Climbing a building with “vacuum gloves”

MAKE subscriber Matthew Sylvester sent us this video of BBC TV presenter Jem Stansfield seeming to climb the side of one of the broadcaster’s buildings using a very funky homemade contraption based on a vacuum cleaner. The “stunt” was done as a promo for the upcoming BBC show Bang Goes the Theory [cough… Mythbusters].

And speaking of Mythbusters, they built a similar rig, with far more serious components, and had very lackluster results. This video makes it look suspiciously easy. Hmmm. It’d be interesting to see if he could even lift himself off of the ground without the aid of the climbing harness.

Man climbs building with vacuum gloves

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Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

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