this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2024
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[–] [email protected] 132 points 3 months ago (6 children)

Some of these are wrong.

Tracing a call is instant. It took longer back in the days when there were physical switches, but that's been a long, long time ago.

Silencers can make a gun nearly as quiet as the movies, in limited cases. Something like a subsonic .22 will be about as lout as a golf clap. A 5.56x45mm rifle will be hearing-safe, but only barely; it's still going to be very loud, and will def. sound like a rifle.

You can shoot some locks off. You're not shooting through the shackle, you're disrupting the locking mechanism that keeps the shackle closed. It's still unsafe; you're going to have ricochet and spall going everywhere.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Tracing a call is instant. It took longer back in the days when there were physical switches, but that's been a long, long time ago.

Yup. Back in the days of analog phone exchanges, you literally had to send a guy to check electrical connections between lines. Which is why it took time and which is why they encouraged the people to keep on the line as long as possible.

Digital exchanges added call tracing as a design requirement. Everything gets logged. Even if you spoofed or blocked your number, the phone company knows what you did. They are the Phone Company.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

It gets more complicated if you're using VOIP, and a logless/anonymous VPN. But yeah, tracing calls is pretty simple for the most part. Now that cops are aware of it, people tend to get busted for SWATting these days.

[–] sp3tr4l 16 points 3 months ago (3 children)

To add to this a bit more:

Generally, if you want to shoot a lock (or door frame hinges) off, you use a shotgun with special breaching rounds.

Various forms of these have been and still are used by various Militaries, but more often SWAT or equivalent type units.

The general video gamey / movie portrayal of how this works is usually wildly exaggerated / inaccurate though, usually with pistols at moderate ranges.

Conceivably you might also be able take a door lock/hinges apart with an anti materiel rifle, but this would be wildly impractical.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I think the idea of just shooting the lock off came about from the idea that our character had nothing else available. Like what average street criminal goes about with breaching rounds? And in the movies its often in a pinch. Breaching rounds are used by military and swat because they are equiped and prepared for that possibility, just like a professional theif is equiped with lock picking tools instead of a glock (or at least their glock isn't used on the locks).

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

The default scenario that comes to mind when I think of shooting a locked door open is to put a bunch of bullets into the door around the latch and then kicking the door to smash the now-weakened latched part off. That seems like a reasonable approach to me, especially as a desperation maneuver.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 months ago

It's gonna depend on the lock, too. Most locks most people buy are gonna have shit build quality. Some literally so bad that you could just shoot straight through it and not just disrupting the locking mechanism (in the way that some quite a bit stronger locks can be disrupted with, for example, a rubber mallet) but literally destroying it. Others (a minority) might be so strong that a typical gun has no effect at all and the infographic actually gets it right.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Pretty sure chloroform is wrong too.

Chem teacher had some and one kid stupidly took a whiff. She dropped like a sack of potatoes. She woke up in a few seconds but yeah - that shit was instant.

I guess it might take 5 minutes to get enough to be out for a few hours.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

Here's what I can find that gives a better answer. Above 100ppm, you'll rapidly start feeling dizzy. But chloroform is also highly volatile, so you would need to have a rag soaked in chloroform just before attacking someone, rather than lying in wait for a few minutes to a few hours. Plus, if you get that concentration too high, you can accidentally kill someone.

So if you'd been hiding in someone's car for 10 minutes, that rag might have lost enough efficacy that it would take a few minutes. Alternatively, if the person in the backseat doused the rag just before attacking the driver, it might be nearly instant.

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[–] [email protected] 97 points 3 months ago (4 children)

Shooting two guns at the same time does in fact look cool. That's not a myth. Hitting two targets with two guns at the same time is really hard though.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 months ago (5 children)

If you're trying to lay down suppressing fire, it'll work, though.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 months ago

Also, in most media I've seen, people with two guns still primarily shoot at single targets

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

This one seems the least believable to me, but I admit I have almost no experience shooting guns. Maybe you won't be super accurate, but it would work if you were going for suppressing fire against multiple bad guys while trying to get to cover or something.

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[–] [email protected] 91 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (8 children)

Defibrillator:

Weeeell, not exactly. A defibrillator is essential to restarting a heart under specific conditions, and greatly improves the odds of survival to discharge. If your patient is already wired up and you see them go into a shockable rhythm, you can go ahead and shock them immediately. Otherwise, you're going to need to do some CPR to prime the heart before you deliver the shock. At that, it's worth noting that not all rhythms are considered shockable (that is, experience a clinical benefit from being shocked), and asystole (flatline) is not among them. Source: am paramedic.

The lock: depends. Notice they said a small bullet. A 12 gauge slug can change a lot of facts about a lock in a hurry. I can't say it would blow a lock clean out, I think the mythbusters tried it with mixed results, but it's sure as shit take care of a padlock.

Aiming at two targets: more of a shitty technicality, but if you're using a shot load in a shotgun, it's perfectly viable to aim at multiple targets (in a target dense environment) at once. Your aim just has to be generally correct.

Tracing a call: bullshit, especially with cell phones. Modern dispatching centers can generally triangulate a 911 caller's position (if they're in range of multiple towers) in under a few minutes, it's a thing. If 911 can do it, you just know the feds can. Also, phone companies and phones keep records of what device pinged what tower and when, people have been convicted off of that data.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I would like to add that a suppressor can render certain specialized firearms nearly silent if they are used in conjunction with subsonic ammunition. A suppressor can deaden the sound of the initial explosion, but a supersonic bullet will continue to create a sonic boom as it flies through the air. A subsonic round doesn't create a sonic boom and as a result nearly all of the sound of firing comes from the initial explosion. If that explosion is well sealed and is funneled through the right supressor, nearly silent operation can be achieved. A good example of this is the Welrod used during World War Two, which was quiter than an airsoft gun and was only really audible at point blank range.

TLDR, how quiet a gun gets with a suppressor is determined by the ammunition, the type of firearm, and type of suppressor. Suppressed gunfire can range from as loud or louder than a nail gun to as quiet as a sneeze.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Worth noting that while a nail gun is pretty loud (if you've ever been around them without hearing protection), it's still nothing on being near an unsuppressed gunshot. If you've never been up close when even a pistol is shot, it's much louder then you're imagining, and louder still than you've just adjusted your imagination to. Rifles are louder again.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

I know someone who has a suppressed, large caliber rifle which makes less noise firing than most rifles do racking. It's really impressive what a well -designed suppression system can do with heavy subsonic ammo.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

It's worth noting that nearly none of the people you see testing suppressors online use a pistol with a slide that is locked so it doesn't cycle, shooting through a suppressor that has the right type of "lube" applied, with rubber wipes at the very end to let the bullet through then reseal the suppressor for a few shots, before they're completely shot out.

You don't get a lot of silent shots, and you've got to rack the slide yourself for each of them, but they do get quite a bit quieter than the suppressor mythbusters think they do, running their dry, open suppressors in semi auto.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Also, phone companies and phones keep records of what device pinged what tower and when, people have been convicted off of that data.

To me this is why that point is especially misleading, the movie trope is that as long as you hang up the phone soon enough they can't find you, but that's obviously not how it works at all.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago

It is how it used to work back when these tropes came about.

Here’s an interesting video on the topic

[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 months ago (1 children)

My issue with the two guns thing is that the “myth” they present is that it looks cool. Which is subjective, and for many people it does look cool. You’re unlikely to hit with any accuracy, but you’ll look cool missing.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (4 children)

My issue with the two-guns one is that they use stormtroopers as shorthand for being a bad shot. The only time they were "bad shots" was in A New Hope where they were under orders to be bad shots. They were supposed to let the rebels escape on the Falcon, there was a tracking device on it.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 months ago

Dude I was about to say, there's no way they don't have a quicker way to track calls. They just wouldn't tell us for obvious reasons.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

The lock: There are rounds made specifically for this https://clucas.com/ammunition/hatton-round/

Aiming at two targets: Only if you're Jerry Miculek ...

https://youtu.be/b7G-sOC3-sQ?si=S_jhyo46hAO_ejgP

https://youtu.be/UgOnKxBKnAs?si=qa_8E3GLN30vql36

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

I'll say for your comment on slugs, we used 10 gauge Magnum slugs and had no issue on reinforced doors or padlocks. A bit scary, but fun and informative.

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[–] [email protected] 53 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I'm here to learn how many of these truths are actually just myths of their own!

[–] [email protected] 24 points 3 months ago (1 children)

A stopped heart can actually be started with bullets fired from two guns with silencers.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago

That's only true if you're both skydiving.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 3 months ago (1 children)

They used a picture of a guy who canonically has techno-jesus powers for the two guns example. This is like showing a picture of Superman and saying "Actually, people can't leap tall buildings in a single bound"

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

They also claim that the myth is "it looks cool".

That's not a myth - it does look cool. It just so happens to be horrible inaccurate as well. (Without powers)

[–] [email protected] 32 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I want to add to #1

It's right, there has to be an electric activity for an electrical shock (a defibrillator) to work. But please do continue CPR with a flatline. It's harder, but there is a chance that emergency response staff can restart the heart with the right medication, but only if you didn't pause the circulation.

Sometimes you see in movies how someone is restarting the heart with a hit to the chest. Dont try this. Chances are you cause more damage than good. It is is a real maneuver called Precordial thump, but is only effective when you see the arrhythmia on the monitor and do it the very second of it happening. Outside of an ICU or monitored environment its not useful and can be quite harmful.

If a movie wants to be extra dramatic, there is the is the big ass adrenalin syringe right into the heart. Pulp fiction is one example. This is something that makes sense, when you watch a movie set in the 1950's or so. But it's not a practice anymore, because it causes more damage than do good. It's also nothing a normal person could do at home, because chances are nearly zero for you to hit the right spot. The heart is a fragile thing, you can't just stab it randomly.

Source: nurse am I.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago

Precordial thumps getting dropped from the EMS scope made me sad (paramedic here). They have a lot of utility, especially for us because we're pretty much on top of the patient the whole ride, so we're generally going to notice when they code. The problem is that it's a lack of training. Most people weren't even asked to practice the technique, you just read about it and got a slap on the ass on the way out the door. I mean, can you imagine teaching CPR or intubation that way? It'd be a fucking disaster. Little wonder people were doing it wrong and causing harm.

Imo, too often the medical field's answer to "people are doing this wrong" is "fuck it, we're taking it away", when it should be "do more (effective) training".

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

For some reason it never occurred to me that chest compressions were actually to help pump blood. I guess I assumed it was just some magic that might start a heart up again.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

The compressions are essential to make sure there is blood and therefore oxygen getting to the brain. Without it the brain is dead after a few minutes. Even if the heart restarts then, the patient is brain damaged.

I'm glad you know now. Maybe you'll save someone's life with that knowledge now.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 3 months ago (2 children)

What a dumb, inconsistent list.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 months ago (6 children)

Asteroids in a belt have a large distance between them, but I'd imagine rubble from a planet or moon recently destroyed by the empire would probably be grouped a lot more tightly.

Some grenades can have their pins pulled with teeth, but it's a dumb idea.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Presumably would actually just reform back into a planet since if you blow up a planet the mass is still there, it has just being fractured. If you leave it a couple of years it'll form back into a planet again.

This is probably what happened with the ice moon of Europa.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The drowning one doesn't only apply to drowning but a lot of medical emergencies. People in need are often embarrassed to ask for help. Some are to busy panicking so they cometely freeze up. If someone acts odd just ask if they are alright.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago (3 children)

people can easily shatter padlock shackles with ramsets, which are basically little blank round gunpowder powered hammers. not sure if a gun would, but sure seems like it.

also, the asteroid one is probably quite true, but saturns ring are between 10m and 1 km in thickness, so there are exceptions.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago

Saturn's rings aren't an asteroid belt. Just replace the word "asteroid belt" with "ring system" in Star Wars and it make sense again.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

Mythbusters were able to easily break all but the largest padlocks with a hammer so you could probably pistol whip a lot of them too.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Pavlov added the grenade one as a loading screen tip after people wanted to be able to do it in VR

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)

At first I thought you were talking about the physiologist and not the game.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Like half of these are TV shows. House MD, X Files, Baywatch just at a glance.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

Forensic scientist Sue Black says that there's no such thing as "forensic" science. It's just science, the "forensic" part just means the science is being brought into the courtroom. People (from watching movies/TV) think the science conducted in such contexts is somehow different or more complex than that done in other contexts. It's all the same processes and skills and expertise.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The drowning thing is spot on. Been there, done that, and I can swim just fine. Only way I'm alive is by chilling out, getting my lips above water and sipping air. Once I had enough to float, I floated.

Watch some videos of people going down. They exhibit very similar behaviors. If you're a parent, this is required watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1mVcSUttX4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8G9Gam8jf8

Plenty more out there, but what is described is exactly how I went down. And I was 20-yards from a certified life guard in an old cow pond.

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