These things are way more efficient. Just put it on your car keyring and it’s always there ready.
Very cool. I’ve always wondered if we could design one in the shape of a ring.
A spring loaded “centre punch” tool will also break any domestic car window and do it relatively quietly.
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Firemen all carry an automatic center punch specifically for that purpose. It not only shatters the window, it does it without splattering broken glass all over the occupant.
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Or since they already had the rubber mallet, a common household nail.
Is this really a problem in need of solving? Are there that many people needing to get into their car so badly that they would break the freakin window?
Also, do you have to gap the spark plug first?
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I can attest that this is somewhat true. I’ve tried hitting a side window with a metal hammer several times without the window breaking. Not sure why they used a rubber mallet for the video, because it just makes it look “faker”.
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You obviously don’t know who Brian Brushwood is and that he’s a stage magician by trade. He’s actually that enthusiastic.
@SteampunkBanana They make keyring versions of those things.
@euansmith aww, I thought it was gonna end like The Wire :
I 
The Wire.
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I’d been told this worked by folks that stole car radios back when I was a young knucklehead. I never stole radios, though.
my question is: wtf does this have to do with National Geographic?
my question is: wtf does this have to do with National Geographic?
The video is hosted on the National Geographic youtube channel, it is watermarked with their website and logo, and it was filmed on their behalf to promote their new show entitled Hacking The System.
Curious about anything else? 
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okay… what does hacking have to do with NatGeo? ┐(´∀｀)┌
Man… what? Have you ever read or seen National Geographic. The topics they cover aren’t just animals and trees. Well, they are if you include humans in the animal category (which I do).
y-yes. guess I missed all the shows that are about breaking into cars 
National Geographic is a scientific and educational institution. They produce programming of countless varieties, with the one unifying aspect being that they all attempt to be at least moderately educational.
Given the growing acceptance of Hacker and Maker culture, doing a special on the concept of Hacking - of using and manipulating things in ways that were never intended - is right up their alley.
okay 
I’m not sure how much those would do to auto glass, since they were saying it was the sharp edges that allowed it to break the glass.
I have a nice pair of folding medical shears too. They have a tungsten carbide tip on one end for the same purpose. The secret to avoiding showering the occupant with glass fragments is to direct your blow into a corner of the window so it crazes without being driven into the passenger compartment, then tapping it out gently so it falls vertically.
Okay, that makes sense.
The funny thing is, when I was a kid I saw somebody do this same thing but with an intact spark plug: just throw it through the window, sharp (i.e. sparking) side first, and the metal tip will easily puncture the window.
The worker at the body shop that replaced my side window after my car was broken into said that these were called “ninja rocks” on the street. According to him they often tie a broken piece of spark plug to a string and whirl it around before smashing the windows. It doesn’t set off the car alarm so they help themselves to anything they can reach. Of course if they get greedy and open a door the alarm will go off.
agreed, not a hack. more of a crack, really.
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