comment by mk

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comment by mk

mk · 4789 days ago · link · · parent · post: It all looks so reasonable until about a minute forty.

How did he plan that route? Seriously, it's not like you can just test it out. WTF. I wonder if he is looking at elevation maps, calculating his rate of fall, distance traveled, etc. That's just ludicrous.

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kleinbl00 · 4789 days ago · link ·

The calculations for bungee jumping give me the willies, and they're pretty basic 1st and 2nd order newtonian mechanics. There's a whole bunch of hope'n'aprayer to that sort of "flight." It looks like hella fun, and I'm sure that with practice it gets a lot easier, but my comfort factor is somewhere this side of "and remember to hold your arms all the way out or you'll pancake at 200+ mph."

+discuss+discuss

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mk · 4788 days ago · link ·

No kidding. In one of our lecture halls in undergrad, there was a wire that hung from the ceiling. My physics prof would hang a bowling ball from it, walk it to one side of the room, and put it to his nose. He'd then let it go, and let it swing back to his face to demonstrate the conservation of momentum. Even in that basic knowledge that the ball can't pick up speed doesn't make it less exciting, I bet I'd flinch.

For this, he's so very close to edge. I'm sure crosswinds or low pressure areas could lead to significant differences from one run to the next, even if he didn't change anything. I don't know if it's just me, but it almost looks like he got some uplift at that 1:40 pass. Or maybe his rate of descent decreased noticeably.

It looks like so much fun. Perfect song.

+discuss+discuss

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kleinbl00 · 4788 days ago · link ·

know how Dan Osman died?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX7p3jfr0mA

Miscalculating.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY6YsM5Rh0Y

The ropes that hold you against death when they're fresh and shiny new may not do it the second time after you let them sit out for three weeks. And you know what? While the ropes say "good for ten falls" and "do not leave exposed to the elements" they say a lot of other shit, too.

There's too much engineering that people don't understand in adventuring, and too much adventuring that people don't understand in engineering. It's a bad place to put your life, in my opinion.