Revealing mistake: When Jamie sits down after rappelling down the canyon wall you can see that he has climbing rope attached to his harness. It's wrapped in duct tape to look like its the rope he and Adam made of duct tape. This may just be a safety line to support his weight if he duct tape rope snaps, but the Mythbusters usually point out any backup safety systems and explain that they are there for caution and don't contribute to the test. (This was explained in the aftershow. It was a safety line required by the shows insurers).
MythBusters (2003)
Episode list - season 11
Starring: Adam Savage, Jamie Hyneman, Kari Byron, Robert Lee
Genres: Documentary, Mystery
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Question: When the Myth Busters were testing whether higher ground does give you a huge advantage in sword fighting. Adam and Jamie do the sword fighting themselves, then they ask a sword fighting expert to train them. Why didn't they ask skilled sword fighters to do the fighting instead? It would have been much to easier to determine whether higher ground gives you an advantage by asking experts to do the fighting. Did it actually make sense to ask an expert train them instead of asking experts to do the fighting? If so why?
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Answer: Much of the show Adam and Jamie would do various tests themselves to see how much of an advantage something has. The idea being Jamie and Adam are not relying on skill but the advantage they are testing. Even though they do get some training, both their skill levels are essentially at 0. Plus, doing it themselves allows them the chance to talk about the experience. While the experts could have done the tests and discussed the results, some may wonder if the 2 experts were evenly matched to begin with.
Bishop73