I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived • Hacker News Board

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#241

Post by bartread » Tue, Oct 17, 2017, 2:52 PM UTC

simooooo wrote: post #224

bartread wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sadly these near miraculous cases are vastly outnumbered wingsuit accidents where the jumper was killed. Your chances of surviving a wingsuit, or any kind of BASE jumping accident are considerably worse than your chances of surviving a single round of Russian roulette with five rounds in the cylinder, even if you're the only player.

Wouldn't you being the only player increase the chances of shooting yourself?

It would, but your odds of not shooting yourself are 1 in 6, assuming a standard 6 chambered cylinder. Your odds of surviving would be very slightly higher (depending on where you choose to shoot yourself) because, of course, a gunshot wound might not be fatal.

Like I say, your chances of surviving a wingsuit accident (basically impacting the ground, a cliff, a tree, whatever) are considerably worse than this.

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#242

Post by fnwx17 » Tue, Oct 17, 2017, 4:59 PM UTC

> The main, 24-foot parachute was just flapping in the breeze and was tangled in its own shroud lines. It hadn’t opened! I could see the white folds neatly arranged, fluttering feebly in the air. “This is very serious,” I thought.

How can someone be so calm in that situation?

Nerves of steel, bravo!

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#243

Post by kwoff » Tue, Oct 17, 2017, 8:17 PM UTC

Amazing story. He mentioned that that doctor was "high-lined" over from another ship. Am I right that that's a "zip-line"? (TIL also that High Line is a "park" in Manhattan.)

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#244

Post by joejerryronnie » Tue, Oct 17, 2017, 8:49 PM UTC

codingdave wrote: post #207

Mitchhhs wrote: post #144

I was once in a plane crash in which the wing of our small plane hit the mast of a sailboat that was motoring in front of the runway and we didnt see it. We impacted the seawall and flipped over onto land and slid upside down a few hundred feet. The author's description of both not feeling his injuries until he tried to move as well as his own recognition of not being dead were spot on. I would have described it exac…

It is amazing how little you feel immediately after an accident. Mine wasn't so death-defying, but I did shatter my shoulder in a bicycle accident, and called a friend to come get me and drive me and my bike home. I did not realize I was hurt until he got there, and could not stand up or move the left half of my body. Then we decided to go to the hospital instead of my home. But for about the first 10 minutes, I thou…

Back in high school, my ear got cut nearly in half in a car accident. I didn't feel a thing until the paramedic jammed and taped a styrofoam restraint against my ear as a precaution for neck injuries. Apparently, the full range of pain free neck motion vs the gouts of blood gushing from my ear wasn't convincing enough.

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#245

Post by cthalupa » Wed, Oct 18, 2017, 7:50 AM UTC

Piskvorrr wrote: post #162

muzani wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Might I ask why you go white water rafting? It baffles me as it seems like a really dangerous hobby. I actually understand skydiving, bungee jumping, or climbing Everest, because they are controlled risks, but white water rafting seems very chaotic.

Controlled risks, bah humbug! If you think Everest is a controlled risk, do not go there, you are severely underestimating the risks and you would die.

Depends on how much money you spend. It's still not easy, but if you're in decent shape, spend the proper time acclimatizing, go during good weather, and pay for a boatload of sherpas to handle everything and guide you and only you, you'll probably survive. If you're in a group or only have one or two, the resources might not (probably won't) exist for them to do much if it happens where they're going to be severely taxed themselves... But 4 or 5 sherpas spending 100% of their time focused on keeping you (and themselves) alive can probably do it, and I'd call it a fairly controlled risk.

Now, whether or not you've really accomplished anything if you've had a team of people babysitting you to the top is another thing altogether.

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#246

Post by cthalupa » Wed, Oct 18, 2017, 7:53 AM UTC

Piskvorrr wrote: post #232

KGIII wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The crazies up here do it in kayaks, which is pretty amusing. I will/do kayak but I'm not doing that.

Kayaking up Mt.Everest? Okay, now that is what I call crazy.

Some crazy people have skiied down from the summits of some of the 8000'ers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ski_descents_of_Eight-...

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#247

Post by cthalupa » Wed, Oct 18, 2017, 8:28 AM UTC

craftyguy wrote: post #43

ceejayoz wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Altitude doesn't really make a difference past ~1,500 feet. At that point, you've hit terminal velocity.

For downward velocity, it doesn't matter. But for lateral movement, where the wrong move 10k+ feet up could send you off course, it matters.

I imagine most people falling from heights are not doing so with a net waiting for them, so that lateral movement to attempt to find a better spot to crash is probably beneficial.

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#248

Post by Piskvorrr » Thu, Oct 19, 2017, 9:11 AM UTC

cthalupa wrote: post #245

Piskvorrr wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Controlled risks, bah humbug! If you think Everest is a controlled risk, do not go there, you are severely underestimating the risks and you would die.

Depends on how much money you spend. It's still not easy, but if you're in decent shape, spend the proper time acclimatizing, go during good weather, and pay for a boatload of sherpas to handle everything and guide you and only you, you'll probably survive. If you're in a group or only have one or two, the resources might not (probably won't) exist for them to do much if it happens where they're going to be severely…

That's a lot of ifs, and you're still subject to external risks. But yeah, it is indeed possible to manage risk at great expense, noted.

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#249

Post by delvinj » Thu, Oct 19, 2017, 2:08 PM UTC

the_nozzle wrote: post #225

delvinj wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did a tandem jump from 10,000 ft when I was a teenager. We exited the plane while flying through clouds (which is illegal IIRC) and tumbled out of control for the entire free fall period before the chute opened. The exit was my fault. To initiate a jump, the pilot would count down from three and then scream "GO". With the door open it was very difficult to hear. Clouds were forming and we had already aborted twice,…

... which means you had a shitty tandem instructor . Shortly after a tandem pair leaves the door the instructor chucks a drogue which slows your terminal velocity to that of a single person and basically suspends the whole setup. Once that happens getting out the belly to earth position is basically impossible. The whole pulling back and description of your experience gives me an impression you were at a really sketc…

Instructor? No, he was just a polite guy strapped onto my back who was about to have a memorable jump.

Our "instruction" was a 30 minute VHS tape about how we couldn't sue for any accidents.

Sketchy indeed.

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#250

Post by smnplk » Thu, Oct 19, 2017, 5:20 PM UTC

cthalupa wrote: post #247

craftyguy wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For downward velocity, it doesn't matter. But for lateral movement, where the wrong move 10k+ feet up could send you off course, it matters.

I imagine most people falling from heights are not doing so with a net waiting for them, so that lateral movement to attempt to find a better spot to crash is probably beneficial.

It is if you care where you die.