Beer Bottle - Use As Weapons

Use As Weapons

Beer bottles are sometimes used as makeshift clubs, for instance in bar fights. Pathologists determined in 2009 that beer bottles are strong enough to crack human skulls, which requires an impact energy of between 14 and 70 joules, depending on the location. Empty beer bottles shatter at 40 joules, while full bottles shatter at only 30 joules because of the pressure of the carbonated beer inside the bottle. While it takes less energy to break a full beer bottle, the extra mass in a full bottle will impart more damage. A test performed by the Mythbusters showed that full bottles are significantly more dangerous than empty bottles. Full bottles inflict more damage in terms of concussion and skull fracture; however, both full and empty bottles do the same amount of damage in scalp lacerations.

For this reason, long-neck beer bottles have been banned in some places, such as Alice Springs, Australia.