The last time Daily RFT hung out with Jeremiah Raber, he showed us that his product -- the Nutshellz groin protector -- could take a bullet. In his back yard in High Ridge, he strapped the device to a target, and pumped it full of lead. Sure enough, the layers of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene stopped the bullets from piercing the underlying cup, though Raber figured it would probably still hurt like hell to get shot right in the family jewels.
"It's not going to be fun. I wouldn't want to sign up for that at all," he said at the time.
How things have changed.
Raber actually did sign up for just that in a new video recently posted on YouTube. In it, he has his business partner -- who is also a pastor -- shoot him in the balls with a .22 long rifle.
"I was freaking out," he admits. No kidding.
Raber developed the cup in his basement shop. He says he saw too many MMA fights where standard nut cups did nothing to prevent serious injuries to the fighter's sack, and he wanted his to be unbreakable. His product is intended for use by professional athletes and fighters, as well as police and military personnel.
The entrepreneur and his partner made the video to help publicize their new line for kids. Tagline: "Protect your family tree."
"There's all these cups that break, and kids need it as much as we do," he says.
So -- very much against the wishes of his wife -- Raber drew an X on his junk and faced the firing squad. It's actually pretty dramatic stuff. Also, please don't try this at home.
In the video, Raber is wearing extra Kevlar around the femoral arteries in his thighs and on his lower stomach, just in case the bullet deflected. But it was a clean shot, and Raber says it was way more gentle than he thought.
"I expected it to at least feel like a baseball, and really it was like a tap," he says. "I was good."
Here's the company's new Kickstarter campaign. Toss some coin Raber's way if you want to reward him for having the balls to get shot in the balls:
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