For some odd reason, the thought of sky diving isn’t so bad to me. Sure, I’d probably need clean underwear afterwards, but I can easily see doing, at least.
Bungee jumping, even though it’s (technically) on the ground and not from as great a height, I think I’d have a great problem doing.
I guess it might have to do with the whole factor of: When you bungee jump, you usually go alone and also have to jump/dive yourself. When you skydive, you usually go in tandem with an instructor who decides when you guys jump.
But what say you? Which of these would scare you more if you had to do them?
I’ve gone sky diving (once); there’s no way I’d go bungee jumping. If the parachute had failed, I would’a broken my neck, that’s it, sayonara, nice having known ya; if the bungee breaks I’m looking at broken extremities… naaaah. Add the existence of reserve parachutes, the fact that the first jumps are “in tandem” (aka “riding banana”, the one managing the 'chute is the certified, highly experienced instructor)… and I don’t think I’ll be bungee jumping any time soon.
I loved skydiving. However, there are way too many World’s Wackiest Video style shorts of bungee gone wrong for me to ever consider taking the plunge. The sheer number might rival those of parasailers getting yanked off a pier or bounced along a beach. Know thanks.
Both are fun in a different way, skydiving is better for me so bungee would come in 2nd. But frightening? No, unless I saw a horrible accident with either just before my turn. I don’t seem to have a height fear of any kind.
I’ve done both & loved both, but bungee jumping was definitely scarier. There was a feeling of apprehension standing at the edge, with the weight of the cord pulling down on my ankles, that really made me think ‘what the hell am I doing’. I didn’t have that with skydiving.
My objections to both can be summed up in a single word: “Oops!”
That said, I’d rather skydive. Skydiving has been practiced longer (Land divers don’t count – bungee is different) and has extensive training and safety practices in place. I’ve heard about too many bungee accidents due to ill-prepared operators. And there’s no required participant training. I’ll grant that things are getting better, and that many operators are models of efficiency. But unless I get to specify who I do the dive with, I’ll take the parachute over the bungee.
Having done both a fair amount of times I found bungee jumping to be more “intense” - it’s a very quick experience however there’s a perceptual thing going on where you really know that you are falling; both that feeling you get in your stomach as well as the visual cues since you are (relatively) so low to the ground.
Contrast this to skydiving where it’s very hard to tell visually that you are descending (most people cannot tell the difference between 10000 feet and 8000 feet, for example) and for the majority of jumps, where you leave an airplane that is moving at something close to terminal velocity (IIRC exit speed was on the order of 100mph, terminal velocity is around 110-120mph), there’s no feeling of falling; your direction changes gradually (from “forward” to “down”) but there’s no sensation of dropping like in an elevator or roller-coaster. Exceptions are when you jump from something that isn’t already moving - I’ve done helicopters and hot-air balloons and the first couple of seconds definitely feels like falling.
Freefall is “flying”. Bungee jumping is “falling”.
As others have noted, skydiving involves much more active preparation and participation by the jumpers. The more you learn and practice the calmer you tend to be, it helps work off some of the stress which is your brain’s natural reaction to knowing that you are getting into an unfamiliar environment. Bungee jumping is much more like an amusement park ride in the sense that you just get strapped in and off you go.
Overall I preferred skydiving but they are both quite fun.
Having done both, I’d say skydiving was scariest to me. The bungee jump I did was from 110 feet and there was a huge circus style safety net below me. I’d probably be alright just jumping down into that net from that height. Skydiving….there’s no net.
I have a terrible fear of heights, and while I did go skydiving once, there is no freaking way I could ever bungie jump. In sky diving, you are so high that there is an unreality to it. Your brain is not evolved to process a height of 2-1/2 miles, so it didn’t for me generate the same response. (Which isn’t to say I wasn’t scared shitless immediately before exiting the plane, but I was able to jump.) But lower heights are for me paradoxically much more frightening–I could never ever jump off of a 150 foot bridge. I can’t even stand next to the railing at the local mall looking from the fourth floor down to the ground level, and I have to fight down the vicarious panic when my daughter goes and presses her nose against the glass.
I’ve done a tandem skydiving jump, a static line skydive, and several bungie jumps, and I’d say that the static line and bungie jumps were scarier than the tandem skydive. In the former, you have to actively jump and spend some time thinking about it, while in the latter, you really don’t have a choice in the matter, it just happens.
This sums it up pretty well.
Skydiving is FUN!!! Bungee is scary…
For all of human history, people have dreamed of being able to fly. Everybody wanted to try it, and tell stories about it…From ancient legends of Icarius, to more modern authors like Jules Verne.*
But in all of human history, nobody has ever written a story about surviving a huge fall just for fun.
*(well,ballooning is a form of flying, too)
(and now for my favorite joke about skydiving:
At the jump zone near me, there’s a poster advertising some new high-tech gear, with the slogan:
"Remember when skydiving was dangerous and sex was safe? " )
Oh, yeah, another difference. I imagine, as the bungee cord slows me down and I am hanging upside down, the contents of my stomach will continue downward at a somewhat faster pace. A parachute will pull me upright, and keep the contents of my stomach safely at the bottom of my stomach.
I’ve only done a tandem jump, but I felt pretty safe. The guy on the bungee platform didn’t put his life on the line when I jumped off that platform - the guy strapped to my back did when I stepped out of that plane.
My uncle told me about his first static line jump while he was in the Army. It’s important for everyone to keep moving and jump out of the plane immediately after the guy in front of him. But, when he got to the door he hesitated. The paratroop instructor screamed at him, “Jump Private!” “Jump right now!”
My uncle hesitated.
The Sergeant screamed again “Jump! Or I’ll fuck you in the ass!”
I asked my uncle if he jumped. He said, “a little at first”.