A popular YouTuber and weapons expert was seriously injured after an RPG exploded while he was testing it for a YouTube video.
Adam Knowles, of the Ballistic High-Speed YouTube channel, suffered third-degree burns, a broken jaw, a fractured skull, body shrapnel and long-term nerve damage as a result of the accident, according to a Fund the First page set up for the Army veteran.
Knowles also suffered a traumatic brain injury and a brain bleed as a result of the skull fracture, he told viewers in a 26-minute YouTube video recapping the incident.
Adam from Ballistic High Speed was injured following a catastrophic RPG failure as seen here.
Injuries sustained:
Third degree burns on about 10% of his upper body broken jaw
fractured skull
face and chest lacerations
several pieces of shrapnel in his body
long term nerve… pic.twitter.com/ZiaYgTVJVo— Mrgunsngear (@Mrgunsngear) December 17, 2023
“We were studying the effects of back blasts from RPGs because they are extremely dangerous… I remember counting down to one and then next thing I knew I was on the ground and my arms were entirely black,” Knowles explained in his YouTube video.
“The rocket launcher basically exploded,” Knowles noted.
He was airlifted by helicopter to the hospital where he was treated for his multiple injuries and given skin grafts for his burns, per the Ballistic High-Speed YouTube channel. (RELATED: Joe Biden Recommends Buying A Bazooka To Defend Yourself From The Government)
The YouTubers noted that the accident could have resulted from the launcher’s reactivated nature, meaning its booster had been welded. “What basically happened here was the beginning part of the booster failed, which cascaded into the rest of the booster. A properly reactivated, high-quality launcher should still be able to handle that, however, there is now the chance that if part of the booster detaches from the rocket as it is moving out of the front of the launcher, it can then butt up against, and even seal the Venturi part of the tube,” Bryce Fritzel from Ballistic High-Speed explained.
“What that means is there is no longer anywhere for a lot of that pressure to go, and it all builds up at once, causing an immense amount of pressure, and the first place for that pressure to vent was the weld points. That caused it to vent downward and into Adam’s arm, his chest, basically all over his upper body,” Fritzel concluded.