# Could I cut off my own head? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 13, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994 "2014-07-13T14:45:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/1 "2014-07-13T14:45:11Z")
Suppose I had a very sharp sword or some other kind of edged weapon; the limitation is it must be a simple edged weapon, no engine or machine, not attached to anything except my own hands. Could I swing it ay my own neck with sufficient force to decapitate myself? (Don’t need answer fast.) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/2 "2014-07-13T15:34:58Z")
No. It would take quite a bit of practice to swing it in a way that would cut off comebody else’s head. Have you ever tried to cut the head off a chicken? Or even a drumstick from a broiled one? If your knife doesn’t hit the sweet spot right into the joint betrween the bones, it’s hard to get through. You’re talking about swinging a heavy instrument with sufficient force against something very close to your shoulders, hard enough to penetrate with a single swipe a human neck bone, or score a lucky hit right between two bones, not even counting all the industrial-strength cartilage in there. Here’s a test. Stand right up against a vertical support bean, and hit the beam with a baseball bat, neck high. See how much force you can generate. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/3 "2014-07-13T16:03:47Z")
Actually I’m going for technically possible, as long as you’re allowed to spin the weapon many times not just a single swing. Imagine you have a heavy, semi-circular blade on a long rope. You spin your body round and round in a circle (like the hammer throw event) until the blade is moving with enough force to decapitate _someone_. Now you’ve got to direct that force at your own neck; which is at the center of the circle. That’s the hard part. I guess if you have a nearby lampost with some skill you could wrap the rope around to do the job. You might need a few practices to get it right and the first few times you might hilariously take your scalp off or open your chest up. If that’s outside the terms of the OP, then I still reckon it’s physically possible but I’m not aware of an existing device that would let you generate momentum in this fashion then direct it at yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/4 "2014-07-13T16:17:53Z")
This seems like one of those things where the Mythbusters would do one test and deem it impossible, but in all likelihood, under the right circumstances, it’s probably is actually possible. The right circumstances being some combination of freak coincidence and/or someone with a lot of strength. So, think, a body builder, swinging a really sharp sword around (not trying to kill himself) and it slips out of his sweaty hand and shifts positions and comes down towards him and hits him just right. I have to assume, in all the time that humans have had edged weapons, someone, somewhere has managed to take their own head off. There’s been too many people with too many swords for it not to have happened, even under the constraints of the OP. Another option would be to set the sword across something and fall on it. Let the weight of your body do the work. But that might be cheating. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/5 "2014-07-13T16:29:15Z")
You can build a guillotine: > **[Guillotine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine)** > > A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with a pillory at the bottom of the frame, holding the position of the neck directly below the blade. The blade is then released, swiftly and forcefully decapitating the victim with a single, clean pass; the head falls into a basket or other receptacle below. > The guillotin... ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/6 "2014-07-13T19:11:19Z")
It can probably be done, but it’s difficult to practice something like that. You’d probably give up after the first unsuccessful attempt, most likely because you’d die with your head still mostly attached. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/7 "2014-07-13T19:32:54Z")
How about making a very heavy blade, bench-pressing it above you, and then dropping it? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/8 "2014-07-13T20:28:23Z")
Or a blade with a long, extended handle on either end. You hold it up to your neck and run between two pillars that are just far enough apart for you to pass, but narrow enough for the extended parts of the handles to hit the pillar and stop. The momentum of your body does the rest. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/9 "2014-07-13T20:39:58Z")
So I’m thinking a large (running) bandsaw; if you threw your neck (and the rest of your body) towards it, your momentum would carry your neck right through the sawblade. Plausible? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/10 "2014-07-13T20:40:04Z")
If the bench press does not count, then the blade on a rope can’t use the lamp post. If the soon to be dead guy has to stand and can only use what his two hands can lift and it has to actually cut off his head, then it might be done but would take someone with such ability, strength and determination that he most likely be one that would never be a suicide. I vote: Somewhere in the world at sometime that could have done it on purpose. I also do not think this form o suicide has ever been done. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/11 "2014-07-13T21:13:06Z")
What if you hold an axe blade against your neck, then fall forward? Maybe if you stand on a chair? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/12 "2014-07-13T21:34:58Z")
Maybe. There are historical cases where people may have done it. [Cutting Off One’s Head: Self-Decapitations of the Past](http://hauntedohiobooks.com/news/cutting-off-ones-head-self-decapitation-suicides/) From the linked blog: > [@](#): > > Dr Harvey Smith, a wealthy physician, of Blanchester, Ohio, recently warned his family that he was losing his mind. While walking with his wife a few days later he drew an amputating-knife from his pocket and, like a flash, beheaded himself. Sacramento [CA] Daily Record-Union 11 November 1882: p. 1 Also: > [@](#): > > It is not easy to cut off one’s own head without mechanical assistance, although there was much loose talk in the press about people “cutting their own heads off,” when in reality, they had “merely” managed to “nearly” do it, cutting their throats from ear to ear–in itself no mean feat. Although there were a few accomplished souls reported to have decapitated themselves with razors (the most notable, a determined butcher) \ No more detail is given on who this determined butcher was and my Google searches are turning up naught. **Scarlett67** linked to [this Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marty_Bergen_%28baseball%29#Death) in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=561028) (Could you chop off your own head? - 4/2010) where the Boston Beaneaters catcher (Beaneaters!) Marty Bergen came close to decapitating himself with a straight razor. I swear I have read accounts of people doing it that were verified, but I can’t find any now… ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/13 "2014-07-13T22:04:04Z")
I’m feeling a little Yoga Berraish on this thread: as in haven’t you asked this question before? It definitely seems like déjà vu all over again to me. Ah, [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=561028) we go. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/14 "2014-07-13T22:24:19Z")
Ah, so this thread is like a decapitated quasi-zombie? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/15 "2014-07-13T22:26:04Z")
What about this [guy](http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1996-07.html)? 😉 (Although whether the story can be verified remains to be seen) ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/16 "2014-07-13T23:57:08Z")
How about a large, triangular shaped blade, with the width at the hilt wider than your neck? Such that you could drive the point of it under your throat, and with a lot of force (perhaps throwing your body weight against it while it was propped against the wall), force the blade into your neck. By the time your head reached the hilts, your head would be off? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/17 "2014-07-14T01:30:37Z")
Could you do it with a sharp-edged boomerang? ETA: The consensus on Yahoo Answers is that [you cannot](https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070805141553AAyf4uc) (except for one dude who says it’s happened to him several times), but you could injure yourself quite severely. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/18 "2014-07-14T01:52:30Z")
Get your draw knife ([Drawknife - Wikipedia](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drawknife)) very very sharp. Hold it behind your head and slice quickly forward. This way you’re bringing your arms down in a more or less natural chopping motion. Also you’re hitting the bone first so you might have a tiny chance of making it through the hardest part before you collapse. Or use a lightsabre. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/19 "2014-07-14T02:19:28Z")
Now that I read the older thread on this topic, I see someone else also suggested the draw knife method. I say it’s worth a shot. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994/20 "2014-07-14T02:22:20Z")
To be fair to rickjay, first he asked if “you” (the reader) could chop off your own head if you wanted to. Now he’s asking if he could if he wanted to. Totally different question! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-cut-off-my-own-head/692994.md?page=2)