How to Escape a Sinking Ship • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#21

Post by Schweigi » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 1:20 AM UTC

secabeen wrote: post #13

Somewhat tongue in cheek, but still some good advice here: -- Know your surroundings, specifically where your exits are. The nearest exit may be behind you. -- Break the rules. Officials may try to deter you from using passages, ladders or stairwells. Ignore them. If you need to kick open a door or pick a lock, do it. -- Be where the well-connected people are, and look/act the part. Try to blend into the tribe, be a…

There is a good book [1], which dives into why some people survive while others don't. One of the main takeaways is to break the rules if required. The other takeaway is to follow your instinct (like a child would).

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06VVMN5J2

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#22

Post by mauvehaus » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 1:26 AM UTC

The Atlantic'a piece about the sinking of the ferry Estonia contains some interesting pieces of information for anybody who might like to survive a sinking in the future. It might also put you off getting on ships.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/05/a-sea-s...

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#23

Post by acwan93 » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 1:27 AM UTC

hombre_fatal wrote: post #5

I was about to scroll past this submission when I had a sudden attack of superstition that, if I don't read it, I will eventually find myself on a sinking ship in the middle of the ocean and curse myself for not reading the damn HN article.

It's like when you're studying for a test and fail to study that one topic cause you think it's never gonna show up, only to find that not only did it show up, it ended up being 20% of the entire test.

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#24

Post by DennisP » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 1:31 AM UTC

Schweigi wrote: post #21

secabeen wrote: post #13

Somewhat tongue in cheek, but still some good advice here: -- Know your surroundings, specifically where your exits are. The nearest exit may be behind you. -- Break the rules. Officials may try to deter you from using passages, ladders or stairwells. Ignore them. If you need to kick open a door or pick a lock, do it. -- Be where the well-connected people are, and look/act the part. Try to blend into the tribe, be a…

There is a good book [1], which dives into why some people survive while others don't. One of the main takeaways is to break the rules if required. The other takeaway is to follow your instinct (like a child would). [1]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06VVMN5J2

I've read that book a couple times, it's fantastic. I gave a copy to my brother, a Navy officer, and he agreed.

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#25

Post by Spooky23 » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 1:31 AM UTC

paleotrope wrote: post #20

secabeen wrote: post #13

Somewhat tongue in cheek, but still some good advice here: -- Know your surroundings, specifically where your exits are. The nearest exit may be behind you. -- Break the rules. Officials may try to deter you from using passages, ladders or stairwells. Ignore them. If you need to kick open a door or pick a lock, do it. -- Be where the well-connected people are, and look/act the part. Try to blend into the tribe, be a…

"Break the rules. Officials may try to deter you from using passages, ladders or stairwells. Ignore them. If you need to kick open a door or pick a lock, do it." I would say that in general, when a ship is in danger of sinking, hatches are closed and dogged off for a reason, usually to control flooding, so this is a really bad advice. On the other hand, when a hatch is secured, you usually can't open it from one side…

Whats bad for the whole might be better for you.

People in the WTC were told to chill out, no worries, all is well. Screw that — if something hits the fan, I will gtfo.

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#26

Post by bsanr2 » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 1:33 AM UTC

secabeen wrote: post #13

Somewhat tongue in cheek, but still some good advice here: -- Know your surroundings, specifically where your exits are. The nearest exit may be behind you. -- Break the rules. Officials may try to deter you from using passages, ladders or stairwells. Ignore them. If you need to kick open a door or pick a lock, do it. -- Be where the well-connected people are, and look/act the part. Try to blend into the tribe, be a…

When Titanic aired on broadcast TV earlier this year, I was struck by the horror of the situation in a way I hadn't been when it first came out (my being 7-years-old at the time might have something to do with that, of course). I came to similar conclusions at the time: situational awareness (especially listening to what the people around you are saying and reading between the lines), willingness to break rules, willingness to fall in line, humility and thoughtfulness enough to know when to do which. Also, an understanding that rich people will cause catastrophic failure and skate out scot-free; accept that, yes, in their hubris, they did do the unthinkable and now your little corner of the world is headed towards oblivion. Get out.

9/11 also comes to mind. The people who got out were lucky enough to be on lower floors and realized that none of the assurances held water. They ignored shelter-in-place orders and left.

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#27

Post by zapdrive » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 1:36 AM UTC

cmdshiftf4 wrote: post #10

Step 1. Don't be a man Step 2. Don't be poor. 97% of First Class women and 87% of female crew members survived the sinking of the Titanic. https://www.anesi.com/titanic.htm

Ooooh yes, the female privilege that feminists never talk about.

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#28

Post by georgiecasey » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 1:36 AM UTC

I never plan to be on a ship so I don't need this advice. But I've watched countless videos on how to escape a sinking car.

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#29

Post by bra-ket » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 1:40 AM UTC

nostromo wrote: post #15

bra-ket wrote: post #8

clickbait title, the author only describes how to escape Titanic in 1912 if you happen to have a time machine and a cheap ticket to lower deck. This advice doesn't generalize well.

Does every thread need a complaint about the article title? Titles are supposed to pique your interest. That's about it. And "How to Escape a Sinking Ship" is a much better title than yours.

it was a joke.

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#30

Post by sbierwagen » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 1:40 AM UTC

dredmorbius wrote: post #16

For a more generalisable solution: - Pick a ship with robust safety measures, procedures, and equipment, sailing in favourable conditions, if at all possible. - Rehearse evacuation. Drilling and mentally noting escape routes and pitfalls makes successful performance during an actual emergency the more likely. - Maintain situational awareness. Things can go pear-shaped remarkably quickly. Numerours modern shipping dis…

Obnoxious nitpick: everyone on El Faro died. Crew had plenty of warning they were sailing into a hurricane, but the captain did it anyway. For me the main takeaway from that sinking was "don't be on a cargo ship that sails directly into a hurricane".

NTSB report: https://dms.ntsb.gov/public/58000-58499/58116/598645.pdf

William Langewiesche piece: (Also wrote the Estonia piece upthread) https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/04/inside-el-faro-the-w...