# How long would it take to design/build "King Kong" sized restraints? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 30, 2003, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-design-build-king-kong-sized-restraints/204658 "2003-09-30T08:12:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-design-build-king-kong-sized-restraints/204658/1 "2003-09-30T08:12:41Z")
OK, according to some of Willis O’Briens notes, let’s assume that King Kong is… > [@](#): > > Height: 19 feet, 8 inches. > Weight: 38 tons > Reach: 27 feet. Of course, for the remake, he was shown as being about _twice_ that large. But anyway… With that in mind, how long would it take to design and build proper restraints for a King Kong-sized monster? We’d need some sort of “cell” to keep him in, of course. But we’d also need giant-sized manacles and shackles to lock him in, so he could be paraded in chains for our own amusement. And then we’d need some means of transporting him from one place to another. And, of course, this all has the added requirment that Kong must be kept _alive_ through all of this. We’ll sell monkey stew to the army when the novelty wears off, but _not an instant before,_ dagnabit! And how big could the monster get before keeping, transporting, and chain-parading him would just be beyond resonable human means? Would the “40 feet tall” Kong of the remake be too large, or could we mere humans safely restrain creatures even _larger_? ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-design-build-king-kong-sized-restraints/204658/2 "2003-09-30T08:15:03Z")
Do we have to account for dramatic effect here? I’m thinking that in practical terms it could be done in a very short time, but a movie where the critter is caught and caged and then DOESN’T break out and wreak havoc is going to be pretty boring. ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-design-build-king-kong-sized-restraints/204658/3 "2003-09-30T08:48:07Z")
Duct tape. Approximately 1,000 rolls, give or take an order of magnitude. Just don’t be the one who rips the tape off Mr Kong. ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-design-build-king-kong-sized-restraints/204658/4 "2003-09-30T11:11:21Z")
I read the title as “How long would it take to design/build “King Kong” sized **restaurants**?” Left me wondering who else besides King Kong we were supposed to feed. Is he gonna eat pie with the Amazing Colossal Man, or what? ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-design-build-king-kong-sized-restraints/204658/5 "2003-09-30T11:31:38Z")
He seems awful…dense. 38 tons and only 19 feet tall? A large Tyrannosaurus Rex was about that height and would have weighed around 10 tons. I know a gorilla is more heavily built than a tyrannosaur, but nearly 4 times as much? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-design-build-king-kong-sized-restraints/204658/6 "2003-09-30T11:46:20Z")
As for a cage, dig a pit, & grill the top. BTW— Just _what kind of problems do you have_ in that neighborhood of yours, **Ranchoth**? Is crime _that bad_? ---
**Author:** ![Bongmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bongmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bongmaster)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-design-build-king-kong-sized-restraints/204658/7 "2003-09-30T16:11:04Z")
I’d say go for the dramatic effect here and make 2 sets, one for him to break in a rage and the other to (hopefully) keep him in place. Use the breakable pair at the worst possible moment to keep things interesting. ---
**Author:** ![culture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/958977/32.png) [@culture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/culture)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-design-build-king-kong-sized-restraints/204658/8 "2003-09-30T17:42:37Z")
Our structural engineering firm could whip out 100% construction documents for a cage and restraints in about five days, at a cost of about $10,000. ---
**Author:** ![Nangleator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e19adc/32.png) [@Nangleator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nangleator)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-design-build-king-kong-sized-restraints/204658/9 "2003-09-30T18:43:26Z")
**Bongmaster** said, > [@](#): > > …make 2 sets, one for him to break in a rage and the other to (hopefully) keep him in place. The second set could simply be a normal, leg-sized manacle tightened about a very sensitive area. You’d hear: “Rrowr!!” _CHANG_ _CLASH_ _SPLINTER_ _-tug-_ “Oooof!” _whimper_kj ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-design-build-king-kong-sized-restraints/204658/10 "2003-09-30T19:43:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SanibelMan \* > \*\*Left me wondering who else besides King Kong we were supposed to feed. Is he gonna eat pie with the Amazing Colossal Man, or what? \*\* More importantly, where does a 76,000 pound gorilla sit when he goes to a restaurant? Daniel ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-design-build-king-kong-sized-restraints/204658/11 "2003-09-30T19:57:19Z")
Great question. How about transporting him on one of those “wide load” construction trucks, chained down on his back? ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-design-build-king-kong-sized-restraints/204658/12 "2003-09-30T20:06:18Z")
Anywhere he wants. ---
**Author:** ![sultana\_of\_slash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@sultana\_of\_slash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sultana_of_slash)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-design-build-king-kong-sized-restraints/204658/13 "2003-09-30T21:41:09Z")
Anyone care to mention the 1920s style d-(mmf) ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-design-build-king-kong-sized-restraints/204658/14 "2003-09-30T22:14:33Z")
Before you build the restraints, why don’t you just take him out to dinner and have a few drinks - who knows, he might want to do it without you having to force yourself on him.