MetaChat - This is why I don't skydive as a hobby.

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12 February 2007

This is why I don't skydive as a hobby. Disturbing fall from over 2 miles and surviving video from the viewpoint of the victim and the rescuer.

post by: eekacat at: 22:28 | 16 comments

In the words of Rhymin' Simon, "You got to learn how to fall, before you learn to fly."

(Also, "You got to drift in the breeze, before you set your sails. It's an occupation where the wind prevails." "It's the same old story, ever since the world began. Everybody got to run for glory, nobody stop and scrutinize the plan." [some grammatical license uncorrected])

Thanks for reminding me of that good old song.

posted by wendell 12 February | 23:10

Shown here - and ONLY here - for the first time online is the amazing video from the helmet camera of British skydiver Michael Holmes.

How exclusive can something be when I saw it on TV last night? Oh right, "the first time online". That makes all the difference.

I liked the part where his friend fights his way through the blackberry bushes and asks him "Are you OK?" The response comes back "No" I mean, really, what was he expecting?

posted by dg 12 February | 23:19

/me whistles

posted by trondant 12 February | 23:25

I love when he asks what happened, then says, "I thought I was dreamin'."

Yeah, I think we've all had that dream. He LIVED it!

posted by Doohickie 13 February | 00:10

I saw that on tonight's news. It only confirms the fact that I will never, ever jump out of a perfectly good airplane.

posted by deborah 13 February | 00:19

How bad would it suck to live through that only to get eaten by a warthog or some shit?

posted by Hellbient 13 February | 00:59

Wow. I was really impressed with his partner, who landed as close as he could right in that bramble.

posted by stilicho 13 February | 01:11

Not too long ago there was a video posted either here or on metafilter. It was of a base jumper I think, that ended up falling a considerable length while wearing a helmet cam. The majority of the video is after the fall when he's writhing around in agony and bleeding everywhere. It was pretty tough to watch.

Anyway, I haven't watched this, I just figured I'd drop in and see if anyone could link to that video again.

posted by court siem 13 February | 01:17

Equipment failure is extremely rare in skydiving. I've jumped solo many times and I feel a lot safer doing it than I do riding a motorcycle in traffic. When skydiving there are a pretty small number of things that can kill you*, all of them rare and extremely amenable to mitigation by simply being careful and thorough. On a motorcycle there are thousands of things to kill you, it's impossible to watch out for them all, and the safest thing is to assume that every living person in range is a homicidal maniac obsessively fixated on murdering you in particular at any cost.

*the principal one being the ground

posted by George_Spiggott 13 February | 02:24

I should say, that kind of complete equipment failure is rare. Failure of the primary chute isn't all that uncommon. I don't remember the figure I was taught but wikipedia says 1 in 400. The reserve is more reliable and is actuated automatically if you plunge through the last 1000 feet at high speed because you managed to knock yourself unconscious on exit or something.

posted by George_Spiggott 13 February | 02:33

I've jumped solo many times and I feel a lot safer doing it than I do riding a motorcycle in traffic.

I hear it's also safer than grenade-juggling.

posted by BoringPostcards 13 February | 07:02

Their site doesn't work with Firefox, huh?

posted by knave 13 February | 08:26

I can't believe how stoic he is as he falls. No yelling or anything...just a very brave "Bye" and a little wave.

I had to open IE to see it, knave.

posted by iconomy 13 February | 09:03

I love the Daily Mail headline style titles at the beginning: "the most amazing video shown on the internet... ever... in all of history... yeah not just recorded history but ALL history, you know with dinosaurs and even before that... and even back to 30 minutes before creation when God was having a cup of tea and trying to figure out the "Ikea Universe" flatpack instructions... basically the most amazing video EVAR!!!".

As if the video doesn't speak for itself...

posted by greycap 13 February | 12:29

Oh and Firefox worked for me (little slow though).

posted by greycap 13 February | 12:31

I've jumped solo many times and I feel a lot safer doing it than I do riding a motorcycle in traffic.

Not a particularly apt comparison, since I would never attempt either one of those.

posted by Doohickie 15 February | 11:16

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