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Greatest Steel Bender In History


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Who do you think that is the greatest steel bender in history? (John Marx, Mighty Atom, Seigmund Breitbart, Terminator, John Brookfield, Alexander Zass, Charles Vansittart, etc)

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I think it depends on the feat. Long bars vs. short bars vs. medium bars. Endurance vs. max bend. Style also enters into it. The guys you listed are probably up there. Definitely Terminator and Brookfield. Don't recognize the other names.

The bending feat that stands out as the most impressive in my mind is when Greg Amidon and Dave Morton each bent 100 red nails in a single session. They've done some of the best feats in the world for max short steel as well.

Big Steve does some impressive long/medium bar bending on his DVD. As far as I know, it's some of the best in the world. He did a 5.5" FBBC 5/16" unbraced, Double Underhand, in a contest setting. I'd guess that's one of, if not the, best double underhand short bend ever.

There are others on this board who are also quite good and my be the best at their respective bending lengths. It's hard to make a clear pick for the best at the level these guys are at.

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my vote would be terminator for short bends and john brookfeild for scrolls. for long bends i'm not sure but the biggest chunk of steel i have seen bent on video, and also the largest horseshoe, was done by Stanless Steel. Dennis Rogers deserves an honorable mention as far as ''pond for pound'' feats go. the renches he mangles at his size is unreal.

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I would put Pat in there for horeshoes. I am not sure how big of a shoe Stanless did, but I have seen Pat bend some huge shoes befor.

Edited by nickr104
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I'd have to put a vote in for Don Larkin. People have exceeded his best bends by far, but he was doing unreal stuff before hardly anyone else knew what bending was.

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Steel bending is so different depending on who's doing it and what they are doing that it's hard to compare.

but...

You have to acknowledge Slim on the list of great steel benders. I have another friend named Tom Kelley that's very good.

-Erik

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Eric - you don't do a bad job yourself my friend !

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I HAVE TO GO WITH GREG AND DAVES 100 RED NAILS IN A ROW THAT FEAT MAY NEVER BE DUPLICATED I CANT FIND THE PIC OF GREGS HAND BUT ITS ON HERE SOMEWHERE :rock

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Wow this is a good question. http://www.naturalstrength.com/history/apollon.htm if you read some of these feats that Apollon did and if the steel was comparable to today's steel then this is amazing. I can't fathom anyone bending a 5" long piece of 5/8 inch steel. Also, FOUR six inch nails at once? Wow! However, did these guys use a different style of bending? The 'rules' of the gripboard (no bracing etc...) didn't apply back then. On the reverse side, if you allow the best guys on this board to brace the bends then how big can we go? The mighty atom also did some incredible short bends. I'd say to definately name the best short bender would be tough with all the variables and burden of proof.

Scrolling I'd have to say hands down John Brookfield. Hammerhead would have to be next to him.

For the long non-scrolling bends like 3 and 4 foot lengths (my personal favorites) of steel then I've been looking for that answer for a long time. Nobody seems to know what's the biggest size of steel that anyone's bent. Largest size ever mentioned is 3/4 inch at least that I've read. Maybe Brookfield in this catagory too?

If you average out all the catagorys I'd say that John Brookfield maybe is the best. He can do it all. If we could prove for sure all the tall tales then probably some of these old-timers like Atom or Apollon would win hands down. Kinda like saying who'd win between Jack Dempsey and Mike tyson. I also like big Steve McGranahan. He's good at all of the bending too. All in all from what I've seen though....Brookfield.

Tim

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Eric - you don't do a bad job yourself my friend !

just what I was thinking there Chris...Eric your scrolls are second to none that I have seen bro...those at the GGC were totally awesome!!! I envy the guys that got to take them home for free..I doubt I will ever be winning one myself...those where kick ass...and I liked the bends you done after the contest...too cool man

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TERMINATOR Hands down. The man warmed up on a piece of stock no one had ever bent, and then bent another piece that no one has ever bent!

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Terminator all the way!

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Short bending and horseshoes you'd be hard pressed to beat "The Human Vise".

I have a horseshoe he bent that Superman wouldn't be able to bend!

-HH

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On June 2, the night before the AOBS dinner, Slim spoke well of some aspects of Stanless Steel. There was a very thick piece of steel that Stanley had made a kink in that Slim apparently thought was impossible to bend, but he did.

No, he is not the best, but he has done some things that no one else has done. Because neither Stan nor his significant other own a computer, you won't ever see anything here. Internet photos of him are rare as well.

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I happen to live about 2 minutes from Stan. Unfortunately, I've never had the privelege to watch him work. Around here his reputation is well known both as a strongman and a real nice guy.

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Now my interest is peaked. What size has Stanley bent? Anyone know more about this?

Tim

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My vote goes to Pat P.

Anybody who does what he does to big horseshoes and can bend 4.5"x5/16" steel (among many other things) has got to be one of the best (if not THE best) at bending.

I'm not so sure about the mountain lion traps, though.... :tongue

Justin Reagan

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I have to put a vote in for Pat I've seen him bend stuff that nobody yet has I have a shoe he did that has enough steel in it you could build a honda :blink .

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This is my first post, so here goes my top 3 in their respective fields:

For short bending, there's a reason there's only one "insane bastard"--I am blessed to have several pieces of drill rod and some huge nasty horseshoes that Pat bent as if they were coat hangers...he gets my vote hands down. I think the only steel he hasn't bent yet is what's in his back, probably only because he can't get his hands on it :D ...but based on the size of the stones he lifts compared to his bodyweight, that steel rod might be going down too. Really nice guy too.

For braced bending, I'd have to go with Dennis Rogers. I have a shelf full of stuff he mangled, most of which I was fortunate enough to be standing there when he bent them. I've held the "S" wrench in my hand, the Holy Grail of braced bending in my book, and I ain't got the words...didn't have 'em that day, ain't got 'em now. Seeing Dennis and Pat perform on dvd is one thing; see them in person is a totally different ball game--supernatural in a word. Especially when you consider their bodyweight compared to the feats they do :bow Dennis is a better person than he is a strongman, and he's the bomb diggity as a strongman....super nice guy.

For scrolling, Erik Vinning gets my vote. I have a 5/8 bar here beside my computer that he scrolled for me that boggles the mind. I've seen some of the stuff at his house and I'm still shaking my head. Nice guy # 3. (Finally got my grinder Erik and I'm ready to start.)

All three of these gentlemen are very humble and class acts to boot. "Good eggs" as my grandmother used to say when she thought highly of someone--she was irish so it was a short list. there are alot of other guys that I am in awe of on this board with the feats they do, but if I had to pick only one guy in each category, I'd go with those 3.

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This is my first post, so here goes my top 3 in their respective fields:

For short bending, there's a reason there's only one "insane bastard"--I am blessed to have several pieces of drill rod and some huge nasty horseshoes that Pat bent as if they were coat hangers...he gets my vote............................................... nice guy too.

For braced bending, I'd have to go with Dennis Rogers. I have a shelf full of stuff.................................................................... a strongman....super nice guy.

For scrolling, Erik Vinning gets my vote. I have a 5/8 bar here ......................................... and I'm ready to start.)

All three of these gentlemen are very humble ............................................................ go with those 3.

An excellent first post. Welcome.

Hubgeezer

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  • 8 months later...

Sometime : Михаил ”Король Подков” Кучкин and John Grun Marx

Now :Steve McGranahan

and

Dmitriy Haladzhi - Дмитрий Халаджи (Дмитро Халаджі)

http://haladjy.boom.ru/foto/foto.htm

http://ura-inform.com/ru/society/2006/09/22/silach/

broke horseshoes: http://ura-inform.com/img/newses/014(500x500)%5B65633%5D.jpg

and : http://ura-inform.com/img/newses/013(500x500)%5B65633%5D.jpg

Edited by pawel r
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