While “Mythbusters” hosts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage frequently serve as their own test subjects, some experiments are too dangerous for mere humans. That’s when they call in Buster, perhaps the most famous crash test dummy in the world.
The not-so-secret secret?
There’s more than one Buster. Five versions of Buster exist to fit the parameters of specific experiments. For instance, if a test involves electrical current, a dummy without a metal skeleton will be used.
“As we like to say, just as Air Force One is any plane the president happens to be in, Buster is whatever crash test dummy we happen to be abusing at the moment,” says Savage. “Not only does Buster have his own fan club, there’s an Intl. Church of Buster because he’s been resurrected repeatedly for your scientific knowledge.”
Indeed, according to “Mythbusters” records, Buster — whose body is made of steel and aluminum with urethane foam rubber flesh covered with vinyl skin, and whose head is made from ballistics wax — has already “died” on 105 separate occasions.
Buster’s martial-arts training consists of frequently being kicked, punched and chopped. He’s been shot so many times no one can keep count, not just with bullets, but with forks, rocks, fruit and for some reason, cheese, yet he’s never once complained. Buster is accustomed to being dropped from high elevations — the highest (so far) being 2,000 feet. But at least they strapped him in a life raft first.
