# Maximum safe height to jump from? And ancillary question.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-safe-height-to-jump-from-and-ancillary-question/729567>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 1, 2015, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-safe-height-to-jump-from-and-ancillary-question/729567 "2015-09-01T02:08:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-safe-height-to-jump-from-and-ancillary-question/729567/21 "2015-09-02T08:09:46Z")

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I was just reading a fairly reliable account written by a gentleman who went through basic training with the French Foreign Legion in Morocco in 1956(?). He describes how he and his fellow recruits were made to jump from a height of “4 to 5 meters”, which would be about 13 to 16 feet. Apparently, this wasn’t standard training protocol but the idea of a drill instructor and the jumps were stopped when one recruit broke a leg.

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**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-safe-height-to-jump-from-and-ancillary-question/729567/22 "2015-09-03T09:08:21Z")

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Thanks for the responses everyone, I’m actually kind of surprised how high people can fall onto a hard surface and survive.

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**Author:** ![Dioptre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/278dde/32.png) [@Dioptre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dioptre)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-safe-height-to-jump-from-and-ancillary-question/729567/23 "2015-09-04T00:18:28Z")

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Having missed the earlier opportunity to comment on the username/question combo, I need to point out that every single statistic in my last post was collected from an emergency room or a morgue.

Please don’t tie a cape around your neck and attempt any of those fifth-floor jumps.

But if you do, please keep careful notes and try from ground, first, second, third …

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