# Man skydives without parachute -- is this real? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 15, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-skydives-without-parachute-is-this-real/525102 "2010-01-15T18:32:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![koufax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@koufax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koufax)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-skydives-without-parachute-is-this-real/525102/21 "2010-01-18T00:08:40Z")
Big deal. I just watched the newest Harold and Kumar adventure and they did the same thing WHILE they were being shot at by the homeland security agent. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-skydives-without-parachute-is-this-real/525102/22 "2010-01-21T22:41:40Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > Also, there was no splat. I don’t remember how he gets out of it, but he’s a fairly important character for the rest of the movie. He brought the house down. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-skydives-without-parachute-is-this-real/525102/23 "2010-01-21T23:00:01Z")
There’s also another terrific scene from _Terminal Velocity_ where a car is dropped out of a plane with a woman locked in its trunk, and Charlie Sheen has to make his jump, pursue the plane, unlock the trunk (he has the keys) and rescue the chuteless woman before the car hits the ground. ---
**Author:** ![RodPackNephew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@RodPackNephew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RodPackNephew)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-skydives-without-parachute-is-this-real/525102/24 "2016-10-26T01:47:27Z")
The first person to perform the parachuteless skydive stunt was my uncle, Rod Hunt on Jan 1, 1965 over Arvin, California (near Bakersfield). Rod was a stuntman, racer, and expert trampolinist who had performed in Las Vegas, on television, and set motorcycle speed records by the time he made this jump at the age of 26. He made the jump for an ABC Television Documentary “The Extraordinary Men of Our Time” that aired Saturday, March 13, 1965. > **[A Year in TV Guide: March 13th, 1965 - Television Obscurities](http://www.tvobscurities.com/2015/03/a-year-in-tv-guide-march-13th-1965/)** > > A look at the March 13th, 1965 issue of TV Guide, with articles about David Dortort, Ronny and Clint Howard, and the morals of soap operas. Rod and his cohorts were also featured performing the stunt within the covers of the Jan 15, 1965 LIFE Magazine: > **[LIFE](https://books.google.com/books?id=tUgEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=twopage&q&f=false)** > > LIFE Magazine is the treasured photographic magazine that chronicled the 20th Century. It now lives on at LIFE.com, the largest, most amazing collection of professional photography on the internet. Users can browse, search and view photos of today’s... Two other accounts of the stunt can be found in parachuting histories at the following locations: > **[Rod Pack's Chuteless Jump - ParachuteHistory.com](http://www.parachutehistory.com/skydive/rodpackjump.html)** > > History of skydive, sky dive, parachute, > airborne, paratroop, static line, military, ramair, ram air, parawing, > ringsail, ringslot, ring sail, ring slot, para commander, special forces, > deploy, inflate, deployment, inflation, malfunction,... and [http://starcrestawards.com/history/history\_the\_arvin\_good\_guys\_part\_1.html](http://starcrestawards.com/history/history_the_arvin_good_guys_part_1.html) In addition to the skydiving stunt, and other daring pursuits, Rod became acquainted with his contemporary, “Evel” Knievel , and collaborated with him in several capacities including initial planing of the Snake River Canyon jump that, originally, was planned to be a 2-man jump with both Evel and Rod, but, was scraped for the 1-man jump eventually attempted by “Evel”, alone, without success in 1974. In Rod’s later years, he was an avid speed boat racer well into his 70s in northern California, east of San Francisco, before passing away just a few years ago (2012). Rod was ahead of his time, in many respects and, as ABC’s documentary coined him in 1965, was one of “The Bold Men” of his time. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-skydives-without-parachute-is-this-real/525102/25 "2016-10-26T03:04:08Z")
Very interesting! Thank you for the new information. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-skydives-without-parachute-is-this-real/525102/26 "2016-10-26T05:26:49Z")
> [@RodPackNephew](#): > > The first person to perform the parachuteless skydive stunt was my uncle, Rod _ **Hunt** _ on Jan 1, 1965 over Arvin, California… My emphasis. Hunt or Pack? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-skydives-without-parachute-is-this-real/525102/27 "2016-10-26T13:20:53Z")
I’m assuming that “Rod Pack” was a stage name, while “Hunt” was his real name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-skydives-without-parachute-is-this-real/525102.md?page=1)