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Ah sorry, it's not the parachute that will kill you... It's slapping into the sides of buildings at a great rate of knots, and then getting tangled in the chute
by King-Aaron 10y ago
Ah sorry, it's not the parachute that will kill you... It's slapping into the sides of buildings at a great rate of knots, and then getting tangled in the chute a hundred metres above the street.
Guys that go base jumping off buildings have years of practice, and they're aware of how risky it is doing a low altitude jump around objects.
- mikeash 10y agoBASE jumping is complicated by the fact that it's something people do with some frequency. That changes the safety requirements a lot: a risk of death of one in a thousand is way too high for a hobby, but it's OK for an "escape from a burning skyscraper" rescue system. It's also complicated by the fact that it's usually illegal, meaning that you want to make a clean landing so you can run away. Getting your parachute tangled on a lamp post would be a failure for a BASE jumper, but a win for a rescue system.