Coconuts,

At least Dirk never tried to make a radio out of cocunuts. But are the tricks Clive writes in his books really possible?

Outboard motorboat bathtub --- well, i've built a concrete canoe and it floats but a bathtub? was it fiberglass or cast, i don't recall?

Catching fish with a beltbuckle and human flesh --- dunno, i've only fished once witha real fishing line and in a lake not an ocean, I didn't catch a thing

Bottles of gasoline stuffed with oily rags as bombs--- yup, i've never tried it but i think ive seen it done before.

1930's automobile speeding on a rim --- my Golf rolled to halt on a highway when that happened to me, then again a rock wall helped slow me down.

unglasses --- i might try the wooden sunglasses next time i'm in the desert

any other inventions you think are BS or for real?

- Diana

I think that the "sailboat" Dirk and Al make in the desert in Sahara from recycled airplane parts might be a little far-fetched.
But only in retrospect. While reading the book, it seems entirely possible! Part of Cussler's art at having a reader suspend belief. This is the mark of any great writer.

Motor... All of the things you sited there are entirely possible in reality (although the bouyancy of the bathtub is questionable). The Unglasses are listed in survival type journals for eye protection and the materials used on a 1930's steel wheel rim would be a lot stronger and of heavier construction that todays standards.

I have often seen films where the Hero seemingly carry's out the impossible but have never yet read anything in a Cussler Novel that took me aback and made me think - :blink: "that couldn't happen" - often find myself thinking "I would never have thought of that" tho!!

I think CC has a very good balance of what is feasable by someone in a survival situation - He would certainly be a useful person to have in a jam!!

Facinating topic motorcycleress !

And some interesting replies in already.

KurtAustin mentioned the bathtub. If I was on a ship like the Titanic when it sank and there was no lifeboats available, I'd rip out a bathtub and do it like Dirk !! ;)

It would seem Pitt has the same qualities as another action hero--MacGyver!

MacGuyver RULZ!!

Though not impossible, the scene in Inca Gold, where DP and AG slide down the temple/pyramid wall using a mattress has always been stuck in my head. Its one of the most hilarious scenes I can think of!

The bathtub thing with the outboard attached is just about over the top. The tub would have to have a heavy keel to remain upright and not tip over. The weight and shape of the tub would have put it at about water level and therefore it wouldn't get very far in the ocean swells. I don't think that Dirk's escape contraptions are any more proposterous than some of the newer James Bond stuff, and I really get a charge out of what contraption is coming out of Cussler's head from book to book. I wish he would have something as crazy as the bathtub or the wind powered desert plane in every book. If you have read enough of his books you know that if Cussler mentions something like the old plane on the desert early on in the story, then there is a possibility of Dirk utilizing it later on.

Haha, if people thought of the bathtubs in shiprecks like the Titanic which didn't happen in 10 seconds, maybe the survivors numbers would've doubled.. Makes ya wonder why people didn't think of things to use.. You never know what there may be in a giant cruiseliner :D

Gasoline in a bottle w/ rags...Molotov Cocktails. People really use them. A lot of terrorist groups use them./

Welcome JimmyAEMT-I !!

Saw your post and started to wonder who Molotov was. Here's what I found ;

"Molotov cocktail" is named after V. M. Molotov, the man who was the Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union during World War II. When the Nazis invaded Russia during the Second World War, the Russian civilians used this cocktail quite successfully to destroy the German tanks. The phrase has been quite common since the 1940s."

Cheers

Thanks for the welcome!

Hope I helped a bit.

Just recently found these books and I enjoyed Sea Hunters II so much and my partner at work has read most of his books and recommended them to me....I haven't read many, but I'm enjoying them. I think he's become my new fav author

As for the unglasses: the eskimos have been using a variation of them for centuries, carved from sea mammal tusks, to prevent snow blindness.

I want a pair :rolleyes:

Might be hard to buy, unless you currently reside in Alaska!!

The boat bathtub when the weather warms up i'll try that i have an old 6' cast iron tub i wonder if it will float ?


Nothing ventured nothing gained........ :D

The tub might work....hell they float steel battleships...dunno how..but hey...who knows?!

the boat bathtub is all ready. Now all i need is some warm weather! :blink:

Have been away for a while other wise could have helped you all sooner.
For those sceptics the bath tub really works I run a Childrens Charity in England and team building skills are always fun. We have managed to put an electric motor on a enamel bath tub and it works but I've got a say it wasn't the most controllable boat in the world but the weight of a person in the tub displaced the water enough and I had about 6 inch's freeboard. I also Land Yacht and the Sahara session has merit but holding a wing upright against any kind of wind would require serious braseing I don't think the guys would have had large enough main body to do it, still good idea.

Molotov cocktails......good grief, I haven't thought of those in years........every high school kid in the San Francisco Bay Area had heard of those way back in the 60's & 70's.....when you had to be careful of the Weathermen and other "radical underground" groups....whether or not you really wanted to go to college in "Bezerkly".....LOL! That was back in the days of going to the drive-in with flashlights to read the Berkley Barb and PlayGirl....not necessarily in that order....so your parents wouldn't find out and ship you off to juvenile hall..... :blink:

When I come into a fictional novel I suspend all of my disbeliefs because i know Clive Cussler works to make it real! But what stands out in my mind is not just the tub boat but dirk driving an old car down the side of a mountain on snow in INCA GOLD. that was hilarious! Bullets Flying and Dirk racing down this mountain ...that was a hoot!

Actually...that was in Treasure....cuz I'm just finishing off that book right now ;)

I don't believe it's plausible in my opinion...but it could be. But a heavy car, no matter how packed the powder (or icy for that matter) on a ski slope...would dig in...it would more than likely ROLL end over end or side to side, rather than just glide on down.

But hey...that's why they call these books Fiction right?!

Hasn't stopped me from reading them!

The tub might work, so long as the draincork is in!! I don't remember the "unglasses". Would somebody refresh my failing memory.

there are mad people overhere who have done things with floating bathtubs and they have worked solong as u get the weight distribution right :ph43r:

The car going down the ski slope was in Treasure.
Only Dirk slid down the temple wall. Al was with the students by the escape chopper.

Many of CCs scenarios border on the absurd, but that's part of the fun.

kujo54

Pac I'm not sure about that ref to MAD people over here!!
I hope that wasn't aimed at little ole me, I'm a certified nutter.
But yes balance does indeed help, as well as a drain plug.

We should create a group that does nothing but test Dirk Pitt's ideas. I would be all for that. Especially the one with that chicks plane in Sahara and race it across the desert. WHEEEEE j:

Funny,

When I wrote "unglasses" that was actually a typo for "sunglasses." But perhaps I've just coined a new word for the dictionary.

The unglasses are wood carved goggles Dirk, Al, and Maeve used when they were trapped on a desert island.

Dirk carved a piece of wood with little eye holes and a nose groove and holes to attach the wood to a string around the head. the main purpose was to shield the eye from tangent light.

It's kind of like those googles they put on horses to block their peripheral vision so they don't get spooked.

D n:

The Clive Cussler Myth Solving Legionairs? That would be a good title wouldn't it. Might have to make something that would spell something with the words. I tried the bathtub thing. It actually works. Maybe if my brain shrinks a little smaller i'll try sliding down the ski slope in a car and sliding down the side of a pyramid on a mattress. j:

:lol:

I'm serious though. Provide me with funds and I will provide videos of testing the things that are somewhat available to an 18 year old. Let me know what ideas you think I should test.

Our army used it succesfully against Russians during our battle against them.

Molotov Cocktails are very efficient!

At a demo I saw a person who threw one. Terrible explosion! Fire !!!

It's a very dangerous weapon. You can hurt lots of people!

Your post made me think of Jack DuBrul's Pitt-esque hero Philip Mercer in Deep Fire Rising... He uses a damp bed sheet for braking while attempting to slide down the outside of the Luxor Casino in Las Vegas. But of course, nothing ever goes as planned.

If you love Pitt, definitely read the DuBurl books, esp. since he's now working on the Oregon Files.