Last night at my bocce ball league – yes, I know, it’s not nearly as adrenaline pumping as hucking yourself from a plane at 14K, but girls gotta do somethin’ while on this injury time out – I participated in a debate on safety, skydiving vs. bungee jumping.
As it usually does when meeting new people, the topic of skydiving came up. You know, when people ask you where you hang out on the weekends, it’s kinda hard to avoid the truth without sounding totally lame. Anyway, a couple of the guys in the group had been skydiving fairly recently, one did a tandem in New Zealand. He also mentioned that he went bungee jumping there and, as I typically do when the subject comes up, I visibly cringed. And, as usual, most people were taken aback by my reaction.
“Wait, you’ll skydive hundreds of times but you’ll never bungee jump?”
Yes friends, this is correct. My argument is always the same – I have two parachutes on my back, one of which is packed by a skilled, licensed professional. When bungee jumping, your life is in the hands of a rubber band (now before everyone goes jumping down my throat here, I know this isn’t exactly factual, but people get the point), I prefer my odds.
Last night’s debate included a new point of view that I’d never heard before: many more non-professionals bungee jump than skydive. So, in other words, you can be an average joe and jump off a bridge alone, but to skydive you need more skills. Not sure how that alludes to the bungee being a safer sport, but it was an interesting POV. Of course, my retort was that with so many more skydivers out there having official training and licenses, safety is a big focus in the sport.
In the end, the majority who joined the conversation took the side of skydiving ultimately being the safer option (of course, this is all without actual stats, so for any who want to prove me wrong with numbers or whatever, go ahead). And, I think I convinced a few people who were on the fence about trying it to get out there and give it a shot.
How many of you have participated in this debate before? How many skydivers out there are sticking to the never bungee jumping rule like I am?
Blue skies!
Ashley
Well, I have 3 bungee jumps on my belt as well as dozens of skydives, but I could comfortably say that I agree with you that lots of skydivers are afraid to bungee jump.
I for one studied physics in school and learned about elastics in mechanics. Elastic bands (bungee cord being a large one that is also covered by canvas) don’t break until stretched past their maximum tension point. When you jump, they ask for your weight for that reason. They attach a cord according to your weight (Maybe not in random places in Africa, but when doing it in North America they do). To get to this tension point, you’re already all the way at the bottom and the cord has already slowed you down. The bigger worry would be the whipping of the band if it snaps, but that’s why there’s the canvas, not only is it a backup to hold you, it also stops the cord from whipping at you.
My fear with bungee would be that the cord wraps around your neck when you get back up to the top. As for statistics, More deaths happen from skydiving then from bungee, but you need to consider the fact that many of the skydive related deaths are from army training jumps.
I had this same debate last night while getting my hair done. I tried to use the old “I like my chances better with two parachutes over a rubber band that could snap” but I was WAY outnumbered and finally just bowed out gracefully.
I personally would maybe try bungee jumping once just for the thrill, but it seems a whole lot more dangerous and could never become a sport. Where is the skill needed for throwing yourself off a cliff and then just letting this giant rubber band bounce you around?
Sometimes, in debates related to skydiving, it’s just easier to cut your losses, even if you know you’re right
Love the stats you brought to the table, Adam. And actually, looking at this month’s Parachutist will show that most skydiving deaths (in the US anyway) happen to very experienced jumpers under good canopies. With the swooping trends, it’s an added danger – hard to have that kind of thing with bungee jumping.
Well from what I could find it looks like only 18 people have died bungee jumping since 1986. None in the US. I just went bungee jumping in Cabo. It was fun, but I’d probably never do it again just because it seemed a little too expensive for such a short ride. I understand your argument, but I think skydiving is more dangerous. There is the chance that you could make a mistake, and there is the chance that someone else flying around can injure you. In bungee, there is really only the chance of some idiot hooking you up wrong. Your ability to hurt yourself is almost completely eliminated. Heal up quickly!
Interesting on the stats there Mike. I agree that given the different facets of skydiving there’s a greater chance that someone else could injure or kill you. I mentioned this last night too…given that I skydive on a fairly regular basis, I have control over most of what could harm me (packing my own main, being aware under canopy, etc) and I take comfort in that. With bungee, there’s not much that the “rider” has control over. Maybe that makes me a control freak
I think that makes you a control freak, but also part of the majority. I totally agree. I like to have control my own fate. I wouldn’t want to ever go tandem again just because I’m not in control. Though, what I liked most about the bungee jump was that I had that nervous feeling that I no longer get from skydiving. Not that I would want to feel that when I skydive now.