WEBVTT - Crossbows: They Look Cool 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.920 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:07.560 It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff you Should Know 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:16.639 from house Stuff Works dot com? Hey, and welcome to 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:20.440 the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:22.680 that makes this stuff you should know? As if you 0:00:22.760 --> 0:00:26.880 didn't know, you know, you know, Yeah, we trust you. 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:29.600 We worked for a website called how Stuff Works dot 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:32.640 com and we're going to take an article at random 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:35.320 from the site right now. I've never seen it before, 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:37.800 and we're just going to start talking about it. You're ready, Chuck, 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:45.000 I'm spinning the wheel and stop. Oh shoot, what is it? 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:48.159 Almost landed on the batmobile? Oh? What is it? Instead? 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:50.239 I can't I can't be bothered to look to the 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:55.520 right crossbows? Okay, how crossbows work? All right, let's start 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:58.200 talking just off the top of my head, Chuck. Have 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:02.160 you ever seen the TV show Walk King Dead? Awesome 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:05.039 show in nice choice of weapon. I know you saw it. 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:07.760 I just got into it. You mean I watched the 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:10.959 first six episodes the first season. It's so good. Have 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:12.920 you started season two yet? Not? Yes? So don't tell 0:01:12.920 --> 0:01:14.600 me anything. Okay, I don't want to know if Nick 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:19.160 Fisher dies, they're still zombies out there. Okay, good, okay, good, 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:21.880 Although I have to say I'm not very happy with 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:25.640 that one subplot of like the sexual tension subplot, that 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:31.880 conflict that's brewing and hasn't really so um. But overall, 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:35.399 I think it's an awesome show, and I think, like 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:38.760 you said, Darryl Dixon's choice of weapon is pretty awesome. 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:44.280 If not very practical, it's pretty awesome. And that is Yeah. Yeah, 0:01:44.319 --> 0:01:45.800 it is quiet because you don't want to alert the 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:48.720 zombies the geeks, but he has a finite amount of 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:52.440 arrows or bolts that he has to go retrieve from 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:54.720 the heads of zombies that he's just shot between the 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:57.680 eyes after they fall. I thought was him. I'd hit 0:01:57.760 --> 0:02:00.160 up a hardware store or a sporting good store, get 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:03.880 a bunch of those like in Red Dawn. Yeah, load up. Yeah. 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:06.280 Every time I watched that show, I keep telling Emily, 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:09.919 I'm like, they have everything they want. Like there, it's 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:13.040 like a struggle to get gas. There's cars everywhere, and 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:14.840 it hasn't been that long. It's not like a hundred 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:19.359 years after where everything has been rated. There's still stuff everywhere. Yeah, 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.880 and there's very few people to raid. Yeah, it's fine, alright, 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:26.679 go get some arrows. They're reusable. In fact, the shot 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:28.560 in Atlanta. I'll tell him where you can pick them up. 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:31.880 Norman read us an email. Where would you send him? 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:38.160 Go to? Uh, Thick Sporting Goods okay, ten ten for 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:41.480 a dollar, not the mom and pop a army navy stores. 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:44.240 Uh yeah, I would go to one of those supports 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:49.040 small business exactly. Go to Bob's Bolt House. I love 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:53.160 Bob's in the bolt district. Uh, it's so Chuck. You've 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:55.560 seen a crossbow before? Then? Yeah, I want to buy 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:58.359 one after this? Yeah, I kind of like when to. 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:00.520 I don't know that either of us should be trusted 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:06.520 with one. Um. Obviously somebody took a bow, bow and arrow, 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:09.520 slapped it on top of a rifle and said, I 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:12.359 just made me a crossbow. That's what happened, and it's 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:16.320 probably a very recent origin. The end, good night, not true, 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:21.400 Josh Liar. Archaeologists like Indiana Jones have found crossbows as 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:25.240 far back as year old Chinese graves. Isn't that crazy? 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:28.120 That is crazy? Um? And they think that it may 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:32.440 be as much as four thousand years old. That that 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:36.480 technology in China two thousand BC. Perhaps um. They appeared 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:39.560 in the Mediterranean by the fourth century. A d Roman 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:42.800 military used them. Was written down in the in the 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:47.839 text I love this guy's name of Flavius Vegeta, Vegetius 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:52.960 vegetis renatus. His family invented broccoli. They called him flave 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:56.880 though you know they did. Uh. They were all over 0:03:56.920 --> 0:04:00.200 Europe during the Middle Ages. The crossbow was basically like 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:04.920 you said, rifle meets bow, right, But this is long 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:08.480 before anybody thought of a rifle. That's true. But I 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:10.400 mean think about it, you like, that's what you think 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:12.360 it is. It's got like a trigger and there's a 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:16.080 stock and all that stuff. But it's it. It predates 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:19.880 the rifle by many thousands of years. Didn't Vinci draw 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:23.320 one of these up to Yeah, it's a it's a 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:29.120 page zero art chuck. Um. The there's a common among 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:33.760 the Mediterranean and the Chinese crossbow where the bow obviously 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:38.440 the stock which is also called the tiller, and um 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:41.719 the a groove in the stock or the tiller that 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:46.960 the arrow or bolt flew down. Um a trigger, but 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:51.200 the trigger mechanisms were different. Apparently, if you were in 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:56.479 the Mediterranean, you were trigger firing. Your trigger triggered the 0:04:56.640 --> 0:05:03.760 firing mechanism by uh not twisted nuts, right, Okay. If 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:07.279 you were in China, it used some bolts and levers 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:13.560 system of levers that fired the released the string and 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:17.240 fired the bolt. And these firing mechanisms are different enough 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:23.760 that archaeologists believe that they were independently conceived of in 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:27.040 China and in the Mediterranean. That's pretty cool. Yeah, uh 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:31.000 most Another common device you'd see most often is a stirrup. 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:34.599 And if you ever look at a crossbow, you'll notice 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:39.960 that it has a little steel stirrup on the front 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:42.520 of it where you can put I was trying to 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:44.359 think of them, but it's a stirrup. So what you 0:05:44.400 --> 0:05:45.800 do is you put it on the ground and put 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:47.800 your little foot in that stirrup so you can hold 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:50.160 it down real tight, and you and you pull it back, 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:53.560 pull the draw string back with both hands apparently equally 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:56.600 on both sides. It's important because you don't want it 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:59.039 out to whack. You know, if it's off balance, the 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:02.520 air is not gonna fly right now or true meat. 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:04.719 And so you pull it back and you hook it 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:06.880 on a You know, they're all different, but you hook 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:10.040 it on a little peg device that will be released 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:14.520 by pulling the trigger. And that's the basic fundamentals. So 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:20.240 the crossbow doesn't just look cool, it has somebody. It 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:22.760 does look very cool and has it poses some actual 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:25.159 advantages over the bow. And the bow has been around 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:29.040 since before people even knew how to write, or knew 0:06:29.160 --> 0:06:33.680 that there was such thing as writing, because there wasn't yet. Um. 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:37.279 And so what the crossbow does is it takes the 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:39.800 bow and all of its disadvantages and says, well, here, 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:41.280 let me add this, and let me add that, let 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:43.000 me change this a little bit, and all of a sudden, 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:46.920 now any fat slob can shoot a bow and arrow. Yeah, 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:49.359 if you got a bow. If you if you're not, 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:52.480 if you're traditional bowman or an archer, is bow and 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:55.240 even a word, I think it is now a right. 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:59.279 If you're traditional archer, you are probably pretty strong, and 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:03.839 you might be sort of tall, and you are pretty quick, 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:07.480 because um, it's pretty quick process to draw up the bow, 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:10.240 aim it, and shoot it. You've seen Lord of the Rings, 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:12.600 seeing Lord of the Rings. But the longer it takes 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:15.160 you to aim, the more tired you're gonna your little 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:17.280 arms are gonna be the less accurate you're gonna be 0:07:17.800 --> 0:07:20.080 with a with a crossbow. You know, you can cock 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:23.200 that thing and you're done, right, It just sits there 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:26.480 cocked indefinitely until you pull the trigger. Yeah. I wouldn't 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:29.400 walk around like that unless you're like a hunter maybe 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:33.640 or some jerk. Yeah, but don't do it in your backyard. Um. 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:38.600 So it takes that that need for endurance, yeah, in 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:41.480 in you know, holding it waiting for somebody to come 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:44.160 around the bend. And yes, and like you said, it 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:49.600 also introduced a whole new, uh subpar breed of warrior 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:53.000 because if you are a great archer, that means, like 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:55.200 I said, you're probably strong, probably a little bit taller 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:58.040 for the age because people are shorter. Back then, long 0:07:58.080 --> 0:08:00.480 bow was stronger, shot, straighter, and further. So you want 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:03.400 to use a long bow. But you know, if you 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:06.080 got a crossbow, if you can pull that thing back, 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:09.240 that's all you need to do. But sometimes you didn't 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:11.280 need need to pull that thing back. Well, you can 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:14.400 pull that thing back generally because you're using a stirrup, right, 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:17.200 which means you're using your foot and if you have 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:20.320 a little hook attached to your belt, then you're you're 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:23.800 doing a squat and that's how you're pulling, That's how 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:30.680 you're cocking the crossbow. Right. Well, I imagine it's probably 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:33.280 like a dwarf or maybe an elf, like you know, 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:37.680 elves are kind of undeveloped. Um, but you're you're standing 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:42.080 up basically to cock the bow the crossbow, and um, 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:46.120 you're using your buttocks and your thigh muscles, which are 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:49.240 the strongest muscles in your body. So you could just 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:52.760 be like a total upper body woods but ripped from 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:56.480 the waist down. You're a cross bowman or a cross archer. 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:59.400 That's true. But what I was saying was was the 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:01.480 krannikin sometimes you didn't have to pull it back at all, 0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:06.200 because in fourteenth century Europe they began making this thing, 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:08.920 this device called a crann Akin that you could put 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:12.480 on your crossbow, had little toothed wheel and a crank 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:16.600 and it would basically pull the string back for you. 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:19.679 You're just cranking it like you're opening, um, your grandmother's 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:22.600 windows at her house, you know, like the little crank thing. 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:25.800 But as you're doing that, it's cocking the bow. But 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:28.920 it's cocking a bow that you couldn't possibly cock yourself, 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:32.600 which means that you're about to shoot a bolt that 0:09:32.679 --> 0:09:35.960 can go right through a tree or pretty significantly deep 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:39.080 into a tree, or better yet, into a war horse 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:42.640 or the human being. That's right. The problem is it 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:45.559 takes forever to crank the crann akin, and in some 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:47.960 cases some models, you had to crank the krann akin, 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:50.600 get it cocked, and then remove the crann akin, put 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:53.839 the bolt in and then shoot. So it was very powerful, 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:57.080 but it was very slow, which is one disadvantage of 0:09:57.080 --> 0:10:00.640 a crossbow. I wouldn't have wanted went back in the day, No, 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.240 But if you were in China and you wanted to 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:07.440 get some shots off pretty quick, they had a crossbow 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:10.320 for you. They had an automatic crossbows. If that shot 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:14.440 several bolts a second, it had a magazine that would 0:10:14.480 --> 0:10:17.640 just feed bolts into the into the crossbow, which would 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:20.839 um cock through level levers. The moment it was cocked, 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:23.440 it would shoot the bolt, and then another bolt would 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:26.079 come down, and the moment it was cocked another bolt, 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:28.360 it would shoot it, and so on, and so if 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:32.600 you were going really fast you could just rain bolts 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:35.839 down on somebody. The problem is, um it was fast, 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:38.320 but it wasn't very accurate, and it wasn't very deadly, 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:40.839 but it probably scared the tar out of people who 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:42.760 saw it. And the bolt didn't travel that fast. It 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:45.680 was fast to shoot, but not fast in flight. But 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:47.440 I've tried to find a picture of that thing because 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:49.760 I could not fathom it in my brain, and I 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:51.839 couldn't find any obviously because it was a long time 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:56.240 ago before it was pre pictures. Right. Uh, let's talk 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:59.240 about physics, Josh, because this is my favorite thing to do. Well, 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:01.400 this is a Trace E. Wilson article, So of course 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:04.160 there's going to be a section on the physics of crossbows. 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:07.800 There is. Um, So, a bow is basically a spring? 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:11.000 Did you know that I used to shoot? Did you 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:14.280 really you knew that a bow is basically a spring? Well? Sure, 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:17.880 I read that like four times. Really, yeah, I think 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:20.280 that's very neat. So like to take a bed spring, 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:22.480 all right? And I heard you. I heard that you 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:24.560 used to shoot. I want to know about it, but 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:27.280 I'm just like knee deep in the physics. Now, um, 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:30.040 you take a spring, you stretch it out. What you've 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:34.000 just done is um generate? Well you haven't generated it, 0:11:34.040 --> 0:11:39.480 but you've just somehow amassed elastic energy, potential energy, potential 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:43.720 energy through the elasticity of the spring. Okay, as you're 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:46.200 holding it, all of that energy is potential. It's like, 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:48.959 just let me go and I'll do some crazy stuff. 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:52.080 So much potential. The moment you're like, oh, the potential 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:54.640 energy becomes kinnectic energy. I believe we talked a lot 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:58.640 about this roller coasters. Um. The same thing with the bow. 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:01.040 When you pull a string, it's connected to either end 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:04.000 of the bow. You're pulling the bow back, you're changing 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:06.840 its shape. It's slick a spring being stretched out, but 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:09.240 in this case, the bow is just being brought together 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:13.280 the limbs um and then when you let go, the 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:18.880 bow springs back to its original shape, drawing Suddenly the 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:23.800 string highly taught. You have an arrow attached to that string, 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:28.000 and it sends that arrow shooting forward at incredible speeds. 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:32.600 The physics of a bow also apply to the physics 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:34.760 of a crossbow. Yeah, and if you never thought about it, 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:38.040 it's it is interesting because it's not a little toy 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:43.640 string that's elastic string stays the same length. You know, right, 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:46.600 you're pulling the pulling the limbs together, and then when 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:49.360 you let go, the limbs go away from you very suddenly. 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:53.480 The amount of energy of boken hole, Josh, you can 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:55.840 figure that out. Actually, it's draw weight is the amount 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:58.440 of force required to draw it back and straw length. 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:01.880 It's a distance between the bowstrings position at rest and 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:05.160 when drawn. And the total amount of energy that the 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:09.960 bow can hold is approximately equal to the draw wait 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:14.200 times draw length divided by two. Yeah. And then usually 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:19.320 that's that's expressed in um jewels, footpounds or jewels. Yeah, 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:22.000 I was getting around. No, that's the bow's energy. Um. 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:26.080 You can also impress a cross bowman by talking about 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:29.400 the errors velocity, which is measured in feet or meters 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:32.480 per second. That's right. And a lot of things can 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:37.000 affect this. Obviously, if you have a long bow, it's 0:13:37.000 --> 0:13:39.200 gonna be more powerful than a short boat because it 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:42.079 just makes sense. So the size affects it, the shape 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:44.880 affects it. A recurve bow, which is one of the 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:47.840 ones I had grown up, is uh, it doesn't just 0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:49.960 come back into you. It comes back into you then 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:54.720 flares back out away from the other direction. Yeah. Um. 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:56.679 And at the top end bottom right. And what this 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:58.880 does is it shortens the bracing height, which is the 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:02.319 distance between this ring and the bow when it's at rest, 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:06.800 which means that since that's shorter, when you pull the 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:10.400 string back and release it, it has a longer distance 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:13.000 to travel before it comes to a stop, which means 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:16.520 it gives that arrow or bolt a little extra push. Right. 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:22.400 And also the recurved bow uh makes the bow even 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:25.840 string springing ear adds a little spring to it. Step 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:32.840 composition is another thing, Josh. Density intensil strength determine how 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:36.520 much energy it holds. And uh, obviously back in the 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:39.120 day they made him from things like you y e 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:42.520 w very strong and very elastic. Not you, not you, 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:45.520 but you. Modern bows a lot a lot of times 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:48.040 are composite bows, which means, when they need it to 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:49.800 be rigid, they'll make it out of one material. When 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:51.360 they need it to be flexible, they'll make it out 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:53.520 of something else. And then they put it all together 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:57.360 to make a killing machine, exactly to make a zombie 0:14:57.440 --> 0:15:00.160 killing machine. Uh. And then there are compound bow those 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:03.920 which I had one of those two. A compound boat 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:09.480 is uses pulleys, little wheels and pulleys to make it 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:12.320 easier to pull back and hold once you get it there. 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:15.880 And that's called the let off once it reaches a 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:17.920 certain point. Do you ever shot a compoundbo I have? 0:15:18.040 --> 0:15:20.280 And that that sensation of pulling and then all of 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:23.960 a sudden, there's no resistance like this. Basically this very 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:26.240 cool was cocked. It's a very cool feeling, like I 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:29.040 could hold this all day. Not all day, but it 0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:30.680 is very cool. And I had one of those, and 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:33.560 I had a regular little record alright. Now, my dad 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:36.920 he gets into phases. He got into a bow and arrow, 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:38.960 He got into an archery phase and built a thing 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:42.480 on on our property. And you know, as my dad does, 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:44.240 he went out and bought like a seven hundred dollar 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:47.320 compound boat. Yeah yeah, but he bought me like a 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:51.000 little miniature versions of everything he got. And he was 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:53.080 a principal at my school, like I've mentioned, so he 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:54.600 had like, all of a sudden, there was an archery 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:57.920 program at school, and uh it was fun. Man, I 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:01.080 shot a lot of arrows growing up. Did you hunt anything? No, 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:06.280 not a hunter targets. Did you have a crossbow? Uh no, 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:08.640 never even shot a crossbow. But I had a little 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:11.960 compound and a little recurve. That's very cool. But after 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:15.160 this article, I'm dying to shoot a crossbow. Yeah, I 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:18.000 don't know anybody who has one. I bet, I bet 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:21.080 bet you do. Is there like a whole like a 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:25.600 group of people that had crossbowsy, and I'm not familiar. 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:28.320 I bet Matt Frederick has a crossbow. Man, do you 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:32.800 have a crossbow? No? He did, never a crossbow. Um, 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:35.160 he has a laser gun though, the functioning laser gun. 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:40.320 That will just disintegrate to you. Um, let's talk safety, Chuck. 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:44.280 In this article, Tracy Um turns into Tommy Lee Jones 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:48.520 and No Country for Old Man when she says do 0:16:48.640 --> 0:16:51.920 not point when at anything you do not plan to shoot. Yeah. 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:54.440 I don't like that rule. I think it should be that. 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:58.640 And you don't point it at anyone period. Okay. I 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:00.840 was gonna say, like it as an account for just 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:05.520 goofing around. Yeah, that's that's the what they say with 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:07.359 every gun is don't point it at someone unless you 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:09.720 plan to shoot them. But my rule of thumbs, don't 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:12.399 point it at anyone. Because a crossbow. I looked it 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:15.199 up to see if it was a good home security feature. 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:20.160 It's not your insurance come to be, Like, wait, what 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:22.840 you wanted us to reduce it because you have a crossbow. 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:24.840 They make a little pistol ones too, with a little 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:28.240 short had a pistol one, No, he had a bow caster. 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:32.439 It's like a pistol. Call, it's like a pistol crossbow, right, 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:36.080 and then it shoots energy. Okay, but it's the shape 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:39.200 of a crossbow. That's a pistol. I thought it didn't 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:41.879 have a stock. I thought it was a pistol. Was it. 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:44.400 Maybe it's just so big it looked like a pistol 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:46.720 on him. We'll hear about this one for sure. Man. 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:50.399 Uh safety, Josh, you want to place the stirrup at 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:52.240 the ground. I don't want to point it at you 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:54.720 at all, or have a friend hold the stirrup while 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:58.440 you cock. It's terrible. No, no, no, no, I'm saying, 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:00.679 do not do that. You do not do that. You 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:02.280 want to point it to the ground. Put the stirrup 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:04.639 on the ground. Put your foot in the stirrup. You 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:07.399 want to brace it very firmly. Sure your foots all 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:09.919 the way in there. Because this is a lot of energy, 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:13.160 potential energy you're building up here. Um. Like I said 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:15.040 you earlier, you want to grab it, pull it equally 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:18.679 on both sides, lock it into place, and the modern 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:22.640 crossbow will automatically have a little safety that that happens there, 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:24.919 and there may be an additional safety that you can 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:30.640 set after that, which is good. You um also want 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:33.639 to stand out of the way of the front of 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:35.760 the bow. And I'm not just saying in the path 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:39.520 of the arrow, but that bow. Remember it's stretched towards 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:42.320 you when this when the string is cocked or when 0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:44.159 the string is pulled back, and when you release it, 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:49.120 the bow flies forward and outward, and if your hands there, 0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:52.359 it's going to smack it and probably break every bone 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:56.400 in it. And also if you're hunting or you're shooting 0:18:56.400 --> 0:19:00.159 a target from behind a tree, um, you don't want 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:04.080 the uh the crossbows bow to smack into the tree 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:06.439 or else is probably going to break the bow. That's right, 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:10.679 it's pricey. And never dry fire. Yeah I didn't. I 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:14.200 knew that just from common sense. Most types of things 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:16.640 that you shoot you shouldn't dry fire. But that means 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:19.119 shooting it without a bolt. But it's made to shoot 0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:22.800 a bolt. It's configured to shoot the weight of a bolt. 0:19:22.840 --> 0:19:25.600 So when you shoot it dry that waits not there, 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:28.600 so you could potentially break your bolt. And Tracy points 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:33.960 out that dry firing voids nearly all manufacturers warranties, so 0:19:34.040 --> 0:19:39.280 don't try fire. And again, never go for the extended warranty. 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:42.199 And if you haven't listened to the Extended Warranty podcast yet, 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:45.280 should go back and listen to. It's pretty good, really, Yeah, Man, 0:19:45.400 --> 0:19:47.280 I didn't know they were good back then. Yeah, they're good, 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:50.960 all right. Yeah, because we just took this completely boring 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:53.760 topic and really went to town on it. It was 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:56.840 a good one, Chuck. The last piece of safety advice 0:19:56.920 --> 0:20:01.360 is get a bolt that has rated for your crossbow. Well, yeah, 0:20:01.440 --> 0:20:03.160 because you don't want to. You can't just put any 0:20:03.160 --> 0:20:06.320 size and weight in there. It's figured very specifically exactly. 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:07.920 You can't just say, man, look at that big bolt, 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:09.719 let me put that thing in here. Yeah, so when 0:20:09.800 --> 0:20:13.359 the zombie apocalypse comes, you better know what your crossbow 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:17.119 is rated for. Um, and don't drive on the auto 0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:20.720 bonn in tires that are rated for a lower speed 0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:24.160 than what your car can drive. Things you should know. Uh, 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:26.120 if you want to know more about the Auto bon 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:27.600 I just change the name of our show, by the 0:20:27.600 --> 0:20:30.720 way you did. If if you want, do you want 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:33.320 to tell them the real stuff? You should know Okay, 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:36.560 if you want to know more about the Autobahn, extended warranties, 0:20:36.640 --> 0:20:39.560 and crossbows, you can type any one of those three 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:41.800 or all three together and see what comes up in 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:44.280 the handy search bar at how stuff Works dot com 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:50.600 and uh that means now, friends, it's time for listener mail. Josh. 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:54.280 This is another soldier shout out work suckers for those 0:20:54.720 --> 0:20:57.080 and the one Norman Torsia to day we mentioned. I 0:20:57.119 --> 0:20:58.879 forgot to mention that's the dude that I sent the 0:20:58.920 --> 0:21:01.639 jump drive to. Okay, with every single one of our 0:21:01.640 --> 0:21:04.320 podcast on it. Man, that must have been a huge jump. 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:06.439 It was about as big as my pinky. And you 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:10.160 know I did it because he asked. You are going 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:12.040 to be doing that a lot more often now. I 0:21:12.119 --> 0:21:14.160 have a feeling that you have to prove that you're 0:21:14.359 --> 0:21:18.679 saving lives and Afghanistan in order to get that. So 0:21:18.760 --> 0:21:22.920 this is from another dude. This is from Sergeant Gabriel Everhard. 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:25.840 Greetings from Iraq. I'm writing you today from the Center 0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:30.360 of Civilization a k a. The Fertile Crescent, Iraq. I'm 0:21:30.359 --> 0:21:32.199 a combat engineer in the U. S. Army. On my 0:21:32.240 --> 0:21:35.320 second combat tour, I've had the opportunity to have wireless 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:38.199 internet and have been downloading many of your podcasts and 0:21:38.200 --> 0:21:40.880 I listened each evening during the day while on patrol 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:46.800 and m R A P Mine resistant Armored Patrol em RAP. 0:21:46.960 --> 0:21:49.000 I've heard that these are like hurt locker dudes I 0:21:49.080 --> 0:21:53.280 make I'm not positive. I relayed the plot. I relayed 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:55.840 the podcast I listened to the night before over the 0:21:55.840 --> 0:21:58.439 headset to the guys. It is great for breaking up 0:21:58.440 --> 0:22:01.920 monotony of looking for ied ease. Oh yeah, I guess 0:22:01.920 --> 0:22:04.760 they are hurt look at guys, huh and talking about 0:22:04.800 --> 0:22:08.000