# What Is Wrong With My Plan To Ride Out (Literally) A Hurricane?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 2, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727 "2008-09-02T18:39:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/21 "2008-09-03T18:34:27Z")
Just get a couple college kids to tie you to a bridge…
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### Author:  [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2008, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/22 "2008-09-04T01:28:14Z")
It wasn’t the teeth of a hurricane - it was the rough sea left after it passed. Specifically 25-foot seas, and I was in a little tiny Ecuadorian corvette.
I never want to deal with that ever again.
Your plan is nuts.
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### Author:  [@puppygod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puppygod)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2008, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/23 "2008-09-04T08:23:33Z")
Wait a second. You want to strap bigass, heavy air tanks to your back and jump into whats equivalent to spin cycle of washing machine? You’d be battered to death by your diving cylinders within minutes.
You’d need something like proposed by \*\*WF Tomba \*\*or **Rhythmdvl** - or basically small, sturdy submarine.
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### Author:  [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2008, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/24 "2008-09-04T09:42:24Z")
I always wondered why Marky Mark’s character didn’t make it at the end of _The Perfect Storm_, I guess this thread answers that.
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### Author:  [@kdeus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kdeus)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2008, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/25 "2008-09-04T12:47:12Z")
The ocean is really big and it moves individual objects in unpredictable ways. You could easily find yourself miles and miles from anywhere, and very hungry.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/26 "2008-09-04T13:40:11Z")
How lashing yourself to an acceleration couch in the center of a floating transparent sphere - sort of a human-sized sealed hamster ball? Would that work?
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### Author:  [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/27 "2008-09-04T14:25:30Z")
> [@puppygod](#):
>
> Wait a second. You want to strap bigass, heavy air tanks to your back and jump into whats equivalent to spin cycle of washing machine? You’d be battered to death by your diving cylinders within minutes.
>
> You’d need something like proposed by \*\*WF Tomba \*\*or **Rhythmdvl** - or basically small, sturdy submarine.
No, I don’t want to strap bigass cylinders to my back. A rebreather, which I mentioned, is a bit different from the conventional SCUBA apparatus.
> **[Rebreather](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebreather)**
>
> A rebreather is a breathing apparatus that absorbs the carbon dioxide of a user's exhaled breath to permit the rebreathing (recycling) of the substantial unused oxygen content, and unused inert content when present, of each breath. Oxygen is added to replenish the amount metabolised by the user. This differs from open-circuit breathing apparatus, where the exhaled gas is discharged directly into the environment. The purpose is to extend the breathing endurance of a limited gas supply, while also ...
I think the consensus toward a well-cushioned hamster-ball/grizzly suit is building.
Your mention of a sub is interesting as I had just been wondering how strong the currents were, and how deep they ran. As (one of) my motive(s) would be, wow, this would make a great documentary, maybe a sub with a periscope poking up and filming things would be a bit more stable platform for my adventure.
**mr. moto** and others – rest assured I am not really planning this. It is a bit of a thought experiment. I am IRL as big a chicken as anyone else and would retreat to the concrete bunker at the first sign of rain clouds.
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### Author:  [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2008, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/28 "2008-09-04T14:26:32Z")
I’d say get a big tough plastic bubble. But if it blows you waaaaay out to sea, how do you get back? In any event make sure to take a nice waterproof video camera, Profits!
Have fun!
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### Author:  [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/29 "2008-09-04T17:48:43Z")
My layman’s understanding is that wind-driven motion does not go very far below the surface. If the waves are 50 feet high, would you be safe at a depth of 100 feet?
Of course, the problem with the periscope idea is that although your submarine may be undisturbed, the periscope will be subject to all of nature’s fury and could be damaged or ripped right off. If you want to film the action, why not use an unmanned floating probe?
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### Author:  [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/30 "2008-09-04T17:54:00Z")
Actually, you know what would be cool? Just drop floating probes into the seas and let them drift around the world, snapping pictures and transmitting them home to be displayed on a website. You could have them take 1 picture a day when the seas are calm and more when the seas are rough (easily detected by an accelerometer on board).
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### Author:  [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/31 "2008-09-04T18:48:17Z")
Incidentally, my brother had to ride out a hurricane on his sub. Heavy seas tore the radar and comms mast right off - and they had to bring the thing in in heavy seas while cutting visual fixes from the periscope.
He spent eighteen hours on the bow planes - getting up only to use the head. They brought his chow to him.
I’ll mention this to him - I don’t think he’ll have kind things to say about it. He and I don’t like hurricanes much.
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### Author:  [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/32 "2008-09-04T18:56:36Z")
> [@kdeus](#):
>
> The ocean is really big and it moves individual objects in unpredictable ways. You could easily find yourself miles and miles from anywhere, and very hungry.
Assuming he survived the crushing waves, the wayward projectiles, the sharks, the lack of oxygen, drowning, hypothermia, and sheer exhaustion, dehydration would kill him long before hunger would.
Plus, he’d have a nasty case of sunburn.
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### Author:  [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/33 "2008-09-04T19:43:31Z")
> [@WF\_Tomba](#):
>
> Actually, you know what would be cool? Just drop floating probes into the seas and let them drift around the world, snapping pictures and transmitting them home to be displayed on a website. You could have them take 1 picture a day when the seas are calm and more when the seas are rough (easily detected by an accelerometer on board).
IMAX-quality cameras on the probes would be even better. Imagine watching _that_ on a seven-story-tall screen.
On second thought, perhaps the only theaters to show that should be ones where the seats and flooring are made of impermeable materials. Easier to hose 'em off after the show is over.
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/34 "2008-09-04T19:59:48Z")
This reminds me of a post I made years ago asking how thick a padded “bear suit” would have to be to allow a human to survive hitting the ground at terminal velocity. Part of the problem is the bigger the suit, the more it acts like a parachute and reduces your terminal velocity. Essentially, you end up wearing a giant balloon.
Kind of similar to your plan. Eventually, once you take into account air supply, protection against debris, heat, etc, you’re basically riding out your hurricane in a submarine.
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### Author:  [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/35 "2008-09-04T20:20:01Z")
> [@msmith537](#):
>
> Essentially, you end up wearing a giant balloon.
>
> Kind of similar to your plan. Eventually, once you take into account air supply, protection against debris, heat, etc, you’re basically riding out your hurricane in a submarine.
Except on the surface. Ever been in a submarine rolling around in high seas on the surface? The motion is enough to turn even a cast iron stomach into pot metal. There is a reason (beyond tactics) why subs prefer to ride well under the surface; because the ride at \>100 feet of dept is much smoother than up top.
Stranger
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### Author:  [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/36 "2008-09-04T20:59:59Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#):
>
> Ever been in a submarine rolling around in high seas on the surface? The motion is enough to turn even a cast iron stomach into pot metal.
Hell, when I was on that Ecuadorian corvette I was one of the only guys not tossing my lunch - and just about the only American. Especially since our meals weren’t geared to American stomachs in the best of circumstances - sailors in their twenties aren’t used to eating chicken feet.
I don’t get seasick. This trip was proof to me that I don’t.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/37 "2008-09-04T21:08:15Z")
Just looked it up - that was the aftermath of Hurricane Bertha in 1996, in the vicinity of Puerto Rico. That was a Category 3 Storm - but we diverted to Gitmo to miss that. I only saw some high seas after it passed.
That was enough.
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### Author:  [@Incensed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incensed)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2008, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/38 "2008-09-05T01:51:07Z")
> [@Huerta88](#):
>
> **What is wrong with my plan to ride out a hurricane?**
I haven’t seen mention of a [Zorb](http://www.zorbb.com/zorb/) of any stripe. Other than that it sounds eminently reasonable.
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### Author:  [@puppygod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puppygod)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2008, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/39 "2008-09-05T09:00:45Z")
> [@Huerta88](#):
>
> No, I don’t want to strap bigass cylinders to my back. A rebreather, which I mentioned, is a bit different from the conventional SCUBA apparatus.
>
> [Rebreather - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebreather)
But closed circuit apparatus still need tanks - only smaller ones. And you would be in rough water rolling overhead long enough to need bigass tanks anyway.
But that’s not my point.
My point is that first thing to kill you would be being hit by debris - because you would have a lot of “debris” with you. Reabrether, water supply, food, batteries for thermostat and radiobeacon, camera etc. All that things would be accelerated to quite serious velocities and would be banging at your body from all directions. Unless rigidly strapped to your body. Not to mention loose straps tangling around your neck… Basically, to survive in such harsh environment you have to take a lot of stuff with you - and without something on a scale of rigid shell power armor or small submarine, that stuff would be lethal to you.
Also, before you go into your hamster ball, train rolling around in one of that [gimbal rigs](http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/history/mastif.html) for a day or two without stop, just to be sure. It’s hard to keep hydrated when gyrating and vomiting your guts out at the same time.
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### Author:  [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-plan-to-ride-out-literally-a-hurricane/461727/40 "2008-09-05T15:23:57Z")
> [@WF\_Tomba](#):
>
> My layman’s understanding is that wind-driven motion does not go very far below the surface. If the waves are 50 feet high, would you be safe at a depth of 100 feet?
>
> Of course, the problem with the periscope idea is that although your submarine may be undisturbed, the periscope will be subject to all of nature’s fury and could be damaged or ripped right off. If you want to film the action, why not use an unmanned floating probe?
I’ve been in a submarine in serious storm conditions before in the North Atlantic (estimated [sea state](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_state) of 8-9). We were scheduled to go to periscope depth at one point during the storm. During our ascent, we started feeling the wave action at 250 ft of keel depth. At 150 feet of keel depth, we started taking significant rolls and were in danger of being sucked up by the wave action (venturi effect). That’s about the point when we decided it would be a bad idea to go up any further, flooded some water into the variable ballast tanks to break the suction, and descended back down deep.
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