# The Piano Wire and Super Glue Suicide **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 23, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467 "2014-06-23T18:04:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Artemis\_Tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@Artemis\_Tardis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Artemis_Tardis)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/1 "2014-06-23T18:04:09Z")
I read on a few places an “idea” for a shocking/funny/bizarre suicide method. Tie a piano wire to your neck, superglue both hands to your head, have someone to secure the other end of the piano wire to a bridge and jump off. Piano wire will chop your head off and the result would be a headless body holding a head on its hands. Would this actually happen? I read this anecdote on a few places. Did it ever happen? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/2 "2014-06-23T18:29:55Z")
If you tied the other end of the wire to the bridge before supergluing your hands to your head, you would not need a friend to help. I cannot imagine that anyone in a suicidal frame of mind would have any interest in playing such a silly, pointless prank, however. (Whether it would actually work, I don’t know.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/3 "2014-06-23T18:37:34Z")
FWIW, here’s the (presumed) original: \: Best suicide plan ever \: what is it? \: you go up to the top of a roof \: string piano wire tight across the front edge at neck level \: tie a cord to your foot and the other end to the building so that you’ll be above sidewalk level when its fully stretched \: then you put super glue on your hands \: and put your arms around the front of the wire and then back to touch your head \: then you lean forward, so the piano wire cuts your neck but not your elbows \: when the cord goes taut, youll be hanging upside down with no head…except your head will be in your outstretched arms thanks to gravity and the glue, staring at someone upside down and spewing blood everywhere. \: And some poor bastard will be traumatized for LIFE. \: i dont think i can be your friend anymore ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/4 "2014-06-23T19:07:55Z")
> [@Artemis\_Tardis](#): > > I read on a few places an “idea” for a shocking/funny/bizarre suicide method. Tie a piano wire to your neck, superglue both hands to your head, have someone to secure the other end of the piano wire to a bridge and jump off. Piano wire will chop your head off and the result would be a headless body holding a head on its hands. > Would this actually happen? I read this anecdote on a few places. Did it ever happen? Assuming your neck is actually severed by the wire, there will then be nothing preventing you from falling the rest of the way to the ground. If it’s a significant height, you will be severely damaged by the resulting impact. A body holding its own head may be quite prank-worthy, but a large piece of unrecognizable bloody meat holding a smaller piece of same is less so. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/5 "2014-06-23T19:14:00Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Assuming your neck is actually severed by the wire, there will then be nothing preventing you from falling the rest of the way to the ground. If it’s a significant height, you will be severely damaged by the resulting impact. A body holding its own head may be quite prank-worthy, but a large piece of unrecognizable bloody meat holding a smaller piece of same is less so. Good point. Make sure to also include a rope tied to your ankle to leave you swinging from the building when you do this. Preferably measure it out so that your body is left dangling at just above pedestrian head level. This also means that a tall building is much better than a bridge for performing this trick, obviously, if you want a good shock effect. Edit: Or a bungee cord. That would be hilarious. Well, as long as the super glue holds, and your head doesn’t end up bouncing down the street, or flying off and landing in someone’s bowl of soup at a nearby restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/6 "2014-06-23T19:21:45Z")
I hope if I ever become so despondent that I consider suicide that I at least think of a method with some lulz. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/7 "2014-06-23T19:55:20Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Good point. Make sure to also include a rope tied to your ankle to leave you swinging from the building when you do this. Preferably measure it out so that your body is left dangling at just above pedestrian head level. This also means that a tall building is much better than a bridge for performing this trick, obviously, if you want a good shock effect. Depending on the height, this would be likely to just rip your foot off. You need to dissipate the energy of the fall in a controlled/gradual manner. This application calls for bungee cord. You’ll bounce for a little while, but eventually you’ll settle out, intact (except for your severed head). ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/8 "2014-06-23T20:22:47Z")
Would a piano wire really make such a clean cut? Paging MythBusters!! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/9 "2014-06-24T06:01:45Z")
Artemis\_Tardis, you need a hobby. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/10 "2014-06-24T14:10:15Z")
Piano wire isn’t going to chop your head off. I hunt deer, which have a spinal cord approximately the same size as a human. It takes a big ass cleaver or a bone saw to take off a deer’s head. Even without a spine, there is a lot of cartilage and muscle in the neck, I doubt piano wire could do the trick. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/11 "2014-06-24T14:32:52Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > Piano wire isn’t going to chop your head off. I hunt deer, which have a spinal cord approximately the same size as a human. It takes a big ass cleaver or a bone saw to take off a deer’s head. Even without a spine, there is a lot of cartilage and muscle in the neck, I doubt piano wire could do the trick. Considering that a regular rope noose has been known to yank a head off, why would a piano wire, assuming it didn’t break, not do the same? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/12 "2014-06-24T15:53:21Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Considering that a regular rope noose has been known to yank a head off, why would a piano wire, assuming it didn’t break, not do the same? This. At some point it’s too thin to hold up to the stress, but you can buy 3/16" wire rope with a breaking strength of 3,800 pounds. If your body has enough downward momentum, then in the battle between that noose and your neck, _something_ will yield - and it’s not going to be the noose. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/13 "2014-06-24T16:06:47Z")
1. Find a really demented friend 2. Go to a famous bridge. 3. Tie bungle cord to ankle 4. Put Superglue on hands. 5. Put hands on checks 6. Have really demented friend slice off head with good meat cleaver. 7. Have really demented friend push your corpse off bridge I think step #6 is the flaw in the plan. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/14 "2014-06-24T16:22:03Z")
1. Find a stout post with a hole near a parking lot. 2. Take a length of wire and attach both ends to a parked car’s bumper. 3. Stick a loop of wire through the hole. 4. Put the loop around your head, then glue your hands to your head. 5. Wait patiently for the car to leave. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/15 "2014-06-24T16:26:17Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Considering that a regular rope noose has been known to yank a head off… Maybe it has been known to you, but can you make it known to us? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/16 "2014-06-24T16:30:33Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > 1. Wait patiently for the car to leave. How about something more proactive? 1. Find rooftop. 2. Buy a go-kart. 3. Build a ramp. 4. Buckle yourself in properly to the go-kart. 5. Secure the steering wheel so that you’ll be able to go in a straight line even with your hands glued to your face. I suppose you can figure out the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/17 "2014-06-24T16:40:57Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Maybe it has been known to you, but can you make it known to us? [Here’s one.](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6861053) ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/18 "2014-06-24T16:41:18Z")
Decapitation by hanging is not a head getting cut off by a noose. It is the body tearing free from the neck below the noose. I have no reason to believe using wire or cable would change this. I’ve heard this thing about piano wire cutting flesh before, but always in shitty novels, movies, and games. I’ve never seen real world evidence of it happening. I know two guys who got clotheslined off vehicles, a motorcycle and snowmobile respectively, at a pretty good rate of speed. One hit a telephone pole guy wire and the other hit a nylon rope strung by a malicious landowner. Neither was killed much less decapitated. That isn’t to say they weren’t messed up though ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/19 "2014-06-24T16:42:51Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Maybe it has been known to you, but can you make it known to us? Googling: [noose decapitate](https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=noose+decapitate&gbv=2&oq=noose+decapitate&gs_l=heirloom-hp.3...609.2203.0.2328.16.7.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1ac.1.34.heirloom-hp..16.0.0.Scvq4Y5-Exg) yields lots of results. From [the Wikipedia article on hanging:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging) > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Prior to 1892, the drop was between four and ten feet (about one to three metres), depending on the weight of the body, and was calculated to deliver a force of 1,260 lbf (5,600 newtons or 572 kgf), which fractured the neck at either the 2nd and 3rd or 4th and 5th cervical vertebrae. However, this force resulted in some decapitations, such as the infamous case of Black Jack in New Mexico Territory in 1901. Between 1892 and 1913, the length of the drop was shortened to avoid decapitation. After 1913, other factors were also taken into account, and the force delivered was reduced to about 1,000 lbf (4,400 N or 450 kgf). The decapitation of Eva Dugan during a botched hanging in 1930 led the state of Arizona to switch to the gas chamber as its primary execution method, on the grounds that it was believed more humane. One of the more recent decapitations as a result of the long drop occurred when Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti was hanged in Iraq in 2007. Accidental decapitation also occurred during the 1962 hanging of Arthur Lucas, one of the last two people to be put to death in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-piano-wire-and-super-glue-suicide/691467/20 "2014-06-25T19:03:19Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > FWIW, here’s the (presumed) original: > > \: Best suicide plan ever > \: what is it? > \: you go up to the top of a roof > \: string piano wire tight across the front edge at neck level > \: tie a cord to your foot and the other end to the building so that you’ll be above sidewalk level when its fully stretched > \: then you put super glue on your hands > \: and put your arms around the front of the wire and then back to touch your head > \: then you lean forward, so the piano wire cuts your neck but not your elbows > \: when the cord goes taut, youll be hanging upside down with no head…except your head will be in your outstretched arms thanks to gravity and the glue, staring at someone upside down and spewing blood everywhere. > \: And some poor bastard will be traumatized for LIFE. > \: i dont think i can be your friend anymore Where did you find that and why do you presume it to be the original?