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In _Shingeki no Kyojin_ , the soldiers use the 3D maneuver gear to attack the
Titans and cut the back of their necks. In the last episodes, I have seen that
they use a balloon of gas as the power to release the chains to climb the
walls and trees. How does this exactly work? Is the gas the only power supply
to release the chains?


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2013-08-27T01:25:49.693
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attack-on-titan
How does the 3D maneuver gear work?


There's several components to the 3D gear that are separate and operate
independently. Not all aspects of the mechanics have been revealed in
intricate detail, but there is a pretty good idea of the overall operation.

The short answer is that, yes, it is essentially all gas-powered. The trigger
causes the gas to shoot the wire out, and a gas compression is also what
shortens the wire to pull the device's user forward.

# Operating device

The operating device is what the user holds (where the triggers are located).
The mechanics of this are not known, and are described as being a [black
box](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlackBox).[{2}](http://images.wikia.com/shingekinokyojin/images/5/5d/Three-
Dimensional_Maneuver_Device_Mechanics_pt2.jpg) Use of this component is what
allows the others to function.

# Grapple piston

Once the user pulls a trigger, it activates a
piston[{4}](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piston) within the main device. This
piston uses a quick spurt of compressed gas to fire forward the grapple hook
toward its target.{nt.1} No other power source is necessary for this to happen
due to the intense compression release from the piston.

# Propulsion

The user's grapple hooks fire from a
coil[{1}](http://images.wikia.com/shingekinokyojin/images/a/a1/Three-
Dimensional_Maneuver_Device_Mechanics_pt1.jpg) which is located in the device
itself. When the user wishes to move forward, their gear must quickly pull the
cable back into the device. This is done via a fan
mechanism[{3}](http://images.wikia.com/shingekinokyojin/images/7/71/Three-
Dimensional_Maneuver_Gear_pt3.jpg) that is also gas-powered. Basically, when
the user wants to wind back up, the compressed gas blows into the fan,
spinning it rapidly and coiling the wire back up, pulling the user forward.

[![Currently Disclosable Information, Episode 8, card
2](https://i.stack.imgur.com/EvuNh.jpg)](http://images.wikia.com/shingekinokyojin/images/5/5d/Three-
Dimensional_Maneuver_Device_Mechanics_pt2.jpg)

# References and reading

  1. [Episode 8, card 1](http://images.wikia.com/shingekinokyojin/images/a/a1/Three-Dimensional_Maneuver_Device_Mechanics_pt1.jpg)
  2. [Episode 8, card 2](http://images.wikia.com/shingekinokyojin/images/5/5d/Three-Dimensional_Maneuver_Device_Mechanics_pt2.jpg)
  3. [Episode 9, card 1](http://images.wikia.com/shingekinokyojin/images/7/71/Three-Dimensional_Maneuver_Gear_pt3.jpg)
  4. [Piston at Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piston)
  5. [3D maneuver gear at the _Shingeki no Kyojin_ Wiki](http://shingekinokyojin.wikia.com/wiki/Three_Dimensional_Maneuver_Gear)
  6. Note 1: Episode 8's second _currently disclosable information_ states that the gas is "compressed ... and injected"[{2}](http://images.wikia.com/shingekinokyojin/images/5/5d/Three-Dimensional_Maneuver_Device_Mechanics_pt2.jpg), but this appears to be a grammatical error; see comments below.


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I have a good idea on how the black box works. The top trigger is used for the
hook and the bottom trigger is used to activate the gas with the one fan on
that side therefore turning the operator. The two switches on the side are
used to extend and reel in the operator on the wire that is attached to the
hooks. If you have any other ideas please let me know, I saw Levi do this in
one of the OVA's that is how I figured it out. If you want the link just let
me know. <http://watchsnk.net/2014/09/shingeki-no-kyojin-ova-gaiden-kuinaki-
sentaku-no-regret/> This is a simple theory since it was only for aprox. 10
seconds, it starts at 17:47


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2015-06-25T16:27:06.050
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I've been looking into this and I do consider it feasible. The retraction
system checks out but some issues I have thought of (and are pretty obvious)
are that it would be very heavy with the compressed gas on you, (practical use
you wouldn't need the sheath or the blades cause titans don't exist).

To shoot a hook out with just compressed gas you wouldn't get very far
especially if it's steel you would have to use something a lot lighter like
carbon fiber. (I hadn't thought of pistons till I read one of these answers
though). How much gas you can release out of the pressure tanks at once is
pretty small with current technology so you couldn't get much of a boost from
it but if you found a way to release gas faster without blowing yourself up
then that would solve a lot of problems.

That all I really have on the subject, I really want to build some 3DMG but it
will be a very drawn out project because it will cost a lot. I don't have and
links that really would help describe any of this.


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For the Black Box mechanism (grips) the curved trigger (shaped like a brake
lever on a bicycle) located on the outside of the grip is used to fire the
grappling hooks towards the target. The top trigger within the grip is used to
release the grappling hooks or to reel them back towards the user pulling the
user towards the target. The bottom trigger within the grip is used to
activate the gas propulsion system that helps the user move around with speed
on the ground or in the air. The sliders placed near the top of the grip are
used to change the angle and position the shooters on the users hips are
facing letting them target where to fire a grappling hook. SOURCES: NO REGRETS
OVA- Levi using ODM Gear.


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