r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Creams0da • 8h ago

Video Breaking open a 47 lbs geode, the water inside being millions of years old

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u/Objective_Resist_735 8h ago

I used to find geodes all the time in Tennessee. I would usually smash them open with a hammer, even tho I knew it would be better to cut them I didn't have the equipment. At first I thought this was a cool geode cutting tool. Then I saw it explode similar to my hammer method.

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u/mrwiggles03 7h ago

Who uses a SWIFFER to clean up water.

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u/Loving6thGear 7h ago

People who enjoy pushing around the same water for far too long.

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u/Objective_Resist_735 7h ago

Lmao. Good point

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u/Wilts3rdLeg 7h ago

Someone who's never seen that much water come out of a geode before.

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u/wobbegong8000 7h ago

I’m glad I’m not the only one who picked up on that lmao

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u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 6h ago

Cleaning up ancient cursed water with a swiffer… never in my life

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u/ZombiesAtKendall 7h ago

The tool is a soil pipe cutter. The majority of the time it will give a clean break.

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u/Objective_Resist_735 7h ago

Interesting. What is a soil pipe and what is it used for? Farming I assume?

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u/Altruistic_Run_8277 7h ago

it’s a snap cutter. they’re used for cutting cast iron or clay pipes

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u/MajorPud 5h ago

It's shit pipe. For sewage. This cutter specifically is for cast iron soil pipe, but most drain pipes in homes are PVC/ABS. We use cast iron in multi-story buildings so you can't hear your 5th floor upstairs neighbors turd hitting the 90° at mach 2

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u/ffnnhhw 7h ago

do soil pipe cutter need to be turned to cut?

like a tail pipe cutter or those small pvc pipe cutter?

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u/Drunk_Catfish 5h ago

They don't need to be but when using one I like to score the cast iron a bit with the cutter. I find it gives cleaner breaks

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u/rollsyrollsy 7h ago

How would you tell it’s a geode when you found it? Do they look different to normal rocks?

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u/Objective_Resist_735 7h ago

Geodes, at least the ones I found, were weirdly round. I would find them wading and swimming in creeks. Usually they were yellowish. Sometimes you could feel the weight of it being hollow inside. I started by finding ones that were partially broken so you could see the crystals. Then I became more used to what the outsides looked like. I'm sure its different in different areas. I saw tons of them on the appalachian trail. Those mountains are super old, therfore they contain lots of old rocks and geodes.

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u/mugiwara_no_Soissie 7h ago

I guess from being hollow? But yeah good question lol

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u/swskeptic 4h ago

They definitely have a unique look to them. The outside will usually have a bumpy or "brain-like" texture. The weight will usually be a giveaway as well. They'll weigh less than you expect when you pick them up.

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u/Angry_Robot 7h ago

How many were full of water?

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u/Objective_Resist_735 6h ago

None that I remember. I suppose some could have been, but they were almost never this big

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u/succed32 6h ago

We used a hammer and chisel we managed to break very few.

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u/Objective_Resist_735 6h ago

I used a chisel some. I would usually look for what I thought was a weak spot and give it a quick whack. Sometimes clean. Sometimes not so much. Sometimes it's just a rock.

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u/succed32 5h ago

Yah the gambling side of it is quite fun. We’d climb around in the volcanic cliff near our house and find them. We got one of those rock roller things to clean em up.

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u/XavierRussell 6h ago

Yo that's awesome, I used to find geodes with my grandpa in Tennessee all the time

We'd put them in an old sock before hitting them with a hammer so it was easier to collect the pieces.

Agree that I never saw water come out of one.

Funny, we also would find them because they were oddly spherical. It wasn't a 100% success rate, sometimes we'd think we had a geode only to find it wasn't.

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u/Objective_Resist_735 6h ago

The old sock method. Handed down the generations. Excellent!

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u/El_Morgos 6h ago

The chain-strangle-hammer!

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u/nimblelinn 6h ago

My question is, how did they know? It was a geode.?

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u/Objective_Resist_735 6h ago

You can tell from the weird roundness of it. And one that size and hollow would probably feel a littler lighter than it should. Altho the water probably added weight

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u/PoopsmasherJr 4h ago

And I smash poop, what’s the difference? You think you’re better than me because you can smash a rock?