Article on quarter tearer

[Guest TDOGRPAGE]

I thought this was impossible.  An urband legend if you will in the grip strength world.  I don't believe it myself, but here is a link to someone that can supposedly tear quarters in half.

http://www.ardmoreite.com/stories/062601/new_ripping.shtml

[Tom Black]

Seems fishy too me.  Stanless Steel can bend a penny, 3crusher has seen him do so, and I have spoke to Stanless on the phone about it.  Stanless is huge and really strong and yet it takes him a long time (I think over 5 minutes) just to put a little bend in the penny.  I think he said 20 minutes to bend it all the way.  Not bending quarters myself it’s hard to analyze the end result, but he “rip” looks very clean.  I would expect that he would have to bend it back and forth, this might result in the whole quarter being broken completely in half and not as shown in the picture.  The remaining part of the quarter does not look mangled at all.

  One thing I’m certain that the story is inaccurate on is the horseshoe bending.  The statement “His feats of strength, which also include bending horseshoes open” is an inaccurate way to describe how a horseshoe looks after bending.  For example, the horseshoes bent by the Mighty Atom are not “open,” one end is bent in the opposite direction from which it was originally pointed.  This may be just the fault of the writer of the article in describing the feat.

[Guest 68-1005097157]

I don't know if this is a joke, but I'll go on record as saying that I think it is preposterous.  I would wager substantial money at highly disadvantageous odds that were I to present this man with a quarter from my wallet, about the most he'd be able to do with it would be to talk long-distance for around 2 1/2 minutes.

  MacMahon: "Coin-bending in the strongman field is like perpetual motion in the invention field, too much time shouldn't be wasted on it."  Brookfield: "So, next time someone comes up to you and tells you of a past expereince he had seeing a person breaking coins with his fingers, you can either politely smile and nod, or you can ask them if they believe in vampires too."  

  True, as Tom points out, Stanless Steel did put a dent in a penny (in front of witnesses), and that is extremely impressive.  But to actually tear, not bend and break, but tear, a quarter (not a penny, but a quarter) is blatantly not possible.  Either the article is a joke, or the man is using some sort of trick, e.g., performing a sleight-of-hand or using previously modified quarters.

[Guest kINGPIN]

As Tom said, the rip looks just a little too clean to me.  To bend a coin YES, to snap it YES, to tear it.......NO!  Skin just does not have enough grip to hold onto something as smooth and small as a coin and rip it.

DISCLAMER

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Please note that the writting above are opinions of the author i.e kINGPIN and if he were to be wrong he would not be liable for legal action but he will be eating all of his words.  

[Guest kINGPIN]

As Tom said, the rip looks just a little too clean to me.  To bend a coin YES, to snap it YES, to tear it.......NO!  Skin just does not have enough grip to hold onto something as smooth and small as a coin and rip it.

DISCLAMER

------------

Please note that the writting above are opinions of the author i.e kINGPIN and if he were to be wrong he would not be liable for legal action but he will be eating all of his words.  

[Roark]

Tearing a quarter sounds like a two-bit stunt.

[supersqueeze]

I have personally met Pat Ratliff (the guarter bender). A couple years ago a radio station here in San Diego had him over for a freak show they promote. The story I have about him is very long and, I think, intertaining.

He did bend and tear several quarters the evening of the freak show. First up on stage and later while mobed by the audience. He would bend them back and forth flapping his elbows like a bird. He has big hands and thick bone structure. I positioned myself to watch every single tear up close...but not close enough to completely satisfy myself that he was on the level. I had a marked quarter in my pocket I wanted him to tear for me but I was not assertive enough to force myself to over others who were speaking with him.

I went home still wondering, totally amazed by what I had seen. I got into a big fight with my girlfriend because all I could do was sit and stare and wonder. I actually felt nausiated because I was going to have to spend the rest of my life unsure about the possibility of what I had seen. I did not sleep a single minute that night.

The next morning at about 5:00 my girlfriend was still mad at me because I had spent the night on the couch staring at the ceiling. She got on the phone to the radio station that hosted Pats trip and learned that he would be in for a final interview that morning before flying back to Oklahoma. She told them that I had been at the freak show to see Pat and that I was deeply troubled with disbief. The radio show invited me down to meet Pat.

I grabbed the marked quarter, got dressed and drove down to the station (not a short drive). Anyway, I got there, managed to get in (no small feat as it required climbing a fence and letting myself in through the only unlocked door I could find) and wandered through dark, empty hallways until I found the actual studio where the radio morning show was going on. Pat was not there yet but due to arrive at any minute.

He came in with his wife and they both went directly into the sound room for the interview. I waited with some other technical guys on the room next door. They were glass-walled rooms so we could watch the interview. When the interview was over he went into the hall and I went out and met him there. We talked for about 15-20 minutes before I asked him to please bend/tear a quarter for me. He told me that he didn't want to because he had done too many the night before and his hands hurt like ####. I persisted and he relented. I gave him my marked quarter and watched VERY closely. He tore it and returned it to me in two pieces. He appologised for tearing it all the way instead of leaving the last eigth inch intact as he likes to do.

I looked at the two halfs in my hand and knew instantly that he had somehow managed to SWITCH quarters without my seeing him. That's right, the old quick slight of hand trick. He had somehow switched my quarter for a pre-weakened one which he subsequently bent and broke in front of me.

The radio DJs then interviewed ME about what I had seen and how I felt about it. I liked Pat. He is a good natured farmer who is having fun tricking a bunch of city folks. I played like he was on the level and that I was totally amazed by what Pat could do. I did not let on that I knew Pat was tricking people.

The reason I went down there to see Pat was to satisfy myself about whether or not Pat could tear quarters. I did not go down to the radio show to publically expose him if it proved to be a trick. I left fully satisfied and I still have the two quarter halves.

-Mike M.

[Roark]

Supersqueeze,

Wonderful story, and thank you for posting it!

Men such as this man are frauds and are seeking

fame for non-achievement; it borders on the criminal,

in my opinion. Similar to a 'doctored' #4 gripper being

closed by someone who cannot actually do a #3.

Perhaps he should be drawn and quartered?

[Guest Askalas]

Definately a good story.  I was facinated about coin bending/tearing before I read The Mastery of Hand Strength and now it does seem a bit perposterous.  I almost tried breaking a quarter using two pliers just to see how hard it is. Instead I searched the couch for some more change and bought a cheeseburger for the protein    Maybe I'll try it later when I diet down some.

[Sybersnott]

They say the folks down in Texas can spin some mighty big yarns.  This might be the BIGGEST I've ever read.  This guy is certainly entertaining - as for feats of grip strength.... HE IS A BIG FAT FAKE.  I have heard of some of the greatest gripmasters in the world..... I have NEVER heard about this guy!  Why?  Cuz he's a silly fake, that's why!  That quarter he is holding is CUT, not ripped as he claims.  And all those stories he tells..... oh man, well that's what you get when you interview a REAL Texan.  Tall tales.    

And the kicker was when he said he got his tremendous gripping powers from "milking cows"!  That's not all he's milking!   :p

[Guest 68-1005097157]

Supersqueeze,

  I found your story quite entertaining.  I assume the reason you knew he had done sleight-of-hand was that the torn quarter he presented you did not have the same mark?  I have to agree with Roark, however.  Charlatans like that are disgraceful; he has obviously exploited the ignorance of the public on many occasions.  People like him give a bad name to strongmen and perpetuate the (frequently justified) belief that what they are doing is not real.  I definitely would have exposed this quack on radio, and would have taken no little pleasure in doing so.  But regardless, great story.

[Tom Black]

Roark,

You mentioned that this "borders on the criminal" and you are right.  From the article:

       "They flew me out to Las Vegas once, and the odds went six to one against me. A lot of people lost their money that day," Pat said.

         I would think that gambling fraud is illegal, not everything goes in Vegas.  Since he knew he could fake it I would assume that he put a lot down on himself, maybe a couple of thousand, at 6 to 1 against the money piles up fast.

         As a legitimate steel bender this may bother me more than most.  I had someone ask me about coin bending once and he was disappointed when I said I could not do it, and that it was almost an impossible feat.  If someone really believes that a quarter can be bent or ripped, then by comparison to bending a 60-penny nail, they would think less of the nail bend.  The fakers out there lessen the credibility of real feats in the general public's mind.  For me it is inspirational to think that a man (John Brookfield) can actually bend 5/16"x6" cold-rolled steel.  If someone who doesn't understand that the quarter tear is fake unwittingly compared the two feats they would think the quarter tear by an 80-year-old man was more significant and impressive.  John Brookfield would be a distant second.

     I spoke to someone who used to bend some significant steel once.  He said something to the effect that very few people could really understand the dedication and toil that it takes to bend steel.  Sometimes steel bending is all about withstanding pain. He said it is an elite club because of this.  Also, Slim Farman alluded to the fact that he specialized in the Sledgehammer feat because it was real weight.  Anyone who tests his hammers would realize the difficulty of the feat, and it's a lot harder to switch hammers compared to quarters.  It is obvious that he doesn't need to switch hammers just by looking at his hands, which are surreally strong looking.

[Roark]

Some of the oldtimers used to cheat at bending coins

by wearing gloves which contained pieces of metal

into which the two sides of the coin could be fit for,

of course, greater leverage. It was our version of the

modern bench press shirt: if you cannot switch the

implement, then switch to the glove/shirt with which it

can be conquered.

It would be interesting if someone tested a quarter to see

exactly how much pressure is required to bend/break it.

Then compare that to a piece of steel for comparative

requirements.

Gotta run wash my gloves...

[Guest woody36]

I'd have to agree About the tolerance to pain,especialy

with trying to bend something as small as a coin.

And as for tearing one in half? it's hard to imagine even

if one half was held in a vice!

 

"Three coins in a Fountain......"

[Roark]

Woody36,

Speaking of a vise: John Brookfield sent some

items he had bent and broken to me (some years

ago). One piece was a 1/4"  cold chisel.

So I got a 1/4" cold chisel, planted one end into a vise,

turned it down tight, then wadded up a heavy cloth and pushed with everything I had against the 75% that

was sticking up out of the vise. I weighed about

220 at the time.

Removed the chisel from the vise, and I am just so

'proud' to say that it was still store straight, just like

it came off the shelf.

Brookfield has a level of hand/finger strength that is simply

frightening to contemplate.

[mannek]

i saw i program about two years ago which featured a strongman from either Canada or the USA(sorry i can't be more specific) , any way he was massive and doing all kinds of strength feats such as ripping license plates, driving spikes through planks of wood etc but i remember being most impressed when he proceeded to bend a small coin. he was really struggling and grunting and going bright red in the face(looked like he was about to pass out), after a minute or so he dropped the coin on the table and it had only the slightest bend in it. that seemed to piss him off and he picked it up again and went through another gruelling minute or so, this time when he put it on the table it was bent only slightly more, he seemed satisfied and went off to show the interviewer something else.

wish i could remember his name

[supersqueeze]

Some additional information and thoughts about my meeting Pat the quarter bender.

a) my marked quarter was a brand new Georgia version with a big peach on the back...and an "M" scratched next to it by me. Easy to recognize at a glance. The one I got back is an old, beat-up 1994 eagle-back.

b) Looking closely at the two halves you can easily see markings from the weakening process. It looks like it was gripped with a device leaving marks just along the line of the break. It is hard to explain how it looks, but it has marks that clearly indicate it has been weakened.

c) The quarter has not been cut. It has been previously weakened so that it can be finished by hand. It is definately a break - just not by hand alone.

d) Pat is indeed a fake. A very likeable fellow, but a fake.

- Mike M.

[Guest woody36]

Joe, silly question.

       1/4",is that width or depth of the steel?

 Best Regards

  Ray.

[Bearcat 74]

Well guys, I just tried this.  I took a pair of slip joint pliers, and a POS set of needle nose pliers.  I tore 2 quarters, and neither was too easy even with pliers!  I also tore some pennies.  I can see someone VERY strong putting a dent in a penny with their hands.  If I ever see someone tear a new quarter with their hands, I will moniter all phone booths and be looking for a man with a big red S on his chest!

[Guest todd_xxxx]

Anyone that enjoys cockfighting as a pastime is a total ass anyway.

[underdawg]

mannek,

you may be thinking of stanless steel, who i believe was mentioned earlier in this thread.  i saw a small piece on tv not long ago where he bent a penny, drove a spike through a board that had a license plate on top of it, and held a full size ford truck back by bracing his feet against a giant log and holding onto a rope.

[mannek]

thanks Underdawg! sounds like him

[Roark]

Woody36,

The cold chisel is  bent into the form of the

letter 'V'. It is a 5/16" cold chisel (not as my

wonderful memory stated as 1/4"). It is stamped A2 5/16".

The length unbent would appear to have been-

best I can measure, 4-5/8" or 4-3/4".

The inside distance of the opening between the points

of the 'V' is 1-7/16", just under 1.5".

The body of the chisel is six-sided and appears to be

(best my eyes can tell is) 1/4" wide flat to opposing flat,

or 5/16" from one of the six points to its opposite.

Brookfield told me that either a cold chisel will snap

clean in two pieces, or will bend into a 'V', and you never

know until you do it. There is a third option which

I have discovered: it can remain perfectly straight.

[Guest TDOGRPAGE]

I agree with everyone here that it is impossible.  A couple of things that I have noticed and you will notice if you view the video clip below, is #1, every time I see this guy, he is wearing a long-sleeve shirt, that the quarter is always completly covered in his large hands while he is doing it, and three he tears it QUICK, quicker than I can with a pair of pliers.  Anyway, here is a video I found of him doing it, judge for yourself.  I 100% agree that he is a fake, if he was legit, he would be a legend in the grip strengh world and everyone would know about him.

http://www.san.rr.com/kfmb/2000/04/freak_s...t_ratliffrr.asx

You need windows media player and a fairly quick connection to view it.

[Tom Black]

I believe Mike Roy is Canadian, but I don't remember any mention of him bending coins.  Something I've been meaning to mention is that I saw Stanless on "Curious World" on the Travel Channel.  If you happen to be watching Curious World and there's a guy inside a big plastic ball get your VCR's ready because after that they have Stanless.

Thanks for the dimensions and letter designation of that chisel Roark, I'm going to look for one this weekend.  I wondered with your first post why the chisel didn't break, my experience with the file taught me that strong but brittle steel will break.  Glad to see that John Brookfield discovered the same thing.

TDOGRPAGE, The fact that someone thought enough to make a video of this faked feat makes it even more annoying.  I am seriously thinking of e-mailing the guy who wrote the article, maybe he would enjoy exposing this fraud.