Man Uses Vacuum Cleaners to Scale 100-ft Wall
Want to scale buildings like Spider-Man? Find yourself a couple of vacuum cleaners and you might have a shot.
As part of the Brighton Science Festival Programme, BBC presenter, Jem Stansfield, turned two vacuum cleaners he bought at a local hardware shop into a pair of suction pads strong enough to help him scale buildings.
The DailyMail cites Jem, an aeronautics graduate, as saying, "I came across the idea when I was doing a challenge to make superhuman powers out of junk. I worked out the vacuum cleaners could support my weight." Stansfield goes on to say, "I attached pads roughly the size of tea trays to the nozzle and realised they pressed tightly against the wall and could hold me."
Once his project was finished, he tested it by scaling the 30-foot brick wall of a local school without a helmet or a harness. However, the real challenge was scaling the BBC's aluminum finished London offices. Needless to say, for this 100-foot distance, he was decked out in a helmet, harness and had a spotter on ropes along side him. The beginning of the climb goes quite well but in the last 25 feet, Jem runs into some trouble; grease from traffic pollution is destroying any friction and the pads begin to slip.
If you think you can resist the temptation to tear apart your own vacuum cleaner, check out the videos of Jem's project and challenge below.
Prior to his career as a TV presenter, Stansfield worked in special effects (Van Helsing and Lost in Space), produced exhibits for the Science Museum and Royal Observatory, invented the world's first air-powered motorbike, and won a New Scientist prize for boots that walk on water.
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sounds like a good tool for Epic Beard Guy
Kids do not try this at home.
sweet.... not a new idea and not a first, but its always fun to see.
sounds like a good tool for Epic Beard Guy
Oh heavens yes. I'd rather have a pair of these than amber lamps!
what happens if you run out of power / fuel? (Rhetorical)
thats pretty sick
I love it when people turn junk into more useless junk.
too much time on your hands is what this whole mess looks like to me lol!
Spider Brit does what spider Brits wants.
This can have some uses but the friction problem and power is an issue if self contained.
thats pretty sick
nah it sucks
wow, just wow... Now why haven't I thought of that?
I guess he should have thought of two things (or more?):
-stamina to do this
-grease from traffic pollution
Overall, he did good.
what a tool! har,har
Wasn't there something like this on MythBusters?
This is old news
- Bang Goes the Theory aired last year on the BBC. Great show - Jem goes on to build a sonic canon, microwave ray gun, and plenty of other cool stuff!
Re: Mythbusters. Yeah, they tried it but hilariously, it was supposed to be a stealth ascent or descent and the banging of the suction cups rang throughout the shaft. It was classic.
Re: Mythbusters. Yeah, they tried it but hilariously, it was supposed to be a stealth ascent or descent and the banging of the suction cups rang throughout the shaft. It was classic.
Wasn't that magnets?
now we just need to miniaturize it and we can all be like spiderman
Let's hope next time he is 100 feet up along a building, he remembers to keep the vacuum-cleaners in "suction" and not switching to "blow" mode so he won't end up being scraped of the sidewalk..
Re: Mythbusters. Yeah, they tried it but hilariously, it was supposed to be a stealth ascent or descent and the banging of the suction cups rang throughout the shaft. It was classic.Wasn't that magnets?
Jaime tried the magnets (strong freaking things too), Adam tried the vacuum powered ones, and they worked, he was just not strong enough to make it up, no stamina.
It already done on the show called "prove it" so many years back and this shameless guy just do the exact same thing..
shame on u copy cat..
I did not know "aluminum" was so hard to say.
I don't really get how this works exactly; i mean what is below the "gloves" and where is the vacuum itself at ? vacuum cleaner that is.
Better make sure your extension cords are plugged into your vacuums extra extra securely!
nah it sucks
joke? get it? or are we all too stuck up to get a "suck" joke about a vacume? idiots
Eh this is months old, already watched it as a repeat on tv.
that looks like to much work and he was being held up quite a bit judging by the tension on the ropes he was tied to. I rock climber may have had an easier time of it.
what happens if you run out of power / fuel? (Rhetorical)
It's not a rhetorical question if there's only one obvious answer. Of course, the answer here is that Superman comes and saves him 6 inches before he hits the ground.
Oh, come on, Jane! No mention to Mythbusters? Don't tell us you don't watch it, I'd be disappointed ...
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythB [...] a_Building
Good think the circuit breaker didn't blow
Click, ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, splat.