If both your main and reserve chutes fail, then you’re at terminal velocity and it doesn’t matter how far you are from the ground. If the bungee breaks, it will be at the point where you’ve reached maximum deceleration and are closest to the ground*. How high from the ground is that, typically? Enough to hit terminal velocity?
Just in case you don’t follow me, I mean the point where the bungee is the most stretched out. I wouldn’t expect it to break when slack and you’re still in free fall.**
** And in fact, do you reach free fall? I saw some bungee jumping (commercial) just this week off the Macau Tower, and it looked like there was some other restraint in place that limited the descent speed. I didn’t pay attention when in the tower, but when I saw a jump from outside, it looked like the jumper was restrained somehow and not accelerating. I guess I have a reason to go back to Macau and pay closer attention.
The danger in bungee jumping isn’t just that the bungee might break - on the rebound you could wind up hitting whatever the bungee is anchored to, or objects nearby. People have been killed or suffered devastating injuries from hitting the underside of a bridge or bungee jump platform. Obviously, choosing one’s bungee site with care can help prevent these sorts of accidents, but it’s a possibility many aren’t aware of.
couldn’t have said it better myself. altho i’ve never bungeed i have stepped out of a perfectly good airplane. once. i’m not planning on repeating the experience, but it’s true that the brain can’t process how high off the ground you are at 10,000 or so feet. i once looked down at the ground from the observation deck of the sears tower in chicago. i darn near threw up on my shoes!
Bungee jumping would be worse for me.
I think there would be an initial shock for both, but with sky diving the whole process takes longer and you can get used to it by the time you’re near the ground.
With bungee jumping I’d freak out seeing myself approaching the ground at that speed over and over.
I’ve got this middle ear thing so that I can’t handle abrupt changes in velocity. Roller coaster rides will leave me prostrate with motion sickness. Put me on a carnival ride and I’ll spill any state secret I might possess just to be on solid ground again.
I’m guessing that bungee jumping is the very epitome of the kind of motion that would cause this. So while I’ve also got a fear of falling that would preclude any voluntary attempt at sky diving, I’m pretty sure that it would leave me at least ambulatory afterwards, while bungee jumping would leave me wishing for death.
There’s also that whole jumping head first thing for bungee-jumping. Nothing in evolution has ever said that leaping from high places face first is a good idea.
Bungee Jumping seems worse to me: DOOOOOWN…UUUUP…Dooown…Uup…down
Also, I’m the guy they’d find dead at the end of a bungee cord because he found himself hanging upside down, motionless, 75 feet from the bridge deck and 75 feet from the canyon floor, and couldn’t figure out what to do next. At least with a parachute you walk off and climb back into the car when the show’s over. What’s a bungee jumper do? Gotta climb up 75 feet of stretchy rope?
i’m not planning on repeating the experience, but it’s true that the brain can’t process how high off the ground you are at 10,000 or so feet. i once looked down at the ground from the observation deck of the sears tower in chicago. i darn near threw up on my shoes!