Batman
Everything a bat could ever need.
We've spent years building the best tech from the worlds of Batman movies and comics, from Batarangs to the grapple gun, bat signal, and even a full Batcave at HERC!
Build Process: Grapple Gun
Hacksmith's Batman grappling gun project involved the creation of a real-life, functional grappling hook gun inspired by the iconic gadget used in many of the films and shows DC produced. In the Batman universe, the grapple gun is depicted as a handheld device that shoots out a claw-shaped projectile attached to a retractable high-tensile cord, allowing Batman to grab onto surfaces and swing between buildings. The grappling gun is secured to Batman's utility belt and is a crucial tool for his crime-fighting activities.
The device we built, while functional, was a bit larger than the fictional variant. Ours worked by utilizing a gas-powered mechanism and a kevlar rope to sustain the weight of the "lifted" person. As this tech was relatively dangerous to implement in reality, we discourage copycatting this project - at least for now. We also believe dynema ropes can be used if kevlar is not available, although care should be taken to avoid overloading it.
The grappling gun was put through rigorous testing, including shooting hooks into abandoned buildings and demonstrating its ability to propel the user upwards and downwards using 12-gram CO2 cartridges. We believe there are applications for real life grappling guns, but they would largely be limited to police or military.
Build Process: Bat Cave
The Hacksmith's Batcave project involved the construction of a real-life Batcave within shipping containers, showcasing the team's ability to get a project done on a tight deadline as well as our creative engineering skills (the majority of the work took place over just one month, and required effort from everyone on the team).
The project was a collaboration between Hacksmith Industries and "The Container Guy", Youtube container experts and friends of the channel. In just a few short days, they delivered perfect containers to our site, spec'd to perfection including all of the elements we would need to This resulted in the creation of a unique and extraordinary space inspired by Batman's iconic hideout. The Batcave project was sponsored by Warner Brothers Discovery, who gave us full permission to recreate as much iconic Bat-world as we could.
Here's a secret: we aren't done with the Batcave yet. Thanks to some new developments at HERC, we have future plans to expand the complex AND bury the container assemblies to create a real underground lair!
We may not have Wayne Enterprises backing us, but with our creativity and talented engineers, we can still make incredible strides toward making every device Batman has access to. Laser cutting batarangs was the backbone of some of James' earliest projects at Hacksmith, and in recent years the bat signal and Batcave builds have continued our trend of recreating the trappings of the caped crusader. We've even built a small scale dune buggy tumbler batmobile! -- In the future we'd love to tackle a Nolan-era tumbler batmobile, but we'll need some Wayne-level investors or brands interested in supporting such a project. If that sounds like you, drop us a (bat)line anytime!
Inspiration
More than half a century of incredible batman films, comics, shows and other media have given us no shortage of inspiration for these projects. And we certainly aren't done yet.
Batman is the perfect hero for us - since it's his job to make real tech without superpowers! And until further notice, we have those same limits. Money and creativity are both assets that exist in the real world... and we certainly have unlimited amounts of one of those things...
It doesn't take a bat signal to get our attention
Drop us a line if you want to suggest more bat-themed projects!
Do you have a project idea? Share it with us to see it become real
We know we have a creative and ingenious audience. Some of the projects we made real come from our fans' idea. You can submit a project idea and, if it's both realizable and we like it, you may see if soon on our YouTube channel.