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Launching Anvils 200 Feet Into the Air

By John Farrier in Everything Else on Oct 21, 2009 at 1:14 pm



(YouTube Link)

Gay Wilkinson likes launching iron anvils high into the air. He’s not entirely sure why and has a lot to say about how men and women respond differently to his hobby.

Anyway, he places one anvil on top of another and fills the reservoir in between with gunpowder.

Next Wilkinson herds the crowd to a spot about 50 feet from the loaded anvils and delivers a well-rehearsed introduction. “It’ll be loud, but ya won’t hardly remember that ’cause there’ll be so much else goin’ on,” he says. “There’ll be a slight second of fear after that anvil goes shootin’ up and starts comin’ back down. It’ll look like it’s going to land on top of you. It won’t. Unless you hear me yell, ‘Run!’ Then you might wanna move.

“Now, some of you might be wonderin’,” he continues, “‘Why in the heck we would want to do somethin’ like this?’”

“Because we can?” guesses a middle-aged man sporting a camouflage baseball cap.

“That’s exactly right!” Wilkinson says with a mischievous smile. “It’s a whole lot of fun! People talk about the joy of sex, but it don’t last nothin’ like shootin’ anvils.”

Link via Gizmodo


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COMMENT
  1. Christophe
    Oct 21st, 2009 at 1:20 pm

    - waddaya think?
    - it's awesome!

    It sums it up!!!!

  2. swss
    Oct 21st, 2009 at 1:23 pm

    That. Was. Awesome! Thanks Neatorama - I was in a crummy mood - and that totally pulled me out of it - you rule!

  3. SenorMysterioso
    Oct 21st, 2009 at 1:52 pm

    Yes!

  4. zeeshan809
    Oct 21st, 2009 at 1:58 pm

    Wow, I have never seen anything like this before.

  5. OhYes
    Oct 21st, 2009 at 2:16 pm

    Aw damn that was sweet!

  6. smee
    Oct 21st, 2009 at 2:36 pm

    that's pretty badass...!

  7. Johnny Cat
    Oct 21st, 2009 at 3:26 pm

    THUD. Excellent!

  8. cb
    Oct 21st, 2009 at 3:27 pm

    I'm not sure if it's as safe an activity as Wilkinson thinks.

  9. youevolve
    Oct 21st, 2009 at 3:35 pm

    This was an annual event at a local blacksmithing event - after hours, that is. Well, it WAS an annual event until somebody tried it in the public camp ground about 11pm.....

    Park Rangers take a poor view of large detonations in the middle of the night.

  10. Larfin Jackarse
    Oct 21st, 2009 at 6:08 pm

    neat

  11. ted
    Oct 21st, 2009 at 6:23 pm

    Tee-hee.

  12. ByrdBrain
    Oct 21st, 2009 at 7:46 pm

    you are such a buzzkill, cb.

  13. JuneBuggy
    Oct 21st, 2009 at 11:13 pm

    I enjoyed the joy homeskillet got from booming an anvil with some black powder. He was super happy. Made me smile. Just wondered about the effect that leveling the anvil would have on trajectory. They do pretty parabolas. Hopefully no one gets hurt.

  14. FAH Q
    Oct 22nd, 2009 at 1:17 am

    his name is Gay. lol.

  15. JimRL
    Oct 22nd, 2009 at 2:50 am

    Hi, my name is johnny knoxville....welcome to jackass.

  16. dude22
    Oct 22nd, 2009 at 6:21 am

    i think some folk overuse the word awesome.

    please get some new vocabulary.

  17. Chris Johnston
    Oct 22nd, 2009 at 8:35 am

    Probably overcompensating for being named Gay.

  18. Phil S
    Oct 22nd, 2009 at 8:37 am

    It was up 6 seconds, so it reached 145 feet

  19. Helgar
    Oct 22nd, 2009 at 12:11 pm

    How about radical, spectacular, b**chin', or freakin' awesome?

  20. James W
    Oct 22nd, 2009 at 1:25 pm

    From one Wilkinson to another, that was great!

  21. Nifty!
    Oct 22nd, 2009 at 9:10 pm

    Nifty, neat and awesome!

  22. Chris R
    Nov 5th, 2009 at 8:46 am

    This is exactly what I wanted to learn today. Awesome.

  23. emstro
    Dec 20th, 2009 at 3:26 pm

    Life is most enjoyable when its spent doing things that have absolutely no purpose whatsoever. Good on you for keeping your inner child alive, Gay!

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