Gyroscopic Investing

MediumTex wrote: On a somewhat related topic (i.e., things that can be scary), wingsuit flying is another activity that can be pretty exciting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ25hoUU ... re=related

Please take a look at the 6 minute video I have linked to above and tell me if it's not the most kick ass thing you have ever seen.

It's Bruce Lee's voice you are hearing against the music.

MT,

I've seen something similar on TV and find this absolutely unreal.  This was way better though.  I've never thought sky-diving would be all that amazing, but this is different.  Not that I'd want to start by skimming the edges of canyons, but I have to try this someday.

moda0306 wrote: MT,

I've seen something similar on TV and find this absolutely unreal.  This was way better though.  I've never thought sky-diving would be all that amazing, but this is different.  Not that I'd want to start by skimming the edges of canyons, but I have to try this someday.

Okay, try this:

Open up the following link with the squirrel men flying and turn the volume on this window completely down:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ25hoUU ... re=related

Then, open up another YouTube window at the link below and start playing John Denver's "The Eagle and The Hawk" when the squirrel men video above gets to the 2:30 mark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQjwZZbZ504

It synchs up nicely.

I feel bad about watching genuinely dangerous stuff on videos. I think it is one thing for people to do it but it is important that they keep it private. Once people seek "recognition" from others an extra ugliness creeps in IMO. I used to love mountaineering. A lot of people I knew were killed in moutaineering accidents. It is a very selfish indulgence IMO. Everyone killed has grandparents or whatever who think throwing a life away for a lark is unforgivable.

stone wrote: I feel bad about watching genuinely dangerous stuff on videos. I think it is one thing for people to do it but it is important that they keep it private. Once people seek "recognition" from others an extra ugliness creeps in IMO. I used to love mountaineering. A lot of people I knew were killed in moutaineering accidents. It is a very selfish indulgence IMO. Everyone killed has grandparents or whatever who think throwing a life away for a lark is unforgivable.

"Dangerous" is a very good description of what they are doing.

For much of that video they can't be more than 20-30 feet off the ground.

Incredible!  I've never seen this before.  And is that an itty-bitty jet pack on the guy's foot?  Great video.

I'd say it would be extremely easy to get killed and\or maimed doing this.  Behavior this risky seems like a potentially very, very expensive way to acquire an adrenaline rush.  Those of us with a somewhat wussier nature prefer to just hop on a rollercoaster.  Or perhaps have a Variable Portfolio.

Having said that, I have taken a spin at both bungee jumping and sky-diving when I was younger.  The bungee in particular seemed pretty safe, all things considered.  As you get older and start a family, you become more and more acutely aware of how much you have to lose.

Lone Wolf wrote: Incredible!  I've never seen this before.  And is that an itty-bitty jet pack on the guy's foot?  Great video.

You know, I've seen wing suit videos before, but never anything quite like that.

Flying through a canyon, under power lines and in between trees in a wing suit just seems totally insane.

Awesome.  Wish I could do that once.  Easy to say from my desk of course!

In the first linked video, good thing he didn't catch the support wire from the commucations tower at about 1:50.  Looks like he went under it?  

I also liked when he flew past those people at the scenic overlook.  They must have been like - what the hell was that?

RickV42 wrote: I also liked when he flew past those people at the scenic overlook.  They must have been like - what the hell was that?

In the video below it shows three flybys of that scenic overlook from people on the ground (it's about 1:40 long):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCS2VeeQzo8

http://xtremesport4u.com/extreme-air-sp ... it-flyers/
"Early in the morning of Monday, 12th April, he tried the same route, but this time he wanted to cross the ridge between Devil’s Tooth (the peak to the front, right) and the mountain. His calculations were wrong, and he failed to clear the ridge, resulting in his death at the age of 31.

“If he were two metres higher, he would have survived”? said his jumping companions, and that is the name of the game with wingsuit flying. It is an inherently dangerous sport, but a sport participated in by people with huge skydiving experience and a deep love of adventure, of setting themselves new challenges and of taking on the ultimate challenge – wingsuit flying or ‘proximity flying’ as it is also known.

All extreme sports are dangerous, some more than others, and wingsuit flying and BASEjumping probably the most dangerous of all.  We found this little list of statistics on fatalities in extreme sports over the past 5 years per 1,000 participants. Anyone with an ambition to climb K2 might take note of these figures too!

Skydiving:                                3.3
Base Jumping:                      44
Hang Gliding/Paragliding:  3.8
Summiting K2:                    104
ATV Riding:                              0.5
Scuba Diving:                              .06
Snowboarding:                          .05 "

stone wrote: Snowboarding:                           .05

The K2 numbers are downright scary.  Virtually every fatality on that list is probably a very experienced climber, wouldn't you say?

I'm surprised to see "snowboarding" on the list of extreme sports.  I imagine there's snowboarding... and then there's snowboarding.

Lone Wolf wrote: The K2 numbers are downright scary.  Virtually every fatality on that list is probably a very experienced climber, wouldn't you say?

Lone Wolf, I think you are right about them being experienced. Mountaineering has "subjective danger". Mountains have unpredictable weather, avalanches, falling rocks and ice. A lot of what you are climbing up is very loose shattered rock, brittle ice, unstable snow flutings etc. You have to carry all of your stuff and so every piece of equipment, spare gloves, head torch batteries, fuel to melt drinking water etc has to be judged against whether it will slow you down so that you get caught in a storm.

I'm sure those wing suit people also love wingsuit jumping. I just think it is important not to encourage them!

stone wrote: All extreme sports are dangerous, some more than others, and wingsuit flying and BASEjumping probably the most dangerous of all.  We found this little list of statistics on fatalities in extreme sports over the past 5 years per 1,000 participants. Anyone with an ambition to climb K2 might take note of these figures too!

Base Jumping:                      44

Wow.  So that means that over a 5 year period 956 of them lived.

That's actually pretty impressive. 

Ok, that's downright scary.  It's not flying, it's really just falling in a slightly controlled manner.  What on earth would possess someone to want to do that?

Cool video, though.

I wonder how fast they are going...


Edit--- one of the other videos said 140mph...

I've seen that video with the wing suit and it's crazy.  Here is a video I found of the most dangerous job in the world.  Imagine doing this everyday!  It gets unreal by the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPvCuc1_mgM

phew! How much do these guys make? Should be decent if you have to do that all the time...

rhymenocerous wrote: I've seen that video with the wing suit and it's crazy.  Here is a video I found of the most dangerous job in the world.  Imagine doing this everyday!  It gets unreal by the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPvCuc1_mgM

Is that the most dangerous job in the world, or does it just look like the most dangerous job?

I would think that if it was actually the most dangerous job they would require those guys to be more careful about their safety lines.

I'll bet it's incredibly quiet up there other than the wind.

BTW, has anyone seen "Man on Wire"?  If you haven't you should.  It's about the guy who walked a high wire between the World Trade Center towers in the 1970s with no safety line.

MediumTex wrote: BTW, has anyone seen "Man on Wire"?  If you haven't you should.  It's about the guy who walked a high wire between the World Trade Center towers in the 1970s with no safety line.

Yes, great documentary!  (I watched it based on a recommendation from this forum, possibly from you.)  Thrilling stuff and the details of how they set the wires up is fascinating and clever.

Were you astonished by Philippe's behavior toward his friends and girlfriend after he completed the wire walk?  Caught me totally off-guard.  I really disliked that.

Lone Wolf wrote: Were you astonished by Philippe's behavior toward his friends and girlfriend after he completed the wire walk?  Caught me totally off-guard.  I really disliked that.

He's a Frenchman, right?

Nothing a Frenchman does should surprise you.

Also, if he wasn't a little crazy he never would have done what he did in the first place.

Unfortunately, wingsuit flyer Jeb Corliss was involved in a terrible accident today, in South Africa. Luckily, he survived, but he broke both of his legs.

http://youtu.be/cqiV_O8cdWY

Gumby wrote: Unfortunately, wingsuit flyer Jeb Corliss was involved in a terrible accident today, in South Africa. Luckily, he survived, but he broke both of his legs.

http://youtu.be/cqiV_O8cdWY

I think these guys are pushing things too hard.  Trying to get THAT close to the ground seems foolish (especially considering that the whole sport is sort of foolish to begin with).

I don't know how you survive something like that at all.  I hope he isn't injured too badly, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that his injuries are more severe than people are thinking right now.