In the past, we've seen Discovery Channel's "Mythbusters" team use a DeWalt cordless drill to power a robotic dolphin and also to "vibrate" a wooden gunpowder keg to cause a big boom.

Last night's episode demonstrated yet another innovative use for a cordless power drill: quickly twisting fibers to form a rope. Not just any fibers, but actually strips of toilet paper. You see, one of the episode's topics was "jail escapes" and the team set out to discover how feasible it was to make a rope out of various unorthodox materials and then climb down the side of a fourteen story building. You know, like they do in movies with prison escapes?

Mythbuster Tori Belleci was assigned the task of creating a rope out of toilet paper. He realized he could make a fairly strong rope by twisting the toilet paper into strands and then braiding those with other strands. To help twist the paper quicker, he grabbed his trusy DeWalt cordless drill, gripped the TP with the drill's chuck, pressed the trigger for a few seconds, and voila, twisted toilet paper strands.

Besides toilet paper, the Mythbusters also used bed sheets and even human hair (gross). To my surprise, all three ropes successfully held throughout the 140' descent. Who'd have guessed?