If you had to jump from very high, what would you use as a parachute?

[djh101]

If you had to jump out of something, say a plane or a tall building, what sort of objects would you try to grab onto to slow your decent?

Curtains? A blanket or tablecloth (if you can find one)? Your jacket? A door (or other large, flat object of some sort)?

 

[Evo]

My insurance policy.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I would likely just use a parachute :)

I am skeptical anything above will do you much good. Mostly likely it will rip from your hands or distort in a way that renders it useless.

 

[djh101]

Do office buildings stock parachutes (that might not be such a bad idea, actually; if everyone on the Titanic kept a blow up raft or innertube under their beds, the incident would have been a lot less tragic)? Of course the above aren't the best options, but in a scenario where your plane is plummeting to earth, you kind of have to make the most of a bad situation.

 

[drizzle]

My insurance policy.

OMG Evo:rofl::rofl:

You should be nominated for the coming best humor award:rofl:

I don't think a door would be a good idea. :uhh:

 

[lendav_rott]

I redesigned an umbrella when I was a kid and used it as a parachute to jump down from the top of the house :D It uh...didn't work so well :-(

I wouldn't use anything else as a parachute than an actual parachute - had some paratrooper training in the military and when you're up there, you really wish you had a parachute :D

 

[256bits]

Do office buildings stock parachutes (that might not be such a bad idea, actually; if everyone on the Titanic kept a blow up raft or innertube under their beds, the incident would have been a lot less tragic)? Of course the above aren't the best options, but in a scenario where your plane is plummeting to earth, you kind of have to make the most of a bad situation.

I always bring a couple of chickens with me when in tall office buildings. I feel that if I have to jump out, I will just latch onto them. If they do not want to die, they well better learn how to fly pretty damn quick.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

I have several acquaintances that are full of hot hair. Any one of them would do nicely.

 

[Lisa!]

Nothing since it ruins the joy of jumping!

 

[drizzle]

I have several acquaintances that are full of hot hair. Any one of them would do nicely.

 

[jim hardy]

Hmmm

i'd look for something soft to land on.

 

[dlgoff]

Funny. When I was a preteen a friend and myself talked his brother into jumping off his two story house with a bed sheet "parachute". Luckily he's still alive today.

 

[drizzle]

Springs for myself. :p

 

[Yellowflash]

I would probably use a parachute.

 

[Czcibor]

Assuming that all parachutes are already taken - what about big air mattress? Light, allows a bit gliding and would absorb tiny part of energy?

(body would be easier to identify or not?)

 

[Define Shannon]

I have several acquaintances that are full of hot hair. Any one of them would do nicely.

Funny :) or try to maneuver it to where they are under you on impact.

 

[Dr.Mobius]

If it were from a building, I suppose I would try to latch onto something like a window ledge on my way down. From a plane... I'd just close my eyes and think of happy thoughts haha

 

[MisterX]

I don't know, but perhaps a better strategy, rather than trying to slow your decent, is to put something underneath you to break your fall

maybe a chair

I'm not sure though

 

[dlgoff]

This guy survived using a 16-foot plank.

http://www.newsweek.com/how-survive-500-foot-fall-86977

 

[lisab]

I don't know, but perhaps a better strategy, rather than trying to slow your decent, is to put something underneath you to break your fall

maybe a chair

I'm not sure though

Maybe I'd use MisterX.

 

[edward]

I think that I would borrow a parachute on the way down.

 

[djh101]

Maybe I should have posted this in the physics section. 8)

 

[dlgoff]

Maybe I should have posted this in the physics section. 8)

Probably not a good idea. There are rules about speculation.

http://www.wikihow.com/Survive-a-Long-Fall

 

[djh101]

Personal theories or speculations that go beyond or counter to generally-accepted science

This one? I don't think this question violates that rule. To restate the original question less whimsically, although I'm sure no one would recommend casually jumping from a building using a bedsheet parachute, might it slow your decent and prevent death better than, say, a plank or a chair?

Chairs, planks, and scaffolding seem to be popular recommendations in "how to survive a fall" guides, but it does seem rather counter-intuitive to purposely land on a chair.

 

[dlgoff]

This one? I don't think this question violates that rule. To restate the original question less whimsically, although I'm sure no one would recommend casually jumping from a building using a bedsheet parachute, might it slow your decent and prevent death better than, say, a plank or a chair?

Touché. You did see my I hope? Your are right that slowing the decent is what you need to do. But how much slowing? Maybe a little physics would be good.

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/airplane/termv.html

 

[djh101]

Perhaps I shall do some equations when I have a little free time. Still, though, bed sheets also have a bit of permeability associated with them (although I couldn't say how much).

On an unrelated note, I imagine it would be fairly awkward to attempt to use a parachute only to find out (for some reason or another in this hypothetical scenario) that you are in a vacuum.

 

[edward]

During WWII the man below supposedly survived a fall of 18,000 ft.

On the night of 24 March 1944, 21-year-old Alkemade was one of seven crew members in Lancaster DS664[1] of No. 115 Squadron RAF. Returning from a 300 bomber raid on Berlin, east of Schmallenberg, DS664 was attacked by a Luftwaffe Ju 88 night-fighter, caught fire and began to spiral out of control. Because his parachute was unserviceable, Alkemade jumped from the aircraft without one, preferring to die by impact rather than burn to death. He fell 18,000 feet (5,500 m) to the ground below.

His fall was broken by pine trees and a soft snow cover on the ground. He was able to move his arms and legs and suffered only a sprained leg. The Lancaster crashed in flames, killing pilot Jack Newman and three other members of the crew. They are buried in the CWGC's Hanover War Cemetery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Alkemade

 

[Algr]

I would use the entire building as a parachute by staying inside it.

 

[2sin54]

 

[davenn]

unfortunately the physics doesn't work for that

Mythbusters proved that

I always bring a couple of chickens with me when in tall office buildings. I feel that if I have to jump out, I will just latch onto them. If they do not want to die, they well better learn how to fly pretty damn quick.

that's sounds similar to the 2 African swallows carrying a coconut between them ( gripped by the husk) ( thanks Monty Python)

Dave

 

[djh101]

I like how Mythbusters goes through the effort of testing myths that could easily be busted just by writing a few equations on a whiteboard.

 

[jobyts]

In fact, when you are close to the ground, throwing the chair to the ground with all the force helps by a tiny bit. (by the third law)

 

[jobyts]

I think I have a strategy here. Please let me know if this will work at least theoretically.

Hold a heavy metal ball (preferably as heavy as you), like the one used in hammer throw. While you fall down, keep it rotating vertically, such a way that the upward swing of the metal ball is barely enough to make a full rotation, the downward part is as fast as you can, so that you go upwards.

When you are close to the ground, the ball hits the ground first, and you are in the top position.

 

[djh101]

Assume you aren't moving and find out how much your velocity would change in that scenario. Then subtract it from how fast you will be going right before you hit the ground. Jumping directly off of the ground is about as much force as you will get to propel yourself from your body alone, and that will get you going... 5m/s? So that should take you from 100m/s to 95m/s when falling.

By conservation of linear momentum, jumping off of a non-moving body (the earth) will give an upper bound of propulsive velocity. Since the chair or shotput are changing their velocity as well, your change in velocity will be less.

 

[tridianprime]

A smoking jacket and pipe. So I could die in style