Testing the RPG-7 On a Human Body 

Thanks for watching guys! This was probably the most expensive video we’ve done to date, so I hope you guys enjoy! Should we do this again? What should we shoot? Let me know in the comments! Thanks to SDI! Again, it’s SDI.edu for more info!

I worked with a guy that only had two bad days in his life. The first was on his first tour of Vietnam where he got hit. The second bad day was after recovering and getting sent back to Vietnam, when he was hit in the head by an RPG. He was definitely messed up, his eyes didn't align, and he walked with a weird limp, in his words "they couldn't kill me with a gun so they tried something a little heavier." Greatest guy to work with ever.

As a human with a torso, I can vouch that this would hurt

Drive tanks: “here’s your rpg-7 each round is $3500, aim carefully” Brandon: “is it sighted in” Drive tanks: “aim carefully”

"Don't stand in front of an RPG, or behind it. Hey, maybe that's a future video?" Well look how that turned out, Brandon. Shoutout to Adam from BallisticHighSpeed for surviving an RPG detonation on his face!

An officer in the Scots Guards took one to the chest in Iraq. It hit his plate carrier, knocked him over backwards then detonated on the hatch of the armoured vehicle he was commanding. The blast deflected over the top of him. He promptly sat back up and returned fire, at which point the enemy unit ran for it, presumably assuming they were engaging some sort of terminator.

And the craziest part of this video is that even an rpg7 can't blow the lungs out the back of a human body... 9mm truly is an amazing round.

Retired East European RPG instructor here. Fun fact: When training, we would make soldiers sprint to shooting position in order to make sure they were tired AF when they shoot. First, it simulated (to a degree) combat fatigue. Second, it almost guaranteed them breathing through their mouths. It is a safety precaution to keep your mouth open when shooting RPG in order to quicker equalize pressure in your skull when you shoot. If you keep your mouth shut you risk having your eardrums blown. The power of sound wave emitted by RPG is something video will never be able to show.

Plot twist: Eli miraculously survived and years later plotted his revenge, hunting down each member of the crew with ruthless efficiency and brutality only a ballistics dummy can muster.

Forgetting to pull the arming pin was actually common when I was in Iraq back in 2007. Had a guy fire a round at our Bradley IFV which acted as our gate on the compound. Flew over the Bradley and went straight towards where our 2 fuel trucks were. Slammed into the wall after passing right between them and just fell. The collective thoughts of everyone who saw it happened went from (shot) "wtf was..." (RPG flies by) "oh!!!" (Heads towards fuel trucks) "OH SHIT!!!!" (SLAMS wall and falls) "DAFAQ!?" Maintenance NCO went and picked it up and just yells. "Dumbass forgot to arm it!" Good times...

My experience with the RPG-7 comes from Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003. Had several fired at me and my tank, including one flying roughly one Brandon arm length from my head. 4 minutes in, and I've already gotta clean my screen. 8 minutes in, and I'm having flashbacks. This video is a ride! Thank you, Mr. Herrera, and may you get ALL the votes!

My brother was physically hit by an RPG during his time in Iraq (Royal Marine), it did not go off since the enemy hadn't pulled the safety pin, and luckily it had mostly just grazed his skin before imbedding into the ground so didn't need much in the way of medical treatment but he still has his uniform he was wearing with the massive rip and burn marks along the back.

The most badass thing 10:44 Thank you for your service 😂

Brandon:"It's recoilless." The guy directly behind you, and 30 feet in the air: "The hell it is!"

Back in '68, while I was stationed at Bethesda Naval Hospital, there was a medal award ceremony for a doctor who removed a live RPG from a Marine in Vietnam, so yeah, it happened in real life.

$14k (just in ammo) for a video that is SURE to be demonetized? Brandon is doing the Lord’s work here.

As a medic in the NG my brother saw what those did to our soldiers (his best friend was taken out by one in Afghanistan in 2011) and obviously everyone he picked up was KIA or close to it😞 but he always wondered if the enemy was say…250 meters away if it was just a lucky shot or what. I just turned him on to your channel (which I love) Thanks for the demo 🤙

Mad respect to the human who offered their body in the name of science, true dedication

He actually did it, that crazy MF ACTUALLY did it. Breakdowns, meme review, darwin awards, AK-50, RPG-7, undefeated boxer, AND congress? Brandon is the GOAT of all guntubers hands down.

Came for the Brandon, stayed for the Herrera

6:53 Bro, got the aim of Thomas Cook

"Testing the RPG-7 on the human body" this is ABSOLUTELY the type of person we need in congress

1st 23rd Infantry "Tomahawks" had an Lt that was hit in the chest with an RPG7. He survived as it impacted at an angle and deflected... his SAPI plate shattered, and his ribs and sternum were broken. His vest is still on display in the units war room.

As fun as this is to watch, one can only imagine the joy Brandon felt that day

0:50 “its what you use if your terrible with a sniper rifle” that is so true it got me rolling

My Gunnery Sergeant was a gunner on a 7-ton during a convoy in Iraq. They were ambushed and an RPG bounced off the back plate of his armored turret. Scared the ever living shit out of him He has PTSD and it’s triggered by loud metallic banging noises. It always takes him back to the memory of him cheating death.

My friend Johnathan Roy Kephart died from a wound inflicted by an RPG7 to the back of his neck, it didn't explode, he bled to death on the tunnel of the HMMWV under his gunner position. They instituted a back shield for the turrets after he died. Very sad, that was 20yrs ago in Iraq. He was good guy, we both served in the 230th MPco.

I had a military buddy who unfortunately got blasted by a RPG. Hit the ground next to him and spilt his leg and body vertically about 4-5inches deep on his right side. He survived and actually still works out and runs. He has a scar from his ankle all the way to his neck and parts of his face and eye.

Never thought I'd see Aquaman shooting a ballistic dummy with an RPG but here we are

A pistol on every hip, a rifle in every home and a RPG in every basement. Just as the Founding Fathers intended.

I know it’s crazy expensive. But a back blast test would be amazing to watch

Matt gets mp7, Brandon gets rpg-7. They are not the same

3:32 decently worth subscribing for

My G-Wagon got hit with a direct RPG shot to the drivers side window in a late night ambush on Highway 1 just outside of Kandahar in 2006. It pushed the armored window in about 5-6 inches. All of us in the car are lucky to be here, especially the driver and the crew commander (our Platoon commander). We reckon we survived because it takes about 40m to arm the warhead. Its was a direct hit but not an explosive one, much like what you saw happenen to the dummy. Everyday I walk this earth I’m grateful to be here. The most disgusting part is that our higher ups were using us as bait. Effin pricks.

Brandon is not doing side quests anymore, he's achievement hunting now. LETS GO BRANDON!

Seeing Brandon's adrenalin quick in when first shooting the RPG makes me so happy. Even an experience guntuber like himself can still get jitters when holding a boom cannon

Imagine some kid sneaks into the shooting range and he sees this guy holding his rpg 7 next to a tank💀

There was a Marine or Soldier that had an RPG lodge in his upper leg or hip. When the guy got to the triage center, yeah, they wheeled his gurney doown a dirt path and around a berm. An enterprising photographer took a shot of him lying there, the EOD tech working on the warhead, and the facility's head nurse, a male O-5(Lt. Colonel or Commander), calmly caring for his charge. He wouldn't leave his patient. "Greater love hath no man..."

The calm, yet menacing "get back here" as he chased the guy down at full velocity was truly horrifying.

what i like about brandon's videos is that they're all content. the videos aren't dragged out for ages only for the action to be right at the end, all he does is talk a little bit about what he's gonna do and then he goes straight to actually doing it. very few youtubers do that

Just appreciating how I’m correctly watching this on holiday in Bulgaria approximately 9 miles away form the factory that made those rockets 👌

Considering that we weren't the ones to spend about $15k, I agree. Well worth the rockets. 🤣

10:25 "Good, that's one less loose end"

Missed the opportunity to yell "BACKBLAST CLEAR"😂

I love that Brandon’s reaction after hitting the torso with the RPG is the exact same reaction he would have when direct impacting someone with an RPG on cod. “GET FUCKED NERD”

It wasn’t in his torso, but in 2012 Cpl Winder Perez was fighting in Afghanistan when he was shot by an RPG without it detonating. The medical team risked their own lives to so save Perez, going against protocol & bringing/transporting live ordinance onto a chopper. Where they met Col. James Gennari & Sgt. Ben Summerfield & they carefully removed the RPG from Perez’s leg, saving his life.

As a retired Army EOD tech...it has happened a few times...a friend of mine removed an OG7 from a guy with a Navy Doc. Look it up...His name is Benjamin Summerfield.

« Don’t try this at home » Like we have an rpg-7 in our basement 💀

Man that 9mm is a hell of a caliber huh, blew out the lungs and everything!

An Army buddy took an RPG to the upper right shoulder and chest when he was in Viet Nam. His platoon leader reported him KIA as the rest of the squad evacuated under heavy fire and had to leave him. Later, when the recovery was made, they found him still alive.....He was in the hospital for 2 weeks before he woke up and was able to report who he was. (no dog tags were on him) - The Army had already notified his mother saying he had been killed in action. (His platoon leader had seen the RPG hit him and he saw the amount of blood, and in the heat of the battle, was not able to check him to verify his death, and assumed no one would be able to survive the wound, so he had reported him as KIA) - He said his mama was so excited when he called her that they were both crying like babies. It just was not his time....He went on to marry and have 2 kids, so you have to think God has a destiny for his kid(s), for him to be spared in that encounter. I was stationed in Germany with him in 1985 which is where I learned of it from him. He was going to retire about a month after my DEROS. I saw him only once after that. Him and his girlfriend (He had divorced from his wife) stopped at my house for a short visit on their way west from Kentucky for a vacation to Arizona. He has since passed away from cancer. SFC Harold Hines - RIP

If you have another £3500, it would be interesting to see what the backblast would do to a torso

“It’s got quadrails to be ✨tactical✨”

The movie was, basically, accurate. One of the KIA from that battle: Pfc. Richard Wayne Kowalewski Jr. (March 31, 1973 - October 3, 1993) was a U.S. Army Ranger who served in Mogadishu, Somalia. He was one of the 18 -casualties- (they mean KIA, casualties include WIA, and anyone unaccounted for after action) of The Battle of Mogadishu, and noted for being killed instantly when a round from a Rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) shot through the cabin of the 5 ton truck he was driving, which was part of the main ground convoy, severing his left arm and lodging into his torso.

I like how you put the launcher on safety even though there can only be one in the chamber and you previously sent it down the range

“Thank you for your service…💥” that was cold

Great to see Eli coming out for some rpg bullshittery and PTSD jokes, would love to see him come on the channel more often as a "involuntary target" xD

Another reason why it might not go off is due to it not having enough time & distance to fully arm between the time it was fired and when it impacts the target. This happened several times when I was in Afghanistan…the rocket was placed to close to the road and the rocket couldn’t fully arm and left the vehicle with a dent in its rim and a split open pissed off rocket on the ground nearby.

You know what would have made this even cooler? Getting ballistic high-speed to do a collab on this. They're breakdowns at 250,000 frames a second are amazing. #akgnotificationsquad

"Guys guys look its in his torso lets take out the VERY LIFE RPG-7 rocket" "that doesnt-" "DO IT" "ok?" (Oh thats why they didnt post for the past 4 years

If you have an SOT and an FEL you can absolutely have HE and shape charge warheads. You just keep the parts separate until you want to manufacture and subsequently destroy them. You only need to declare them to the ATF if they exist for an entire day. So if you put it together and then immediately launch it then there is nothing to declare, because you cant declare something that no longer exists.

Nice. As ex soldier of polish army, i know that feeling, i was shooting original russian RPG-7 (rgppanc-7 in polish army) with PGO-7 optic site in 2007. I remember first shot stunned me just like you. This rocket granate launcher is literally Kalash (or as you call them AKs) among granate launchers.

I think it was a bit of a missed opportunity not seeing how much damage the back-blast does to a ballistic dummy. I hope u could test it sometime in the future.

8:07 seems to be a very universal celebration for when someone connects with these things

4:57 As a Russian, I’m obliged to tell that the most probable reason would be the rocket not arming itself because of too short travel distance.

Brandon needs to contact the guys from Ordnance Lab and cook up a live one for further rocket science! 😂

“Don’t stand in front of an RPG” -Brandon Herrera Giving us life advice one video at a time.

3:13 the guy in the background with the drone. “My precious drone

This might have been an expensive video to make, but it sure was an awesome one. Hope you had fun!

As a Bulgarian myself, I can confidently say this dude is doing the equivalent of street racing in rush hour by trusting our tech XD

American blogger: I can't find the projectile from the RPG-7. Russian blogger: Today we will shoot or Javelin.

"That was really easy to shoot." You could say so easy... a child could do it.

This was sorta referenced in the video, but there's actually a viral photo out there of a soldier with an unexploded RPG in his leg. The guy I believe survived and the surgeon working on him who took it out said he was praying the whole time and thanks God that it didn't explode.

In the first Chechen war at the end of 90s, there was an occasion when a 40mm grenade from a gp25 hit a solider's head and stuck in his brain. A special surgical team managed to pull it off, handle to the sappers and save the solider's life. It's unknown how bad was a life for the guy afterwards, though

"Stains my cloths everytime and I still touch it" - brandon haha love brandon 😆

Brandon is always doing something different and adds knowledge behind it . Appreciated

As a licensed RU-vid commenter, I can say with confidence that yep the rpg sure messed up that ballistic torso.

As a combat veteran I have had a couple of RPGs fired at me and my battle buddies. Most of the time the enemy forgets to pull the pin on the grenade. We have had RPGs embedded in connexes, port a John’s and vehicles. Fun times Mosul, Iraq 🇮🇶 2004

I always assumed that the RPG missile would explode on contact with the human torso, it is so interesting to find out that it would go through you.

I’m glad he mentioned the movie Black Hawk Down. That movie had a few RPG kills. Like the soldier who drove a truck ( not a humvee ) and got impelled through the door and the side of his torso and stayed there without detonating. The other scene, was the RPG exploded and knocked a soldier of a flat bed truck with half of his body gone. The explosion blew off half of his body. Thank you Brandon for this video!

Crazy that it went through. My dad was EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) during Somalia, and he had to defuse an unexploded RPG round that was sticking out of a soldier's chest, before they could send the body to the casualty collection site. Maybe all the gear kept the RPG from going through his body, and instead getting lodged into the the chest cavity

I just want to make it clear; the fact that Brandon spent 3 decent monthly wages to get a good hit, is highly appreciated. The banter afterwards, was just *chef’s kiss* Fuck, do I love this channel!

That joke about not getting it in countries where women can show their ankles made me spit on my fucking phone laughing. Jesus Christ. 😂

10:25 saddest betrays in gaming history

When I was in Somalia in 93. A UN pickup was hit in the driver door by an rpg. The round never detonated. You could see the button from the nose imprinted into the door. The thing that was always odd to me where the shrapnel marks left around the impact site on the door. For 30 years I've thought about that mystery. I now know it was the stabilization fins. Thank you 30 year old puzzle salved. 1/22 Inf. Bat.

Does this make you a rocket scientist now ? I’m going to say yes since you did an experiment

Brandon is effectively firing my entire bank balance with every rocket. Worth it.

I love how he brought his RPG, just to say he can not currently fire it. 100% content goals

My uncle took a RPG to the abdomen while he was deployed, it didn't detonate but instead split him open. The pack on his back held him from completely opening up, and he made a full recovery. The scar he wears looks insane though, he is an amazing tough man and has a purple heart and other medals he took home as well @BrandonHerrera

Those of us that have been on the internet since the 90s know exactly what happens to the human body when hit with an RPG.

This has the same energy as garandethumb shooting a tank at a ballistic dummy. We need more brandon and gun markplier collabs

A $2-3k rocket vs a $2m+ vehicle/tank. Think of the savings

Thanks Not-Eli. Thankyou for your service. Brandon that was so much fun to watch. You guys were infectiously happy. Yes, expensive, but totally worth it. I appreciate your rocket science ❤ #akgnotificationsquad

I love Eli’s cameos. It’s always entertaining.

5:55 Eli was about to go over his purple heart story for the 756th time

Brandon sprinting toward me wielding an RPG keeps me awake at night

The scene from Black Hawk Down was inspired by the real life incident where one of the soldiers who died died from direct impact of an unexploded RPG. It's possible, based on the original report, that the impact was under the arming distance of the rocket which would be why it didn't explode on hitting the Humvee either, despite managing to penetrate it with sheer KE.

I'm seeing a lot of comments of people that served or friends that did and had encounters with these. I couldn't even imagine. Thank you all for your service.

This is what we’ve been waiting for.

Mean while in OUR counntry a guy recieved RPG HEAT projectile to the face through his palm, tryin to protect his bros. After receiving the ensuarence he bought a mustang. There is an interview on youtube in language Mr. Herera may know😉😉

My little sister has a distant cousin who actually took an RPG-7 rocket to the chest in one of those Afganistan wars, so there's evidence of what happens out there if you ask the right Norwegian Army person. and yes he was burried with a closed coffin, no idea if the warhead went off or not, but he was wearing body-armor at the time so chances are up there.