Awesome I Did A Thing

Long before seatbelts, airbags, and anti-lock brakes, there were plenty of well-intentioned but ill-conceived automotive safety devices. With big trucks and SUVs causing greater concerns about pedestrian safety, I Did a Thing dusted off one such invention – the Pedestrian Catcher – and tested it to see how effective it could be.

The makers of Clash of Clans asked I did a thing to build something inspired by the game. He decided to build a real-world version of the strategy game’s hidden spring trap. Powered by a pair of car suspension springs and pulled into place with a winch, the final version won’t just launch victims into the air; it might break some bones.

After hearing a tragic story about the deadly use of a stun gun, I did a thing thought he could prevent such tragedies by building a new kind of crime-stopping device. So he designed and fabricated a set of jaws that police could use to grab onto slow-moving subjects while keeping them at a distance. Of course, it won’t work if the scofflaw has a gun.

Playing pool requires skill and precision more than brute force. But that didn’t stop I did a thing from building the world’s most powerful pool cue. To motivate his killer pool stick, he built a mechanism that smacks the cue ball with the explosive power of a gun ammo blank. It’s terrifyingly potent – enough to split a cue ball in half.

With the right equipment and a jet ski, it’s possible to fly thanks to pressurized water. After seeing some obviously faked videos of people flying with a pressure washer, I did a thing wanted to know how many it would take to really get you off the ground. But first, he needed to upgrade to industrial-strength machines.