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I thought that was a good thing, because it stops the chin strap from wrenching your head around as the helmet tries to fly off. Is that legit, or was it only with the heavy WW2 steel helmets, or was that a myth too?
The US troops believed that in WW2 despite the efforts of leadership. It is not true and it was never true. If a pressure wave is strong enough to cause your helmet to break your neck it is also strong enough to destroy your lungs.
Even if there are some fringe cases where strapping a helmet will hurt you there are a 1000 more where it will save you.
Took the words right out of my mouth, I still remember my smooth brained neighbor telling me about “that one dude that was in a convertible and would have died from the tire that flew up into the air and he was only able to get out of the way because he wasn’t buckled in” yeah okay buddy. Dumbass didn’t even own a convertible.
I mean, there are definitely cases where not wearing a seatbelt has saved peoples lives, but they are fringe cases. The times a seatbelt are beneficial are exponentially more than not wearing one, but the odd cases still exist.
One of my GF's older brothers was in a really bad car accident, and he was ejected from the car instead of crushed (the divers side was completely crushed. Head-on collision with a drunk driver on the wrong side of the road) This was 25+ years ago...looks like he has bad acne but it's really scarring from all the glass that got stuck in his face when he went through the windshield.
I always wondered about the "lucky to be alive". Just because of how the quality of life is for not just him but those that have survived things like failed suicide attempts. Not sure I would wanna be lucky to be alive if half my face were blown off or I was stuck in a chair the rest of my life.
Dunno bout you but [this man](https://focusmalaysia.my/physical-handicap-of-the-king-of-mini-marts-makes-him-an-envy-of-all-able-bodied-malaysians/) owns a chain of convenience stores, and he's stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. I figure if you can still see and hear and think and speak, you'll be fine.
That's why we don't test hand-made experimental rounds in remanufactured weapons by firing them from a human platform for internet likes. But a remote firing setup wouldn't have gotten as many views, of course.
I've fired real RPGs too, but it's a way different story in this instance. That was for all intents and purposes, an improvised PG round. It wasn't made in a mil-spec facility to the same standards as the ones made for the battlefield.
I wouldn't have fired that thing lol.
The rpg was demilitarized with a metal bar in the barrel. To reactive it they had to take the bar out and weld it back together. They made a video breaking down what went wrong, the channel is called Ballistic High-speed.
It's the only thing that saved his life from the videos - it acted as a pressure release rather than the faulty round turning the whole thing into a pipe bomb
That's very true, and is a major contributing factor. I still err on the side that the round was still the greater side though. They did their best to not blame it on the company who made the rounds, but in my experience any ordnance that wasn't made in a proper manufacturing facility is not to be trusted.
Admittedly, I have my biases on things that explode lol.
The rounds had nothing to do with it most likely, they welded a fucking RPG tube. Any slight imperfection in the weld and kaboom. Not a good idea, doesn't matter what munition you're using
According to their analysis video, the launcher is resleeved on the inside to reinforce it, and then pressure tested to operating pressure and then x-rayed.
It was most likely a faulty charge blocking the exhaust of the launcher, which then created enough pressure to breach the jacket. It's possible the weld saved his life as there was a single weak point where the gas vented down instead of the whole thing going off like a fragmentation grenade.
The actual most likely cause is both. Even milspec RPGs suffer from grain separation where a section of the rocket motor is dislodged at start up and is pushed down the exhaust tube and causes a blockage
I agreed that the tube is a factor, but it very much matters what the munition is. We can't say for certain because they didn't fire any military built rounds through it. My professional and experienced opinion is that the home made round was more likely to be a point of failure than the welded tube. I've seen RPG tubes that have been battered around since the 60s and repaired by mujahideen using wire and hose clamps that still slung rounds all day long with zero issues.
There is no degree of quality control in either tube or round. It's much more likely that their ejection charge was too hot, and coupling that with a jury rigged tube just points to why I wouldn't shoulder fire the thing.
Pressure issues perhaps? I could imagine a homemade round doesn't have the same propellant and ignition behavior that prevents the backwash from spilling out in front of the user like that. The dummy partially blocking it from clearing the tube cleanly probably didn't help either.
That's all just speculation. I'm sure someone who actually knows what happened can clarify.
Reminds me of these
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Eldest_Son
>> a program of covert operations conducted by the United States' Studies and Observation Group (SOG) during the Vietnam War. The project focused on placement of exploding cartridges into supplies
>>
>> ... . Rifle and machine gun cartridges had the smokeless powder replaced with a high explosive of similar appearance which would generate approximately five times the design pressure of firearms. The bolt and pieces of an exploding AK-47 receiver would typically be projected backward into the head of the individual firing the rifle. Substitute fuzes were placed in the mortar shells to detonate the shell when the mortar fired. ...
(which, BTW were made in a mil-spec facility)
This is less like using a doctored mortar round and more like cutting a mortar in half and welding it back together, then holding your face next to the weld for the test shot.
The launcher had been decommissioned by having a hole cut in it. The hole had been welded over so it could be used again but couldn't withstand the amount of energy being released.
Basically, it's a visual representation of fuck around, find out.
RPGs have 2 types of motor. First is a bursting charge that explodes in the chamber ejecting the projectile out to about ~~20~~ 5m (edit:thanks u/kingwhocares) or so. Since this occurs within the tube, there is (or should not be) any danger to the operator but there is a strong backblast out the rear. Once the projectile is at a safe distance, the second motor, a rocket ignites and propels the grenade to the target.
It’s unclear what happened here. Possibly the launch tube failed, the initial ejection charge was too powerful or the rocket motor ignited in the tube.
I guarantee you had this been a military sanctioned exercise, those safety precautions that were just described would have been taken. “He’s ex-mil, so he knew what he was doing” pbbblt
One of the most surreal things I ever witnessed was watching drone footage of an MRAP get blown up in Afghanistan while on patrol
The teacher in the class was in that MRAP.
Probably not. I was in ROTC. The teacher was a Master Sergeant or First Sergeant that served like five total tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
That footage is something he saved for himself. I don’t think you’d be able to find it.
But showing the video was sort of a lesson on proper scouting. A previous convoy had went by like thirty minutes to an hour prior and didn’t do proper recon of the route.
And everyone in his MRAP had to pay the consequences. Everyone was alive but his back is messed up a bit.
I actually did a paper concerning the economics of Private Military Contractors and what I found was startling.
It turns out that PMC’s pressed hard for a more decentralized occupation of Iraq, contrary to what General Petreaus wanted. PMC’s argued that if troops are spread out into Combat Outposts and Forward Operating Bases, US Troops would have an easier time occupying the country. The same kind of logic applies to Afghanistan.
However the catch was logistics and needless to say, their solution was more convoys, either by PMC’s such as Blackwater or by U.S. Troops. More convoys means more troops on the road. More troops on the road meant more chances of placing an IED and it exploding on a Humvee, tanker, or MRAP. Which leads to a higher chance of a soldiers death or being seriously injured.
By 2008, at least four years after the strategy was implemented, deaths by IED attacks heavily outnumbered deaths by actual ground combat, and a direct causation was the logistical convoys sent to FOB’s and COP’s.
These videos are so wild to watch. A lot of the time, it seems like they don't even hear it coming. Just a regular degular day in whatever shit field lugging a machine gun around, and then all of a sudden everything within 50ft of you is exploding... rough day at the office....
They probably don't hear it coming, or at least don't realize it. Those Apaches are **miles** away for that engagement. If they do get close enough to be audible, there's enough rotary wing air traffic around that it doesn't really stand out. Plus, a distant chopper just sounds like a low hum, not the kind of sound you typically associate with aircraft.
You've probably seen this before, but...
> War isn't Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse.
>
> -- Hawkeye Pierce, MASH
A Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, they are designed to take enough of an IED blast so those in the cabin are still alive even if the vehicle is blown up.
the channel is Ballistic High Speed. They did a medical beakdown about the injuries and basically he is okay.
Edit: to make it a bit more clear, his brain bleed healed while in the hospital, he had major burns on his arms that would heal over time, he dislocated his jaw but that got fixed, a lasting issue was that he lost feeling in part of his face but the doctors believe it would come back over time. Probably missing a few injuries (watch their breakdown), but he is basically back to normal, still making content albeit not shoulder firing rockets. It is terrible what happened, but considering he has recovered and continues to push forward, that is why I am saying he is “okay”
The accident left the veteran with a fractured skull, a brain bleed, a broken jaw, third-degree burns on at least 10% of his body, cuts on his face and chest, and several pieces of shrapnel embedded in his body, along with long-term nerve damage.
I'm going to give MarioKing the benefit of the doubt that they did not watch the medical breakdown, because it's actually better to bullshit that than to absorb all that happened and describe him as basically ok.
Ok seems to be a very conservative description of his state. I sincerely doubt that it's gonna be a normal for the rest of his life after an RPG exploded in his face.
“The RPG-7 inert rocket uses a black powder booster to push it out of the tube. If the booster separates, it can potentially block the venturi thus preventing the normally controlled explosion from being uncontrolled. Then the explosion takes the path of least resistance.”
The rocket booster separated and blocked the exhaust hole, pressure built up, it exploded through a weak point in the welds on the launcher. Fairly sure it was an inert warhead so the explosion was purely from the booster which is crazy to me. They said if it hadn’t blown through the welds like it did it would have been much worse, he’s a very lucky unlucky guy
It’s more complicated than that. Most of these RPGS are decommissioned by cutting a hole in the main part of the tube. They bought one that was “recommissioned” and the welds that held the plug in the tube failed. It’s really risky to try and operate a decommissioned weapon of any kind tbh
to add on, a mechanical failure in the rocket itself. A very unlikely malfunction that was unnoticeable before launching, and not an issue with the launcher itself or how it was being used.
What they think happened is the explosive charge split and shifted forward, blocking the vent hole. The pressure built up and blew out the weakest point, which is where they welded something to reactivate the weapon.
If this wasn't a reactivated weapon it wouldn't have had that weak point and would have grenaded instead, so it saved him.
They explain it in the Youtube video. They put too much booster charge (the green or white circular tubes on the backend of RPG warheads) in the tube, or the booster material was defective or old.
Booster charges are sectioned blocks of material that burn to propel the warhead forward. Additionally, there are different types/lengths of booster charges depending on the weight of the warhead and the distance you want to send the warhead. The further you want to send the warhead/the heavier the payload, the more booster charge you need.
Normally, the booster charge(s) is/are supposed to burn *procedurally*, so that the material is spent from the *front* of the booster first, then to the end, as the explosive force propels the warhead forward.
In this case, the booster charge disconnected from itself/split, with one piece of it staying connected to the warhead and the other then lodging itself and *plugging the RPGs exhaust port*, so that instead of one procedurally controlled explosion, there was a small, slightly proceedurally controlled, explosion (which in the slow-motion you can see start to propel the warhead as normal) and another uncontrolled *simultaneous* explosion of another section of booster charge at the back end of the RPG tube, with the energy nowhere to go due to the plugged exhaust port except outwards through the welded seams of the RPG tube.
iirc it was possibly the welding. When the launcher itself is re-commissioned it receives a new inner tube which requires new welds. The welds are X-rayed to check for imperfections but the chance for malfunction is never 0% thus kaboom
It was an issue within the rocket itself that caused the issue. The re-commissioning of the rocket actually saved his life because it created weak point in the gun that allowed the exhaust to vent away from the user. Ballistic High Speed is the channel and they break all this down in their video
u/[dieplanes789](https://www.reddit.com/user/dieplanes789/) explained it perfectly in another comment "What happened to your is that the booster charges are in segments and one of those segments broke off getting stuck in the back of the tube where it slightly narrows causing pressure in the tube to build. The pressure in the tube would have gotten far higher and likely killed them had it not been for this launcher being reactivated. Reactivating means they had to plug a hole in the side of the tube and weld it shut. That weakend metal around the weld failed vending pressure before the tube got the chance to burst."
Everyone commenting in this thread should watch the full video. Can’t find it to link it but they go into an explanation of how and why this happened.
Also, the guy lived and was *relatively* unharmed. Iirc he made a full recovery
This is from Ballistic High-Speed YouTube (way to credit them OP) they go into detail on the malfunction and how it happened. The guy made a full recovery
I actually did a stint of flying with aero med for the military in C-17s as the aircraft maintainer. I basically flew on it to fix it if it broke or refuel it and such. We picked up a guy who had this same thing happen to him in Iraq… in all honesty it could have very damn well been this guy, it looks a lot like him. He came on the aircraft in a hospital gown covered in blood and with his arm in a sling. I think they said he wasn’t even US military but Belgium or something. Anyways he clasped arms with the guy escorting him who said “I’ll see you soon brother.” and he sat down and seemed just fine. From what the doctor on board said he looked like he may have just broken his collar bone and got some burns, maybe some hearing damage. It was fucking surreal to me though that he survived a rocket launcher blowing up in his arms though. I did 3 missions with that and each one crazier than the fucking next. The last 2 had pregnant Afghanistan refugees though.
Channel is Ballistic High Speed. These were professionals operating the launcher. This issue came from a minor defect in the rocket (not user error). The operator made a full recovery. Watch their 6 month old breakdown video of this for more info before you assume shit.
This is all discussed in their channel.
It was a self manufactured rocket with black powder and something went wrong.
This is relatively old and he did have some permanent scars and at the time of the 6 month mark some hearing damage I think.
If you want to hear all the details of that day, go to “Unsubscribe Podcast” with Ballistic Highspeed and they explain everything that happened + his recovery
It was most likely a faulty rocket charge, which flew off the rocket and blocked the exhaust, causing a pressure buildup, which then went through the path of least resistance. In this case, it was a weld. This allowed the gas to vent down instead of blowing up the whole launcher like a fragmentation grenade.
Everyone's talking about the injuries. As someone who lost most of their hearing from a hand grenade... why is no one talking about how much of his hearing he just lost?
They said his injuries were severe, like skim-fmgraft severe. But he was back on the channel two weeks later and had no visible remaining injuries after a month.
I do find it ironic that it seems they were testing the effects of the back 'exhaust' to head and ended up getting alot more first hand results than expected
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Lucky to be alive.
Even luckier his protective headgear jumped out of the explosion before getting damaged. Those things are expensive.
So many video clips where the helmet leaves the scene before impact. Do your chin straps up!
I thought that was a good thing, because it stops the chin strap from wrenching your head around as the helmet tries to fly off. Is that legit, or was it only with the heavy WW2 steel helmets, or was that a myth too?
The US troops believed that in WW2 despite the efforts of leadership. It is not true and it was never true. If a pressure wave is strong enough to cause your helmet to break your neck it is also strong enough to destroy your lungs. Even if there are some fringe cases where strapping a helmet will hurt you there are a 1000 more where it will save you.
The impetus of the seatbelt theory …
Took the words right out of my mouth, I still remember my smooth brained neighbor telling me about “that one dude that was in a convertible and would have died from the tire that flew up into the air and he was only able to get out of the way because he wasn’t buckled in” yeah okay buddy. Dumbass didn’t even own a convertible.
I mean, there are definitely cases where not wearing a seatbelt has saved peoples lives, but they are fringe cases. The times a seatbelt are beneficial are exponentially more than not wearing one, but the odd cases still exist. One of my GF's older brothers was in a really bad car accident, and he was ejected from the car instead of crushed (the divers side was completely crushed. Head-on collision with a drunk driver on the wrong side of the road) This was 25+ years ago...looks like he has bad acne but it's really scarring from all the glass that got stuck in his face when he went through the windshield.
The good ole seat belt logic.
I don’t think the plastic buckle is designed to be strong enough to break your neck. You’re better off doing it up.
If the helmet isn't on your head by the time your head hits the floor what was the point of wearing it in the first place?
Definitely a myth modern Kevlars are much more heavy than WW2 helmets
good thing he had eye protection on...had
Chin strap wasn't latched.
I know, he should’ve aimed it at the ground for rocket jump
He'd be luckier if a rocket launcher hadn't blown up in his face.
I always wondered about the "lucky to be alive". Just because of how the quality of life is for not just him but those that have survived things like failed suicide attempts. Not sure I would wanna be lucky to be alive if half my face were blown off or I was stuck in a chair the rest of my life.
Dunno bout you but [this man](https://focusmalaysia.my/physical-handicap-of-the-king-of-mini-marts-makes-him-an-envy-of-all-able-bodied-malaysians/) owns a chain of convenience stores, and he's stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. I figure if you can still see and hear and think and speak, you'll be fine.
Blind, deaf, and mute people are all catching strays today. Dude just hates the disabled.
…and that’s why we do our helmet straps up, right kids!?!
That's why we don't test hand-made experimental rounds in remanufactured weapons by firing them from a human platform for internet likes. But a remote firing setup wouldn't have gotten as many views, of course.
Ballistic Highspeed usually use remote setups
He was trained on using these in the military and was under supervision of many other professionals. This was a total freak accident
I've fired real RPGs too, but it's a way different story in this instance. That was for all intents and purposes, an improvised PG round. It wasn't made in a mil-spec facility to the same standards as the ones made for the battlefield. I wouldn't have fired that thing lol.
Why did the explosion come from the middle of the gun? What was in there to detonate? Does this rocket have a pre-launching charge or something?
The rpg was demilitarized with a metal bar in the barrel. To reactive it they had to take the bar out and weld it back together. They made a video breaking down what went wrong, the channel is called Ballistic High-speed.
> To reactive it they had to take the bar out and weld it back together. Do any of them have a double digit IQ, holy shit.
It works 60% of the time, every time.
The amazing thing about humans is that we have the capacity to channel high intelligence into the *stupidest* activities and beliefs.
But see, now we know not do to that! Like it or not that's progress exploding out of that RPG
Scientific method bro! We hypothesized that the tube would not blow up, but it did. Sadly nobody publishes negative results.
INT vs WIS. INT tells you how to get it done. WIS tells you if you should do it.
It's the only thing that saved his life from the videos - it acted as a pressure release rather than the faulty round turning the whole thing into a pipe bomb
> Do any of them have a double digit IQ, holy shit. According to the unstrapped helmet, we're looking at sub-80's here.
That's very true, and is a major contributing factor. I still err on the side that the round was still the greater side though. They did their best to not blame it on the company who made the rounds, but in my experience any ordnance that wasn't made in a proper manufacturing facility is not to be trusted. Admittedly, I have my biases on things that explode lol.
The rounds had nothing to do with it most likely, they welded a fucking RPG tube. Any slight imperfection in the weld and kaboom. Not a good idea, doesn't matter what munition you're using
According to their analysis video, the launcher is resleeved on the inside to reinforce it, and then pressure tested to operating pressure and then x-rayed. It was most likely a faulty charge blocking the exhaust of the launcher, which then created enough pressure to breach the jacket. It's possible the weld saved his life as there was a single weak point where the gas vented down instead of the whole thing going off like a fragmentation grenade.
The actual most likely cause is both. Even milspec RPGs suffer from grain separation where a section of the rocket motor is dislodged at start up and is pushed down the exhaust tube and causes a blockage
I agreed that the tube is a factor, but it very much matters what the munition is. We can't say for certain because they didn't fire any military built rounds through it. My professional and experienced opinion is that the home made round was more likely to be a point of failure than the welded tube. I've seen RPG tubes that have been battered around since the 60s and repaired by mujahideen using wire and hose clamps that still slung rounds all day long with zero issues. There is no degree of quality control in either tube or round. It's much more likely that their ejection charge was too hot, and coupling that with a jury rigged tube just points to why I wouldn't shoulder fire the thing.
You are definitely right the round was more likely to be a failure point. Any ammunition or artillery is a bitch to manufacture
Yes, RPGs use an ejection charge to kick the round out of the tube before the actual rocket motor engages to give it flight velocity.
Pressure issues perhaps? I could imagine a homemade round doesn't have the same propellant and ignition behavior that prevents the backwash from spilling out in front of the user like that. The dummy partially blocking it from clearing the tube cleanly probably didn't help either. That's all just speculation. I'm sure someone who actually knows what happened can clarify.
Most likely grain separation. Part of the rocket motor blocked the exhaust
Reminds me of these https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Eldest_Son >> a program of covert operations conducted by the United States' Studies and Observation Group (SOG) during the Vietnam War. The project focused on placement of exploding cartridges into supplies >> >> ... . Rifle and machine gun cartridges had the smokeless powder replaced with a high explosive of similar appearance which would generate approximately five times the design pressure of firearms. The bolt and pieces of an exploding AK-47 receiver would typically be projected backward into the head of the individual firing the rifle. Substitute fuzes were placed in the mortar shells to detonate the shell when the mortar fired. ... (which, BTW were made in a mil-spec facility)
Yeah, those were made on purpose, so completely different scenario... Pretty interesting either way though.
This is less like using a doctored mortar round and more like cutting a mortar in half and welding it back together, then holding your face next to the weld for the test shot.
There is a YT analysis of the whole thing. Checkout the Unsubscribe Podcast as well.
The launcher had been decommissioned by having a hole cut in it. The hole had been welded over so it could be used again but couldn't withstand the amount of energy being released. Basically, it's a visual representation of fuck around, find out.
The body of the launcher came apart under the gas pressure
RPGs have 2 types of motor. First is a bursting charge that explodes in the chamber ejecting the projectile out to about ~~20~~ 5m (edit:thanks u/kingwhocares) or so. Since this occurs within the tube, there is (or should not be) any danger to the operator but there is a strong backblast out the rear. Once the projectile is at a safe distance, the second motor, a rocket ignites and propels the grenade to the target. It’s unclear what happened here. Possibly the launch tube failed, the initial ejection charge was too powerful or the rocket motor ignited in the tube.
because its a bootleg homemade rocket
It wasn't the round, it was the tube.
Sure, but there's a reason the Mythbusters used remote firing setups. Sometimes things go very wrong and no one should get injured for making content.
I think this was some kind of replica and malfunctioned.
what military trained him on using homemade bootleg ammo that is so poorly built it explodes in your face?
It's always a "freak accident" 🤣🤣🤣. We had a Marine Gunnery Sergeant blow himself up like this in Al Kut. Don't be stupid.
Show me where in the military they train you to use remanufactured clearly out of spec garbage rounds in your launcher. I'll wait.
i'm trained to drive but that doesn't help when my car explodes
I guarantee you had this been a military sanctioned exercise, those safety precautions that were just described would have been taken. “He’s ex-mil, so he knew what he was doing” pbbblt
You could just not fire ballistic explosives in non combat situations for content, maybe? That sounds like a reasonable rule to live by.
This comment is a reddit moment
For real, and not a good sign that his head turned in reasingly red in slow mo
It's also why we don't fuck around with RPGs.
One of the most surreal things I ever witnessed was watching drone footage of an MRAP get blown up in Afghanistan while on patrol The teacher in the class was in that MRAP.
Whoa. Going through that is one thing, but to relive that experience by showing footage of it is wild.
His face was stone cold watching it. Not a peep could be heard in that classroom.
I presume it was an IED?
Yeah. Blew off the front tire of the MRAP and launched it about 100 feet away.
Can this be found? Would be interesting to see
Probably not. I was in ROTC. The teacher was a Master Sergeant or First Sergeant that served like five total tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. That footage is something he saved for himself. I don’t think you’d be able to find it. But showing the video was sort of a lesson on proper scouting. A previous convoy had went by like thirty minutes to an hour prior and didn’t do proper recon of the route. And everyone in his MRAP had to pay the consequences. Everyone was alive but his back is messed up a bit.
so much fcking lives taken for conflicts not even worth having.
I actually did a paper concerning the economics of Private Military Contractors and what I found was startling. It turns out that PMC’s pressed hard for a more decentralized occupation of Iraq, contrary to what General Petreaus wanted. PMC’s argued that if troops are spread out into Combat Outposts and Forward Operating Bases, US Troops would have an easier time occupying the country. The same kind of logic applies to Afghanistan. However the catch was logistics and needless to say, their solution was more convoys, either by PMC’s such as Blackwater or by U.S. Troops. More convoys means more troops on the road. More troops on the road meant more chances of placing an IED and it exploding on a Humvee, tanker, or MRAP. Which leads to a higher chance of a soldiers death or being seriously injured. By 2008, at least four years after the strategy was implemented, deaths by IED attacks heavily outnumbered deaths by actual ground combat, and a direct causation was the logistical convoys sent to FOB’s and COP’s.
The leaked FLIR video of a couple of Apaches attacking Taliban fighters made me realize war is hell. That never changes.
These videos are so wild to watch. A lot of the time, it seems like they don't even hear it coming. Just a regular degular day in whatever shit field lugging a machine gun around, and then all of a sudden everything within 50ft of you is exploding... rough day at the office....
They probably don't hear it coming, or at least don't realize it. Those Apaches are **miles** away for that engagement. If they do get close enough to be audible, there's enough rotary wing air traffic around that it doesn't really stand out. Plus, a distant chopper just sounds like a low hum, not the kind of sound you typically associate with aircraft.
You've probably seen this before, but... > War isn't Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse. > > -- Hawkeye Pierce, MASH
What's mrap
A Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, they are designed to take enough of an IED blast so those in the cabin are still alive even if the vehicle is blown up.
I’d be worried about the brain trauma from what must be a pretty significant concussive force of such an explosion.
the channel is Ballistic High Speed. They did a medical beakdown about the injuries and basically he is okay. Edit: to make it a bit more clear, his brain bleed healed while in the hospital, he had major burns on his arms that would heal over time, he dislocated his jaw but that got fixed, a lasting issue was that he lost feeling in part of his face but the doctors believe it would come back over time. Probably missing a few injuries (watch their breakdown), but he is basically back to normal, still making content albeit not shoulder firing rockets. It is terrible what happened, but considering he has recovered and continues to push forward, that is why I am saying he is “okay”
The accident left the veteran with a fractured skull, a brain bleed, a broken jaw, third-degree burns on at least 10% of his body, cuts on his face and chest, and several pieces of shrapnel embedded in his body, along with long-term nerve damage.
Ya but he’s ok tho
he's just peachy. Couldn't be better.
Government official spotted lmfao
Ye, that's no in my definition of "ok"
I'd reckon once your brain starts bleeding you may potentially *not* be okay.
His skull held in all the blood and his brain drank it back up so he's ok though.
the explosion cured his bad case of thirsty brain
When I listen to my chemical romance this is definitely what I picture when I hear "I'm not okay"
I'm going to give MarioKing the benefit of the doubt that they did not watch the medical breakdown, because it's actually better to bullshit that than to absorb all that happened and describe him as basically ok.
Yeah. I think “ok” in this context is more like “he survived “ because he’s definitely not 100% anymore.
But he still runs marathons, right? With his intact legs??
Now he's out there trying out his sea legs.
> and basically he is okay I have a feeling he is okay like I am okay. 'Yeah, it hurts when I do this, this, and this. But it's ok'
"Yea it hurts when I think of the color purple and think of North Dakota, but other than that I'm fine." him probably
Ok seems to be a very conservative description of his state. I sincerely doubt that it's gonna be a normal for the rest of his life after an RPG exploded in his face.
That’s good 👍
After the recovery, I noticed his facial expressions seems half paralyzed now as if he had a stroke, so there was some damage.
That’s bad.
But it comes with a free froghurt !
That’s good 👍
the froghurt is also cursed
That’s bad 👎
The curse can be reversed with a simple kiss!
He’s OK tho
Monkey brain prevails once more
im more interested in the brain trauma bro had beforehand to do something like this
The RPG grenade didn’t explode, the housing exploded If the grenade did he would be pieces
This was a “dud” testing warhead just to add on
booster charge\* exploded
Do we know the cause of the malfunction?
“The RPG-7 inert rocket uses a black powder booster to push it out of the tube. If the booster separates, it can potentially block the venturi thus preventing the normally controlled explosion from being uncontrolled. Then the explosion takes the path of least resistance.” The rocket booster separated and blocked the exhaust hole, pressure built up, it exploded through a weak point in the welds on the launcher. Fairly sure it was an inert warhead so the explosion was purely from the booster which is crazy to me. They said if it hadn’t blown through the welds like it did it would have been much worse, he’s a very lucky unlucky guy
If it was an active warhead I’m pretty sure the guy would have covered a much larger surface area of that field.
If I remember correctly, the original video stated that it was a mechanical or structural defect that caused a catastrophic failure.
It’s more complicated than that. Most of these RPGS are decommissioned by cutting a hole in the main part of the tube. They bought one that was “recommissioned” and the welds that held the plug in the tube failed. It’s really risky to try and operate a decommissioned weapon of any kind tbh
Why do they decommission the weapon with small damage, why not completely scrap it.
Collectors
There’s a lot of use for it as a prop.
Because there is a market for decommissioned weapons. I wouldn't mind having an RPG7 hanging on my wall to be honest.
Sounds like this guy fucked around
Ah, the old “Unplanned Disassembly”
Rapid unscheduled disassembly
How insightful!
IIRC the sky was also blue that day
Doesn’t that describe any equipment failure in general ?
it was actually one of the parts that was malfunctioned
to add on, a mechanical failure in the rocket itself. A very unlikely malfunction that was unnoticeable before launching, and not an issue with the launcher itself or how it was being used.
yes, the retro encabulator failed
He didn't shout "BACKBLAST, BACKBLAST, BACKBLAST!" before firing..
BACKBLAST AREA CLEAR!!!
The front fell off.
That's not very typical, I'd like to make that point.
Isn't that supposed to happen?
What they think happened is the explosive charge split and shifted forward, blocking the vent hole. The pressure built up and blew out the weakest point, which is where they welded something to reactivate the weapon. If this wasn't a reactivated weapon it wouldn't have had that weak point and would have grenaded instead, so it saved him.
They explain it in the Youtube video. They put too much booster charge (the green or white circular tubes on the backend of RPG warheads) in the tube, or the booster material was defective or old. Booster charges are sectioned blocks of material that burn to propel the warhead forward. Additionally, there are different types/lengths of booster charges depending on the weight of the warhead and the distance you want to send the warhead. The further you want to send the warhead/the heavier the payload, the more booster charge you need. Normally, the booster charge(s) is/are supposed to burn *procedurally*, so that the material is spent from the *front* of the booster first, then to the end, as the explosive force propels the warhead forward. In this case, the booster charge disconnected from itself/split, with one piece of it staying connected to the warhead and the other then lodging itself and *plugging the RPGs exhaust port*, so that instead of one procedurally controlled explosion, there was a small, slightly proceedurally controlled, explosion (which in the slow-motion you can see start to propel the warhead as normal) and another uncontrolled *simultaneous* explosion of another section of booster charge at the back end of the RPG tube, with the energy nowhere to go due to the plugged exhaust port except outwards through the welded seams of the RPG tube.
iirc it was possibly the welding. When the launcher itself is re-commissioned it receives a new inner tube which requires new welds. The welds are X-rayed to check for imperfections but the chance for malfunction is never 0% thus kaboom
It was an issue within the rocket itself that caused the issue. The re-commissioning of the rocket actually saved his life because it created weak point in the gun that allowed the exhaust to vent away from the user. Ballistic High Speed is the channel and they break all this down in their video
u/[dieplanes789](https://www.reddit.com/user/dieplanes789/) explained it perfectly in another comment "What happened to your is that the booster charges are in segments and one of those segments broke off getting stuck in the back of the tube where it slightly narrows causing pressure in the tube to build. The pressure in the tube would have gotten far higher and likely killed them had it not been for this launcher being reactivated. Reactivating means they had to plug a hole in the side of the tube and weld it shut. That weakend metal around the weld failed vending pressure before the tube got the chance to burst."
Flashbacks to Kentucky Ballistics 50Cal
Same basic issue too. Bad ammunition with a highly unlikely failure. Ballistic High Speed is the channel
Everyone commenting in this thread should watch the full video. Can’t find it to link it but they go into an explanation of how and why this happened. Also, the guy lived and was *relatively* unharmed. Iirc he made a full recovery
Ballistic High Speed is the channel, it is one of their most played videos, and yes he made a full recovery
That’s the one. Thank you! I saw it ages ago and couldn’t recall their name
[удалено]
Oh yeah. Shows how observant I am haha
Good thing he was wearing his safety glasses, someone could've got hurt.
Yah lol. They actually did protect Kentucky Ballistic’s eye in his accident. And in THIS case, his helmet did actually help.
I mean... considering he didn't lose his sight from this those glasses almost certainly saved him from losing his eyes. Not sure why the sarcasm.
& Camo shorts!
"We have got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the slow motion video is gonna be amazing..."
Task failed successfully
Didn't even need the prop skull
This is from Ballistic High-Speed YouTube (way to credit them OP) they go into detail on the malfunction and how it happened. The guy made a full recovery
>full recovery He didn’t die, but I wouldn’t say he is just as he was before this happened.
When you order a rocket on Temu.
The amount of comments blaming him for the accident is wild. It was caused by a structural defect with the weapon
Or the soldier cos play comments. It's pretty disgusting the amount of people who are just plain ignorant.
Maybe, just maybe, he was the main mannequin
He dropped his loot like a video game
Ah yeah, he recovered and they’re back at it again now. Great Youtube channel, definitely recommend 👍
I actually did a stint of flying with aero med for the military in C-17s as the aircraft maintainer. I basically flew on it to fix it if it broke or refuel it and such. We picked up a guy who had this same thing happen to him in Iraq… in all honesty it could have very damn well been this guy, it looks a lot like him. He came on the aircraft in a hospital gown covered in blood and with his arm in a sling. I think they said he wasn’t even US military but Belgium or something. Anyways he clasped arms with the guy escorting him who said “I’ll see you soon brother.” and he sat down and seemed just fine. From what the doctor on board said he looked like he may have just broken his collar bone and got some burns, maybe some hearing damage. It was fucking surreal to me though that he survived a rocket launcher blowing up in his arms though. I did 3 missions with that and each one crazier than the fucking next. The last 2 had pregnant Afghanistan refugees though.
Channel is Ballistic High Speed. These were professionals operating the launcher. This issue came from a minor defect in the rocket (not user error). The operator made a full recovery. Watch their 6 month old breakdown video of this for more info before you assume shit.
Shit, poor guy
On the upside, made a full recovery with next to 0 complications, and he's gotten huge publicity and a spike in his youtube channel for it.
helmet flew off, but those shoes didn't
Oof, the ignorance and arrogance of the internet is really shinning through in some of these comments.
This is all discussed in their channel. It was a self manufactured rocket with black powder and something went wrong. This is relatively old and he did have some permanent scars and at the time of the 6 month mark some hearing damage I think.
If you want to hear all the details of that day, go to “Unsubscribe Podcast” with Ballistic Highspeed and they explain everything that happened + his recovery
Did his helmet contribute in mitigating any damage in any way? Genuinely asking.
I didn't expect to see his head intact.
That’s going to sting
OK; can anyone explain just what happened?
It was most likely a faulty rocket charge, which flew off the rocket and blocked the exhaust, causing a pressure buildup, which then went through the path of least resistance. In this case, it was a weld. This allowed the gas to vent down instead of blowing up the whole launcher like a fragmentation grenade.
Good thing he had a helmet on right?
Always wear gloves
just want to say I really appreciate the NSFW tag and the blurred preview. wish more people did this
So those aren’t Oakley???
What's the point of wearing all the gear if you ain't gonna wear it right. Put your damn chinstrap on when doing dumb shit.
Lesson: don’t buy rockets online
the crazy thing is you can tell they were doing a demonstration on the effects of RPG back blast on the human face, and well..
Trying to show the effects of back blast while becoming the blast….fun.
Everyone's talking about the injuries. As someone who lost most of their hearing from a hand grenade... why is no one talking about how much of his hearing he just lost?
Ze goggles! Zay do nothing!
I feel like most gun YouTubers I see get severely injured at some point
Oh my...
I thought it was a dummy the first time the way he slumped over like that, holy shit that’s insane. Lucky 🍀
Just put a thumb in it and he will be fine.
Blew his helmet off but his shoes are still on so he's aight
When YouTube thinks you have that "Plot Armor".
Two for one test.
Damn Russian made crap
Looks like the video was supposed to be about what would happen to you if you step behind an rpg
Damn another Kentucky ballistics type of incident? Glad he’s alright. I like their videos a lot.
Which head is the experimental control and which is the experimental subject?
They said his injuries were severe, like skim-fmgraft severe. But he was back on the channel two weeks later and had no visible remaining injuries after a month.
I do find it ironic that it seems they were testing the effects of the back 'exhaust' to head and ended up getting alot more first hand results than expected
I feel sorry for him. That’s horrible