Original subtitles

Don't try what you're about to see at home.

We're what you call experts.

Okay, go.

Ooh!

On this episode of "Mythbusters"...

Gravity-defying legend Nik Wallenda

Prepares to master mother nature's grandest canyon.

This is tough.

It's not just mental, it's physical.

A walk into history

That Adam and Jamie are on their way to witness...

Destination -- the roll in the rock.

Turn right 200 yards.

...They hope.

Where is everybody?

I was just kind of expecting more people.

I mean, crossing the canyon on a wire is, like, a big event.

Recalculating destination.

This can't be right.

Destination -- roll in the rock.

50 yards.

I'm not even sure this is a road.

You have reached your destination.

Thanks a lot, lady.

There's your problem.

Shall we call for backup?

No signal.

Great. Let's go see where we are.

Yeah, we're lost.

Not only are we lost. Our car is totally junked.

We're out of gas and our navigation's up the spout.

Well, what do you think's next?

Got to figure out a way to get out of here.

Wouldn't it be nice if we had a trunk full of duct tape?

Oh, my arms have about given out.

Yep. Hold on to your hats.

Come on. Give me some of that.

Can Adam and Jamie's favorite fabric...

Looks bad. Feels good.

...Defeat desolate deserts...

You're Nik Wallenda, aren't you?

I am one and the same.

...Conquer colossal climbs...

People do this for recreation?!

...And navigate raging river rapids?

aah!

This is the duct tape canyon special.

Yeah! whoo!

Who are the Mythbusters?

Adam Savage...

This is science in action.

...And Jamie Hyneman.

Bye-bye.

Between them, more than 30 years of special-effects experience.

Together with Grant Imahara...

That is crazy!

...Kari Byron...

...And Tory Belleci.

Come along for the journey.

They don't just tell the myths.

They put them to the test.

-- Captions by Vitac -- www.vitac.com

Captions paid for by Discovery Communications

Pack your packaging, put on your prom wear --

It's "Mythbusters" versus wild west.

As we've made obvious in the past,

We have a passion for the duct tape.

It's handy stuff.

Fun for the whole family.

We've used it to make a sailboat.

Yee-haw!

We've used it to make a bridge...

A cannon...

...A crash barrier... Ah!

...We've used it to escape from a deserted island.

And since we've proven it's the ultimate survival tool,

We never leave home without it.

Which is lucky, because

Before we got interrupted by the opening credits,

We were dressed for success and heading on our way

To watch Nik Wallenda walk across the grand canyon.

But our gps had other plans,

Steered us to the canyon's edge in the middle of nowhere

With nothing but a trunk full of duct tape.

We need a plan.

Well, that's easy.

All we have to do is go down to the river

And follow it back to civilization.

Exactly.

That's -- what? What?

Okay, apparently it's not gonna happen that way.

Meddling producers.

seriously?

okay.

All right, so apparently we're not at the canyon's edge.

We are stranded literally in the middle of nowhere.

We have to go find the canyon

And the temperature is hovering, where?

yeah, right around zero.

Hmm.

Well, fortunately, I brought along

A bunch of extra bubble pack.

Excellent. I love that stuff, too.

Well, I guess all that's left

Is for us to get zapped back out there.

So, editors, will you do our honors?

That was weird.

Artistic license.

All right, so our car's out of gas, our gps doesn't work,

We're dressed to the nines, and we are completely lost.

What do we do?

Maybe we should take inventory --

See what we've got to work with.

Good enough. Let's do it.

Yep, the first task for our tuxedoed twosome

Is to take stock.

Jackpot.

Because when stranded in a remote and hostile location,

It's the first and most fundamental step

Of any survival strategy -- assess your equipment.

I found jelly beans.

Oh, great.

And beef jerky.

Food and water is a start,

But the real prize is Jamie's stash of sticky stuff...

What the...?

...And packing that pops.

I don't go anywhere without duct tape.

Wait till you see what I got in the other bag.

Over the years, I've become really fond of duct tape,

But there's one other material

That I've added to my list -- bubble packing.

You never know when it'll come in handy.

How about now?

Because some hot couture is required.

Now, we're in the high desert,

And you'd expect it to be pretty hot.

It is not hot at all.

In fact, the temperature out here is hovering

Right around 0 degrees celsius --

32 degrees fahrenheit.

And while the tuxedo does a fine job

Of making me look darn good...

...I am freezing my tuckus off.

Luckily, we brought a terrific insulator with us

In the form of this bubble packaging.

You need some duct tape?

Sure.

The dynamic duo to the rescue.

Tuckus-freezing temperatures

Means plastic ponchos all around.

One of my favorite things.

Looks bad. Feels good.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised at how effective this is,

But I am.

Gloves!

These little air bubbles

Are just like the bubbles in foam rubber,

And so, it's very insulating.

With our now less-than-debonair duo

Cloaked against the cold, it's time to take action.

Cue the slow-mo for a dramatic, cinematic scouting mission.

Now, we know we're in canyonland,

And where there's a canyon,

There's usually a river at the bottom of it.

And that'll be our most direct route back to civilization.

Hey, that's what we want.

But the thing is, we don't know exactly where it is.

So I figure we need to find some high ground

And see if we can get a better view of the terrain.

Oh, yeah.

Not just better.

The view is breathtaking...

Literally.

It's beautiful up here.

hold on a second while I...

Catch your breath.

Have a heart attack is what I was thinking.

Heart-attack inducing, but it was worth the effort.

Salvation is in sight.

There's our canyon.

That's it all right.

Oh, I'm glad this was worth it.

Well, it looks like it's a long ways off,

But now we know here we're headed,

So it's time to head back to base camp

And make some preparations.

And back at the broken-down car,

There's two types of news.

The good news is we know where we're going.

The bad news is there's

Only a couple of hours of daylight left,

Which means we can't set out until the morning.

Shelter and warmth are crucial.

So Jamie begins by building a duct-tape bivouac.

Well, that's one.

With a bunch more, I'll have myself a tent.

And bright spark Adam,

Planning on camping in the car, has an idea.

Freedom.

Our sat-and-nav electrics may be up the spout,

But I'm willing to bet this battery

Still has enough charge to create a spark.

As long as I can create a spark, I can make a fire.

That's the theory.

Okay, okay. Calm down. Everybody calm down.

But the wires are too hot to handle.

Look at how hot I'm getting this.

It's melting the cover right off.

It's getting hard to hold, actually.

Duct tape to the rescue.

A little bit of insulation from his favorite fabric

Provides handy handles, meaning...

There it is! Come on.

You can totally do this.

This is happening for real.

Oh, my gosh.

Meanwhile, with the cold night rapidly closing in,

Jamie's shelter favors function over form.

This wasn't exactly what I had in mind as far as a tent,

But it'll keep the dew off of me,

It'll keep the wind off,

And with a sleeping bag made out of bubble packing,

I'll be good to go.

Yep, they started out stranded,

Lost in the unforgiving expanse of the canyonlands,

But with a little mythbusting ingenuity,

Come sunset...

Not a bad day.

...They have a romantic, fire-lit dinner...

Jelly bean?

...Know where they're headed...

Tomorrow, to the canyons.

...And a cozy campsite for two.

We're gonna be toasty.

Duct tape and bubble pack --

The choice for all discerning survivors.

This is just like a duvet.

Good night, Jamie.

Good night.

Good night.

But when day two does dawn, our desperate duo...

Water's all gone.

...Will discover just what it takes

To conquer the hard, cold canyonlands.

The canyonlands --

Spectacularly, breathtakingly beautiful.

But also terrifying terrain.

Remote, hostile, and barren --

Clearly not somewhere to be stranded...

We are completely lost.

...At least, not without a good supply

Of life-saving sticky stuff...

...And Jamie's favorite plastic packaging.

Thank you, sir.

And the cold and wet morning sees our dapperly dressed duo

In surprisingly good shape.

Ah.

So the sun has come out just a little bit.

It's warming up, and we are hiking to the canyon today,

And that means we've got to pack up as much of this stuff

As we could possibly carry.

Jamie is making some kind of a sled that we can drag.

I'm going to make a shoulder-sling messenger bag

To carry all the small stuff, and then we hit the road.

From their vantage point yesterday,

Their route back to civilization, the canyon,

Looks to be a tough trek of 15 miles.

And at the end of it, they'll need to get

All their supplies down to the river.

So our tuxedoed soon-to-be pack mules go to work.

I think this last bit ought to be about enough.

This thing right here is the start of a travois.

What I'm gonna be doing is making two of these things

Lashed together like a ladder,

So I can grab them like so and drag them.

Hopefully, this will be strong enough

Thanks to all this duct tape to hold it together.

It's about the most efficient way that I know of

To improvise a heavy load-carrying capability.

I don't know that you'd want to go

Through the airport with one of these,

But across this kind of terrain,

It actually is gonna be quite useful.

Yeah, that's not too bad at all.

Not bad, but when Jamie reinvents

The duct-tape roll as a wheel, it's much better.

I don't know how long they're gonna last,

But that's a fraction of the work to pull.

Meanwhile, having nailed

This season's hottest handbag, Adam's thinking ahead.

Now that we're trudging out,

One of the things we're gonna need a lot of is rope.

So Adam gets a-twirling.

Luckily, I was a cheerleader in high school.

And with the rope wound, stacked, and packed,

Along with the rest of their supplies,

Our formally dressed frontiersmen hit the trail...

Bye, car. Thanks for nothing.

...With their travois.

How's it feel?

It's not bad.

It's gonna get old after a while, though.

And so begins the long, dusty slog through the desert.

Thanks to yesterday's scouting mission,

They know where they're going.

But with limited supplies of food and water

And a heavy load to lug, it ain't gonna be easy.

Well, I tell you what.

There's not really a better way of doing this, but it's hard.

I'm gonna have a workout.

Several hours in and what's not working out

Is the formal footwear.

Not exactly hiking shoes.

But a little extra toe room...

Ah. That actually is a lot nicer.

...And some all-purpose packaging sand-proofing,

And they're on the road again.

All right. Mush, doggy.

Problem is, it's not a road.

And barely halfway there, their supplies are exhausted.

hey...Want to stop for a drink of water?

Water's all gone.

pushing on.

Then the hard-packed plateau peters out to soft sand

And the desert drudgery begins to take a real toll.

If they're gonna make it to the canyon...

Let's get out of the wind for a minute.

...They need to re-energize.

Being dehydrated in the desert is a one-way ticket to delirium.

And Adam's no exception.

Wait a minute.

You're balancing on a --

You're Nik Wallenda, aren't you?

I am one and the same.

What are you doing here?

Searching. Same as you.

I don't know what I'm searching for.

None of us know what we're looking for.

Oh. Wait a minute.

Is this like one of those southwest vision quest

Kind of things?

Awesome.

You do know that you're in the wrong state, though, right?

This isn't the grand canyon. This is utah.

No, I'm pretty sure this is the grand canyon.

It's your gps that screwed up, not mine.

Anyway, I got to get ready.

After Adam awakes,

Courtesy of some duct-tape finger gloves,

Jamie's scavenged a prickly pear lunch.

that's delicious.

Yeah, it's like kiwi or something.

Nicely done.

With our tuxedoed trekkers rejuvenated,

They resume their March.

And two hours later,

They finally reach their destination,

Where a welcome sight awaits.

Look at that.

There she is.

The thing about these kinds of settings

Is they're so beautiful

At the same time as they're terrifying.

I mean, just look at that.

Well, after our day of trekking, we have found our river,

And it's only two football fields away from us.

The problem is -- straight down.

The route to the river is not immediately obvious,

So we're gonna set out looking first thing in the morning.

'night, Jamie.

Good night.

Coming up,

With the sun, Adam and Jamie are going down.

Ah

Welcome back to the "Mythbusters"

Duct tape canyon special.

So far in this episode,

Jamie and I have been stranded far from civilization

With only duct tape and bubble packaging

To get ourselves back to safety.

Look at that.

Now it's time to break out all the duct tape

And duct-tape rope that we've got

To get ourselves to the bottom of this canyon.

It sounds easy,

But rappelling the 150-foot cliff face to salvation

Is gonna be one of the most challenging experiences

Of their mythbusting lives.

But it's their only way out.

All right, let's start laying it out.

And success depends on the strength and length

Of their duct-tape rope.

But it looks like what we've got is about 250 feet,

Which is fantastic, 'cause it looks like

It's about 150 to the bottom with knots.

It's just enough rope.

Whew!

So it's long enough, now, is it strong enough?

We've ended up making a lot of duct-tape rope on this show,

And on "duct tape bridge,"

We actually did a strength test of it,

And we found that a single strand of tape

Was capable of supporting about 70 pounds.

Oh!

67.3 pounds of force.

Oh!

And each of these ropes has four strands in it,

Giving them a breaking strength of about 280 pounds each.

Add three of them together, and you get 840 pounds.

But you've to got remove about 40% of that strength

Because you've put a knot in the rope.

In the end, we get a safety ratio of about 3:1.

It's less than ideal, but hopefully it's enough.

And with Jamie strapped in his safety harness,

It's time for the rope ride of a lifetime.

But it certainly won't be a joyride.

Height is not the Hyneman's friend.

I've ended up doing a fair amount of climbing

Throughout my life,

But the thing is, I absolutely hate it.

I don't mind saying I'm hyperventilating.

When I'm anywhere near the edge of a cliff,

My mind is just going over and over and over

What it would feel like to be in free fall

With a sudden stop at the bottom.

Okay, Adam, you've got the other end.

Don't let go. I won't.

But if you focus on what's right in front of you

And do your best to blank everything else out,

You can pretty much do whatever you have to.

But I'm unhappy.

Jamie hesitates.

Steeling himself for the 150-foot climb,

Or, if things go south, the 150-foot drop.

Yep, it's a long way down.

Well...

Now or never.

Here we go.

That's the moment --

The moment Jamie's weight is suspended over the abyss.

I got a foothold.

Well, so far so good.

A mere 145 feet to go.

I'm good Adam. Okay.

Jamie's supporting his own weight

On the three-strand duct-tape rope.

It's hard work, and a rest is welcome.

Okay, stop.

Okay, holding on.

There's a ledge about 25 feet down or so

If you need a place to rest.

Okay, I'm gonna go over it.

From here on...

...Every single one of the remaining 125 feet...

this is a long way down.

...Is all free fall.

Oh, my arms have about given out.

Slowly but surely...

Handhold by handhold...

Grunt by grunt...

Almost there.

...The Hyneman conquers the canyon.

I made it!

Awesome!

And I can't believe how far that was.

The duct tape worked, though.

I can't believe that I'm here.

And alive.

Once again, duct tape did the job...

And... Here it comes!

Whoo.

...With their supplies unceremoniously slung

Over the side, it's Adam's turn.

Here I come!

this is it.

Everything of ours

Is now at the bottom of this canyon

Except for me.

Ah

This is

Ah

I need a minute.

It's time for me to make the journey.

I can't wait for this to be over. I'm serious.

I can't wait for this to be over.

Aah!

Okay. Oh, god.

Oh, there's a foothold right there.

Oh, that's a nice foothold.

Calm people live.

Calm people live.

Once past that convenient ledge,

It's just Mythbusters' ingenuity

Between Adam and a grizzly date with gravity.

Whoo. Whoo. Whoo ho-ho-ho!

Oh! Oh! Oh

Yeah.

The surging adrenaline seems to be making him extra chatty.

People do this for recreation?!

He's certainly a lot more vocal than Jamie was.

My nuts are killing me -- what's left of them.

And the tight harness could be the reason

His voice is several octaves higher than usual.

The view is really quite lovely.

Couple things --

Our duct-tape rope is really nice and strong

And wide enough to get a good grip on.

Nice work.

Second of all, the worst part,

The worst part is the very first one.

Just sitting on the ledge of that rock

And knowing that you've got to swing yourself over open space.

I made the mistake of looking down,

And my whole body is like, "nope.

Nope."

I need a minute.

And your brain is like, "we're gonna do it,"

And your body's like, "nope."

And you have this whole discussion.

I actually needed an extra moment

Just to make sure that my brain was in charge, and it was.

And then slowly made our way down.

The rope was beautiful. It bounced a little bit.

Wow. It is seriously bouncy at this point.

And minutes later,

I'm standing solidly on beautiful terra firma.

Whew! That first step.

I know this is a family show,

But that first step is up.

That was really rough.

Whoo ho-ho-ho!

Yep, they're down and on their way,

But that's one duct-tape tale

That will stay with them forever.

I made it!

Do not try what you're about to see at home.

We consult with experts, we take every precaution,

And we have years of experience in dangerous situations.

in 2012,

Two men were marooned, destined to die.

Well, it's been almost a full day without water.

it's hard.

But when luck surfed up...

With this much duct tape, we are set!

...They rejected that reality and substituted their own.

Oh!

Dude! Land!

This year...

Lightning has struck twice.

Look at that.

But in the cold canyonlands

With nothing but packaging and prom wear...

...Will mother nature bite back?

Ah

Whoo ho-ho-ho!

well, no.

Because thanks to their favorite fabrics,

Our men in black have made camp...

Good night.

...Made progress,

And made Jamie go weak at the knees.

And having walked that tightrope of terror...

Think it's that way.

...Things are looking up.

Finally.

That is a relief.

Now, that's a sight for sore feet.

And shoulders.

The reason it's such a soothing sight

Is this red river could spell the end of their desert trail.

Well, after our ordeal of trudging down the canyon,

We have reached the river at the canyon's bottom.

This is not our final destination.

This is just hopefully

The highway to our final destination.

So we've got to make our way down the river.

Clearly, that means another duct-tape boat.

You know, not necessarily.

I mean, what if we wrapped ourselves in the bubble packing

And made sort of like a big floaty wet suit?

It would keep us warm, it would allow us to float.

We'd get a lot of control.

I mean, it's not like you're gonna fall out of the boat.

All right, why don't we do a test?

Sure. Okay.

Yee-haw!

When it comes to crafting duct-tape craft...

scotty, I need more power.

...The Mythbusters have extensive experience.

Today, they're keeping it simple

As they literally wrap Adam up in bubble pack...

That's gonna be awesome.

...Before sealing him with tape.

it just has to keep you warm

And allow you to float.

It's about as basic as you can get...

I think you're good.

...But maybe it's enough.

I have a theory that it's much more efficient

To wrap ourselves in the bubble packaging

And duct tape rather than try and make boats.

I'm about to do a test.

We're gonna see how well this both floats me

And, more importantly, insulates me

Against this nearly freezing-cold water.

I got the other end.

All right, don't let go.

At first, Adam seems to be enjoying himself.

But not for long.

Aah! Aah! Aah! Oh!

Ohh, it's starting to seep in.

Dude, it's starting to seep in. It's so cold.

Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Well, our duct-tape-and-bubble-pack suit

Seemed to work fine but then two things happened.

One -- it stopped insulating me.

Aah!

The water started seeping in.

Oh, my god! It's cold!

And second -- my legs went up, and I was horizontal.

Okay, pull me in. Pull me in.

I would just be a leaf floating down this river

At the mercy of every current.

Okay.

This is not the way to go.

So it's back to the drawing board --

Literally.

All right, since my "bubble boy" suit doesn't work,

Clearly we got to make a boat.

I'm thinking something like a pontoon

Lashed to another pontoon

With us sitting, like, in the middle like that.

Well, something tells me that making a large one of these

Is gonna be problematic,

Because the material itself isn't very strong.

Maybe we should make two separate smaller ones.

The smaller we make them, the more robust they're gonna be.

More redundancy, you know. Right.

If one of goes down, the other one's got flotation.

So it's two boats and two duct-tape designs.

First up, the captains log.

I decided on a log raft design,

Because I know that I can roll up

This bubble pack real tight

And make these really safe, reliable logs.

And then all I have to do is lash them together.

If something happens, if one of them gets ripped off,

It doesn't really matter,

Because I'll still have a bunch more to hang onto,

And I'll be safe.

That's the theory.

Don't roll away.

And here's the graphic.

The raft's building blocks are pontoons

Made from bubble pack and condensed by tape.

He'll make 10 of those,

Which will then be trussed together with tape and twine

To create the basic shape.

Finally, he'll add a waterproof paddle zone and a duct-tape oar.

But will this float his boat to freedom?

Well, with Captain Hyneman

Getting down to the nitty-gritty...

This sand is just horrible.

...Let's ship out with seaman Savage.

Aah!

Yeah, that's about the right size.

Like Jamie's, Adam's raft also relies on packaging pontoons.

This is exhausting.

But instead of 10 short stubbies,

He's turning out four tall tubes.

Halfway there.

These four lengthy logs will be stuck together to form his hull.

He'll then insert a waterproof lining

Complete with padding from which he'll paddle.

He's hoping this streamlined shape

Will make it not just easy to float,

But also easy to steer.

It's like an envelope.

Once Adam's posted his envelope into the pontoons...

Yeah, that's good. Good, good, good.

...And sealed it in place...

Awesome.

...It's all set for a dry run.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

I'm ready for some adventure.

Whew! Whew! Whew! Look out!

Whew-whew-whew-whew!

Sh-sh-sh-sh! Jamie!

Sh-sh! Aah!

Aah!

Meanwhile, at camp Hyneman, function comes before fun.

What I'm doing is taking these individual pontoons

And tying them together in pairs,

And then those pairs into four, and then two fours into eight,

Which will be the total length of my craft.

While Jamie may be all work and no play,

There's no doubt that his build is less serious streamlining

And more comedy couch.

You've made a couch.

Well, you might as well

Be comfortable on your journey, huh?

A river couch.

That is hilarious.

I don't think our boats could be any more different.

I know, and yet, I think they're both pretty good.

I think they both ought to do the trick.

I think they both ought to get us to freedom.

It's true that, like their owners,

These boats are chalk and cheese.

The question is, with the finishing touches done,

Will either of them work?

Adam jumps ship.

Yeah!

Hey, that's not so bad.

But befitting a man captaining a couch...

...Jamie's launch is a little more leisurely.

Seems like it's pretty stable.

I can move around good.

I can turn well.

this is working great.

we haven't even gotten started yet.

Well, at first blush, my canoe, my kayak

Seems to be working just beautifully.

It's nice and stable.

I have a lot of control over my direction and speed.

I think it's time to start heading downstream.

But downstream is where troubled waters await.

I see some currents.

Yep, we're starting to move.

Uh-oh. Whoa. Oh, shoot. Whoa!

Adam takes the first rapids...

Yeah!

...Like a duck taped to water...

Yeah!

...Shortly followed by Jamie.

Whoo! That works like a charm.

Just like a little cork.

Paradoxically, the placid patches

Are causing a problem for Jamie.

While this thing is great for flotation --

It's keeping me nice and high and dry --

I have crap propulsion, and these currents keep wanting

To spin you off to one side or the other,

Which means you just sit there or you go backwards.

And that's a big problem.

It's tiring and taking its toll...

I keep getting stuck.

...And could be dangerous.

We don't want to get too far separated.

If one of us goes under,

The other should be there for rescue.

But when Jamie suddenly starts floating more freely,

It's because the current has picked up.

Oh, Jamie, look at that.

Yep, the fun run is done.

This duct-tape trip is about to get serious.

I don't like the looks of this.

I don't, either.

What do you think?

Should we take it to the right or to the left?

I think we go right down the middle.

okay, here goes nothing.

Oh

Look at this!

Oh!

Whoa!

Whoa!

Whoa!

You're probably pretty surprised by how nice my tux looks.

Aah!

This thing seems to, like, resist dust.

I'm rolling around on a beach in my tux.

That's some james bond stuff right there.

Look at that.

You know, if anyone saw us,

All we have to say is, "no one's going to believe you."

Might just be the nerves, but I could've have sworn

I just saw two rafts made of duct tape.

You know what's nifty about these?

There's 100,000 bubbles.

You could shoot this raft and it'd still keep on going.

That can be arranged.

En route to a vip party,

The Mythbusters were lost without hope.

But who needs hope when you've got duct tape...

This is working great!

...And two mad scientists second to none?

People do this for recreation?!

Using all of the above, Adam and Jamie

Have comprehensibly conquered the canyon.

But can they ride the raging river?

Oh

Look at this.

Oh! Whoa!

Whoa!

Whoa! Whoo!

Whoa! Yeah!

Yeah! Whoo!

Yes!

Whoo! Yeah!

Whoo!

That was by far the most severe rapids

We have yet experienced on this river.

Are you good?!

I'm good!

I hit the speed, went right over it, skipped across...

Whoa!

...Saw Jamie behind me

Kind of of like flitting around in his couch.

I felt like I'm riding a caterpillar.

Like a caterpillar that thinks it's a jet airplane.

That's what my boat is,

And it rode those rapids just beautifully.

Whoo!

And that's pretty much what happens

For the next six hours -- moments of serenity...

It's so beautiful. This is better than taking a train.

Still no sign of Wallenda.

...Then moments to repent.

All of a sudden, you see a little kind of narrow spot,

And you hear the sound, and it's really nerve-racking,

'cause we don't know what's on the other side of it.

Whoa!

Yep, as the landscape shifts,

The ultimate test for their well-crafted rafts

Is getting ready to rumble.

As you can see, we have paddled long enough to leave the canyon.

Boy, the scenery has changed.

Yeah, it's like a whole different river.

Gone are the red rocks, gone are the high cliffs,

And now we must be close to civilization,

But we're not out of the woods yet,

For, as they say, "it's always darkest before the dawn."

And surely it doesn't get any darker than this.

Ah

A roaring, raging, grade-five rapid.

Adam grits his teeth...

Duck!

Aah!

...And carefully takes aim.

Oh-oh-oh!

But will it be sink or swim?

Whoa!

Whoa!

Adam!

For a full five seconds, Adam's down.

But then he's up.

Jamie!

Although, he's not out of danger yet.

Aah!

The rocky rapids unleash their full-on force-five,

And Adam is swept away.

Oh!

But thanks to luck, judgment, and fabricated floatation,

He makes it to the other side.

Whew!

Whew! That was close.

I hit the rapids.

It felt like I hit them just right.

And then, all of a sudden, it all went just wrong.

My boat curled away.

It felt like it bent like something that bends.

and then I was in the water.

And I don't know what exactly happened...

Jamie!

...But I felt like I caught air.

Aah!

At least I still have all of my fingers and toes and my boat.

All I got to do is wait for Jamie.

Jamie's raft, built for stability and comfort

Is less streamlined,

So how will he survive the raging torrent?

Well, our hirsute hero gets stuck,

Climbs out,

And chooses a much calmer course.

Well, it was a little unconventional, but...

Yeah!

...Better than going for a swim.

I mean, you could get hurt in those rapids.

Hyah!

With freedom surely not far away,

It's onwards and downwards.

So we're going down the river and we hear a roar.

Jamie? What?

I don't like the sound of that.

We figure, "that sounds different.

Let's investigate before going through."

Ah.

Well, there's your problem.

And it is a good thing, too,

Because this rinse-and-spin cycle would've eaten us alive.

Going through this is a "no go."

We got to go around.

So it looks like the only choice we have

Is to bypass this rapid and use the rope that we have left over

To lower the boats down off of the cliff,

And then go down after them.

So it's time for one last

"livin' on a prayer" cliffhanger.

what could possibly go wrong?

Only this time,

The cliff they're hanging off is "slippery when wet."

A little slack.

Aw, crap. The transition always sucks.

Okay, here we go.

Using the method they mastered in the canyon,

Adam makes the sheer 25-foot drop.

Whew! I'm good!

Next, Jamie casts down the canoe.

Whoa! Whoa!

Love it! Look at that! It's totally working!

Then comes the couch...

Here comes mine!

...Which also bounces down buoyantly.

Ho!

That just leaves "scared of heights" Hyneman.

Oh

But when his descent is also disaster-free,

It's clear that in this duct-tape survival special..

...The Mythbusters have conquered

Not just their surroundings...

That's it. ...But also their fears.

That's not so bad.

Not so bad at all. Well done.

And as they float their boats one last time...

yeah!

...There's more than light at the end of this tunnel.

Do you hear that?

What? That.

Ah! It sounds like civilization!

If we hurry up, we might just make it.

With their vip party just a paddle away,

Adam takes time to take stock.

I have to say, this might go down in history

As one of the best adventures we've had.

Starting out with our car running out of gas...

Using its battery to start a fire...

...Making some duct-tape tents to survive in the desert,

Using duct tape to rappel to the bottom of the canyon...

...Which we then had to make some boats

To go down the canyon river...

Whoa! Whoo!

Yeah! Yeah!

Whoa!

Aah!

...It has been one heck of an adventure.

An adventure that, in a hotel far, far away,

Comes to a star-laden party finale.

Well, we made it.

This is it. Shall we do it?

Yeah, hold on.

All right.

I think you look as good as can be.

All right. Wait, hold on.

This is a good entrance. Three, two, one.

Or not.

We missed the party.

Oh, we still have time to make the walk if we hurry.

All we need is a little more duct tape.

Seriously? A wink is how you're gonna finish this?

All right.