glad you didn't leave a hole in the shooting range ledge there.

[@thetruesoml2118]

Wasn't going to watch this because I thought it was a Demolition Ranch Video, then I saw it was Backyard Ballistics and got excited, so here I am. :D

[@biturboism]

Until 0:30 I was convinced I was watching a video of shooting an Obrez 😂

[@colhammer1]

Engagingly engaging in engagement.

[@talscorner3696]

*Intentionally underpowered shot* For a second, I thought the spear had gone through the wall xD (Fa piacere scoprire un gun channel italiano!)

[@sstace69]

Nice Ruger!

[@DeltaPi314]

Everytime an American says something stereotypical about Italians, Backyard Ballistics should drop a vid.

[@angelsjoker8190]

Aren't liquids/gels also forming a vacuum behind the projectile once they close the penetration path again, thus there would be an additional pull force against the direction of movement of the projectile, adding to the stopping power¿ That would be different to a non closing material.

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

That form of drag is proportional to the static pressure, which at low depths is close to atmospheric, so many orders of magnitude smaller than dynamic pressure

[@perfectlynormalhuman5473]

Have you ever shot a ViS Wz.35? Really cool pistol. FB Radom recently started producing them again, not use how about export to the U.S tho. Very cool surplus pistol.

[@tihomirgospodinov9187]

Hey, I have the same spear gun but the gaskets are all bad now and it doesn't hold pressure -- any idea where I could source new ones? I know it's unrelated but seeing it in your vid made my day!

[@HK-417-]

This made me feel stupid initially, then by the end I felt as if my brain had expanded 3x

[@hyenalingo]

it would be fun to experiment with horse stall mats and orbeez to make a backstop

[@SandrasSpicySpanishSalami]

*YAY, ORBEEZ!*

[@Nocturnalzyx]

Just curious, is 6.5 Lapua the same cartridge as .338 Lapua?

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

no, not at all, completely different casing and bullet diameter. the 6.5x47 has the same case head as a 308 Win, while the 338 lapua is much larger.

[@ThomasRonnberg]

I think to avoid the high velocity ammo like the lapua ammo and the ak ammon from deformation you will need a much larger tube. At least 3x in diameter. I think the deformation occurs when the orbees create dense zones. The more rounds you shot into the the tube the more dense the cross section became by the looks of it.

[@echoschnupowitz6250]

Nice video as always. That 7,62x39 round wasn't it Yugo M67?

[@ecash00]

now. try a hard shell inside and a Soft floating shell outside and the middle covered in Orbeez. Might have some tank protection.

[@flightlesschicken7769]

8:06 I'm glad he's okay. I was wondering if something happened to him because he hasn't been on the channel in a while

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

Still going strong luckily. A bit of aches and pains, but still grinding 😎

[@Rodrigo-rd1]

Any update on the light gas gun?

[@trombonista92]

Grande, potresti fare un video dove parli del tuo percorso professionale e come sei arrivato a fare questa professione,

[@rileyfahl9787]

Speed beats armor… but mass beats density. That’s why a lot of hunters prefer heavy, slower moving rounds when hunting in heavily wooded areas

[@El_Andric]

I really like this xhannel

[@witiwap86]

I liked the video and had a question. The pipe can expand a little while the water itself is incompressible. Would there be any change if you put a pipe (or other container) with a larger diameter? I can see three possible outcomes. The first is that the difference is too negligible to measure/see. The second would be that the increased amount of incompressible water around the bullet would expend more of the bullet's kinetic energy making it move slower. The other I could see is if the larger container (probably also flexible) flexes more easily due to the increased surface area at the interface between the water and container. Maybe it's enough to make a video out of.

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

Hi! Thanks for providing an interesting question. The effect of increading the pipe diameter gets lower and lower as diameter increases, so after a certain threshold it is negligible in practice. My pipe was actually too small for the energies of rifle bullets (as you might have guessed 🤣), but I'm not able to quantify the difference in penetration depth we would have had using a larger pipe. Base on my experience, I would expect it to be small. If instead the pipe was much smaller, and of size comparable to the bullet, penetration would be greatly reduced

[@ulfhedtyrsson]

Hey bro, you should do a video for Scott at Kentucky Ballistics like the rest of the 'GunTubers' if you are able. It would probably bring you a bunch more subs and views

[@karlgoodman9194]

He already did. Two of them, actually.

[@ulfhedtyrsson]

For not of

[@karlgoodman9194]

@@ulfhedtyrsson How so?

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

I'd love to, but my channel is too small I'm afraid. He probably doesn't even know I exist 🙃

[@ulfhedtyrsson]

@@Backyard.Ballistics Nah I've heard several times some big channels mention you. Scott did too. Something along the lines of, "A channel with a very similar name, Backyard Ballistics."

[@horacegentleman3296]

That magazine was fine for your AK. Your Handguard was getting in the way.

[@maslav4241]

saw title, thought clickbait, saw channel name, started watching

[@HowardLuken]

Bottom line is could this be adapted for personal body armor or in an armored vehicle? It seems that it might stop ordinary rounds and dissipate the energy over a wider area with less depth than that pipe. It strikes me that there's got to be some kind of material that it's been discovered as they usually do and don't know a good use for it. Imagine a vest lightweight like a shirt just slightly thicker no more ballistic ceramic or steel plates. Cheaper to make then all of that Kevlar and ballistic material they use now as well. Just little balls of gelatinous water.

[@RNKel1]

It would be really cool to put it in Kevlar to improve it, but you might need a lot of orbeez to help it stop higher power/faster cartridges such as a 50 BMG or 5.7 caliber FN pistol ( or larger, but still quick calibers )

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

There are non-newtonian fluids that were researched for armor use but containing the fluid requires you to develop a self-sealing, bullet resustant container anyway.

[@Kaboomf]

It needs about the same depth regardless of width so that would be impractical.

[@HowardLuken]

@@Kaboomf my point being they are bound to discover or already have perhaps discovered materials that can dissipate the force to the sides instead of directly ahead into the body or vehicle. It's just a matter of time. I'm guessing some kind of electromagnetic fields will eventually appear. Of course that will probably end up having terrible effects upon the human body because we're all suffering from the unbelievable amount of radiation being pumped through us every single day.

[@Kaboomf]

@@HowardLuken That doesn't fit with my understanding of physics. Neither the somehow non-Newtonian armour idea nor the radiation thing. Have a nice day, and keep your tinfoil hat on!

[@2drx4]

Slapping the ballistic gel on the table had my laughing. I know, very childish.

[@donovanchilton5817]

Cracked me up. I'm still twelve inside.

[@liliwinnt6]

10:22 you are talking about Soviet APS underwater automatic rifle lol

[@elimcgraw4066]

One time in school in science class my friend put an orbee in his ear and couldn't get it out. He started freaking out, but that day we happened to have a substitute teacher who used to be a vet so she dug it out

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

A pinch of salt would have shrunk it as well by osmosis 😉

[@elimcgraw4066]

@@Backyard.Ballistics Good to know for next time :)

[@rendy2888]

on my work we use a water box arround 3mts long and 1mts height. it can stand any bullet. 5.56x45 ammo sometimes shatter into pieces

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

thanks for sharing ;) to stop high velocity rifle bullets without damaging them I've seen long lengths of cotton being used. Taking out the bullet must be a pain though...

[@mrstraw153]

Does Orbeez still get u high when u eat them? They used to

[@gslam8571]

Great vid bro /i would luv to use my 375h&h in those test and see how itwould do /its a great moose rifle and has a ton of energy .i generally run a 300 grain roud nose bullet loadaed to bout 2300 fps /i can push the velocity up to 2500fps with a 270 grain bullet /but i perfer the 300 gr for heavy brush kkep up the good work !/greetings from canada !

[@killertruth186]

What about reacting to COD Ghost underwater mission? Where there's gunfights underwater? I know it is sci-fi. But it is something that most people haven't gone back to think about.

[@murmenaattori6]

Not so science fiction. The APS rifle used in the mission is a real firearm, it was designed in the USSR to arm frogmen.

[@killertruth186]

@@murmenaattori6 Ah, and how did that turned out?

[@pupyasko1233]

@@killertruth186 quick bit of research tells me that at a depth of 5m it had an effective range of 30m, at 40m deep the effective range dropped to 10m. So it's probably more effective than normal firearms under water, but not great.

[@cpt.battlecock5264]

@@pupyasko1233 at hundred meters a knife would be more effective than anything.

[@pupyasko1233]

@@cpt.battlecock5264 Yep, max. depth it can still be used seems to be 45m

[@WanderCampesino]

Looks like an ikea set of pliers

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

Just marginally better than that 😂

[@averagejoe175]

Do you have a Instagram account? I looked but can't find one. P.s. video molto interessante!

[@spicy110]

I made a full auto Orbeez gun! It makes the most amazing sound haha

[@mrstraw153]

The Romanian AK is so beautiful

[@crystalsheep1434]

Interesting

[@Nnnope]

Me: I'm going to make body armour out of orbeez

[@blacklabel3980]

They should develop body armor that uses a super thick liquid that can absorb over blast pressure

[@alynnbeyer7868]

Good day sir. Ever since my deployments in Iraq I have scratched my head over and over on trying to solve the penetration capabilities of an EFP. Not saying orbeez would work but possibly something on a larger scale but capable of being placed on vehicles such as MRAP or MAXPRO. What are your thoughts sir?

[@miaudottk9080]

Have you tried using some non-Newtonian fluids as a target?

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

I will do soon😉

[@donkeydonk96]

cool

[@robinlaszlo]

I hope you cleaned up all those Orbeez off the ground.

[@burcman2666]

DONGGGG

[@crimsonhalo13]

"So I tried to clean up the mess ...." > MISSION FAILED Orbeez are only slightly less obnoxious than glitter, once it's spilled somewhere it's mostly impossible to get rid of.

[@bartoszbaranowski604]

Same principle as with ceramic armor - sort off.

[@thatbrittishgentleman340ye3]

No dislikes!

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

(yet) 🤣

[@jmkhenka]

One would argue that at 1600 m/s, the bullet would probably not travel anywhere in water.. even at normal rifle velocities it will just explode unless its a pure copper solid or harder. But a lead core bullet wont survive.

[@Chris_FMS_Redfield]

I can't find that impact depth equation on Google. What's it called? The only equation I can find is Newton's approximation.

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

That equation is obtained by solving the differential equation of motion for an object with constant drag coefficient, subjected exclusively to quadratic (inertial) drag, and expressing the distance it has to travel in order for the velocity to drop from the impact velocity down to a certain threshold. I derived it myself, but most of the process is also described in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqXUnIdqa5mbncU Bear in mind that real world interactions are much more complex. This was just a simplified scenario to show the logarithmic nature (relative to velocity) of penetration in semi-solid materials

[@Amazementss]

muh sectional density

[@energycantbedestroyeditcan7671]

So if someone hides behind a bucket of orbies, use an AK-47.

[@piropitiflautico]

i am not an expert by any means so feel free to explain. Couldn't the bullet exit from the bottom of the tube, hit the concrete and come back at you?

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

there is no concrete, everything in the shooting area of the range is covered in ricochet proof (and acoustic) cladding. They just decided to paint it to look like concrete 😉

[@Villa125]

Do that with just water it'll still stop, bullets don't travel long distances in water

[@peterhessedal8539]

I think you're supposed to measure .357 velocities in fps not m/s. ;)

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

My bad 🤣

[@gregmcb5305]

You sure you didn’t miss haha?

[@BartJBols]

So a vest made of pipes filled with orbies WOULD block bullets...

[@KurtOnoIR]

I thought orbeeze were for eating 🤔

[@Maltazar0090ita]

02:00 it is not an ak! It's a romanian PM

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

Yes I know, these are the compromises you have to take in order to widen the audience ;)

[@Maltazar0090ita]

@@Backyard.Ballistics understandable

[@lupettoversilia]

Non m'aspettavo che si deformassero Solo che fossero fermati

[@antoninolatorre8355]

oh, boy !!! all we, all you all they ... every body every day, who doesn't goes to duelling and shooting under water ...!!! 🤔🤭💥🤫😂🤣😄

[@NoContext420]

very hopeful for the spear gun videos

[@glidercoach]

I thought JHP were illegal in Italy...

[@Backyard.Ballistics]

No they're not. Actually, practically all hunting ammunition uses JHPs. They're use against humans is prohibited, even in civilian and police environments, differently from most other countries.