Every Alaska myth tested in ‘Mythbusters'

When I was a pre-teen, my mom came home from work and told my brother and I the Mythbusters had stopped by work. This was not the norm in Willow, especially in the winter. I never ended up watching the episodes until now, so let's get into it.

Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage hosted the show, and came up to Alaska for two different specials to test some theories (airing in 08 and 09). The first myth is called "Dynamite Dog."

Like most of our favorite myths, this one involves some drunken friends and some explosives, Adam says. You got a group of drunken friends, one of whom's just bought a brand new SUV. And they all decide they want to go duck hunting with their dog – except there's nothing around them but a frozen lake – and no duck is gonna land on a frozen lake. S0 they need to make a hole. One of them offers up a stick of dynamite with a 20-second fuse to make a big hole, and throws that stick of dynamite as far as he can.

I can see what's coming, Jamie said.

The dog, following its natural impulses, chases after that stick of dynamite, catches it, starts carrying it back to the guy under the brand new SUV, Adam said. The dog, the dynamite and the SUV go boom.

The team goes out to Fischer Pond (which is man made and has no fish) to test the myth, but the dynamite doesn't go boom. For funsies, Jamie and Adam discover it takes 24 pounds of dynamite to blow a hole in the ice big enough to sink the car.

Myth, BUSTED ❌

"Moose Mayhem" is conducted by the Build Team, another group of mythbusters (get it) who test other theories on the show. Kari Byron, Tory Belleci, and Grant Imahara, the original Build Team, visit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center to meet a moose IRL (they also see a moose in downtown Anchorage at "Ernie's" Bungalow).

You're driving down the road, you're eating your baked Alaska, and all of a sudden a moose is in front of you. And you're like, you don't have time to swerve – you're going to hit the moose. But now the question is, is it better to accelerate into the moose or hit the brakes? Tory asks.

The team manufactured a moose made out of rubber, and test-drove cars into it at varying speeds. They concluded that faster speeds made the moose hit higher, but never enough to clear the car.

Myth, BUSTED ❌

Adam and Jamie traveled to Hatcher Pass Lodge to test the "Cabin Fever" myth, having no form of entertainment and separated from each other. Adam showed four of the common symptoms for cabin fever – irritability, forgetfulness, restlessness and excessive sleeping – and Jamie exhibited one (excessive sleeping).

Myth, PLAUSIBLE 🤷🏼‍♀️

The following year, the Mythbusters returned to Alaska to launch a pykrete boat, and see if it's bulletproof and stronger than ice. The guys make their vessel in the Ketchikan High School wood shop out of 15,000 local Alaska newspapers.

Welcome to Building a Boat Out of Paper 101, Jamie told students.

The boat did float and maintained 23 MPH, but began leaking soon after and quickly deteriorated. They spend 30 minutes on the water before they abandon ship.

Bulletproof? Yes. Myth, CONFIRMED ✅

Stronger than ice? Yes. Myth, CONFIRMED ✅

Usable boat? PLAUSIBLE, BUT LUDICROUS ❌

Finally, the Build Team tests if a V-shaped snowplow can split a car in half. The first test car drove into the plow at 55 MPH, but didn't slice the car in two and got caught on the engine block. The second test for "Snowplow Split" used a rear-engine car at 70 MPH and sharpened the edge of the snowplow to have a gnarly blade.

Myth, BUSTED ❌

(total watch time: 1 hour, 24 minutes)