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Thread: The Sideshow

  1. #61
    Senior Member Fred Steeves's Avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Wind View Post
    I'm quite happy to be able look at sharks just from behind a screen.
    Same here, it's one of those primal fears. Although I used to feel that way about skydiving as well, but once I went to watch a friend of mine do it one fine sunny day, I knew this was something that needed checking off of my bucket list, and did so the very next weekend. I pretty much faked bravery on the ride up to 13,500'/4,114 m, then became absolutely terrified sitting at the open door looking down with legs dangling out, but once we were out and there was no going back? It was by far the most exhilarating thing I'd ever done (and unexpectedly spiritual in nature to boot), I became an instant adrenaline junkie, and went on to get licensed to jump on my own.

    Watching the divers frolicking with those huge sharks is terrifying in that same way: "it's cool to watch but you'll never get me to do that shit!" But after having felt the same way about jumping out of perfectly good airplanes, only to go on to loving it, it may well be the exact same type of thing where if I actually went on that dive boat just to watch with a mask from safety. "Wow, that was cool and nobody died! I gotta do it too, just once!"

    So that got me to thinking about actual stats so far as fatality rates go in dangerous sports. Immediately I came across an article describing a fatal shark attack on a night dive in that same spot as the video. When the group surfaced from their dive there was one guy missing, and he was never found, just bits and pieces of his dive equipment. (Shudder...)

    The search for a shark diver who did not surface with his group after a night-diving excursion Sunday in the Bahamas has ended after authorities determined that John E. Petty was attacked by a shark.
    https://www.mensjournal.com/adventur...g-shark-diver/

    But in contrast:

    Though thousands of tourists dive with sharks at Tiger Beach without incident each year, the location has been the site of several close calls and tense moments. The cageless shark-diving there remains a major draw for those wanting to hand-feed the larger sharks.
    http://www.tribune242.com/news/2014/...fter-fatality/

    So with any high risk activity there's gonna be the occasional fatality, that's just baked into it, and it comes down to "even though the odds are extremely low of anything bad happening, do I want to risk possibly being one of those very few?"



    So what about skydiving? I personally knew someone who got killed doing it, one of my instructors who went in along with his student on his first tandem jump.

    According to the most recent data gathered by the United States Parachute Association, of the 3.3 million skydives that were completed, there were 15 skydiving fatalities. Based on this data, that is a 0.00045% chance of dying on a skydive. The statistics for dying on a tandem skydive are even less. Over the course of the past decade, there has only been one tandem student fatality per every 500,000 jumps, which is a .0002% chance of dying.



    Contrary to popular belief, the majority of these unfortunate deaths are not caused by malfunctioning skydiving equipment or failing parachutes (today’s parachutes are wonders of modern engineering and are very safe). Rather, many of these skydiving fatalities are the result of professional skydivers pushing the limits with advanced maneuvers beneath their parachutes. The majority of the skydiving deaths which are recorded are the result of a pilot error, not a parachute failure.
    https://wisconsinskydivingcenter.com...-is-skydiving/

    What about mountain climbing? We'll take Mt. Everest for example, even though there are others more risky:

    Between 2006 and 2019, around two thirds of climbers were successful in their attempt to reach the summit, compared to around a third in the preceding 15 years, according to the study by the University of Washington and the University of California, Davis.

    The risk of dying on the mountain stood at 0.5 percent for women and 1.1 percent for men, down from 1.9 percent and 1.7 percent in 1990-2005, the study said.
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-n...-idUSKBN25N1SB

    But then K2 is just ridiculous IMO, not my kind of odds, at all...:

    Compared to Everest’s average 1% death rate, the percentage of climbers who die attempting to climb K2 is reported by NASA to be around 25%
    https://www.advnture.com/features/mo...erous-mountain

    So to bring us on back home, if it came down to being forced to either dive with those sharks or attempt K2, I'll take the sharks any day!
    Last edited by Fred Steeves, 22nd May 2022 at 15:33.
    The unexamined life is not worth living.

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  3. #62
    Super Moderator Wind's Avatar
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    Yup, that's one of those irrational fears I suppose. Yet you do hear surfers being attacked every now and then. There are a few things that I admit truly being afraid of, one is sharks and being surrounded by them in dark water. Also I really don't do well in high places. However that being said, sometimes I've thought that maybe at least one day I should try skydiving with my brother, just as a challenge.

    When it comes to mountains, I think they are majestic. I do admire some mountain climbers, because I know it can require a lot. Like I've watched many documentaries about them and Everest. Of course it's kind of a shame what has happened to Everest, it has become a tourist spot for wealthy people who can go up there, pay the price of 20-80K dollars to climb the mountains and have sherpas carry their stuff up there. I hear there's a lot of trash there and of course the dead bodies too! It just goes to show how crazy people can be.

    This guy is something else.


    Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnRoda7Ke2w

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  5. #63
    Senior Member Emil El Zapato's Avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Wind View Post
    This guy is something else.
    I'd take K2 to the free climbing if my life depended on it. otherwise, I pass on all of it, including messing with Lions.
    “El revolucionario: te meteré la bota en el culo"

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    Oh come on, Chuckie. You and a lion? What a brawl. It'd be epic!

    I doubt I'll ever skydive but I love the story, Fred.

    I've enjoyed the Outer Banks of NC when the gulf stream comes in. The water gets clear and fish swim around. My friend warned about sharks which would also be around looking for the fish. I never saw one myself. But folks have gotten attacked there. It was bull sharks.

    I went down to Chesapeake Beach. The sand is filled with fossilized shark teeth. It's pretty cool.

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  9. #65
    Senior Member Emil El Zapato's Avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Dreamtimer View Post
    Oh come on, Chuckie. You and a lion? What a brawl. It'd be epic!

    I doubt I'll ever skydive but I love the story, Fred.

    I've enjoyed the Outer Banks of NC when the gulf stream comes in. The water gets clear and fish swim around. My friend warned about sharks which would also be around looking for the fish. I never saw one myself. But folks have gotten attacked there. It was bull sharks.

    I went down to Chesapeake Beach. The sand is filled with fossilized shark teeth. It's pretty cool.
    My daughter and I were at the local zoo when she was little, we were walking up to the lion enclosure and it appeared they were 'free' due to the clearness of the glass. My daughter asked me, "Daddy are they in a cage. I remarked, "I hope so" which I realized later was not the most reassuring thing to say to my baby daughter. I did quickly follow up with, "Sweety, I'm sure they are, it is just a trick of the eye". But, for a moment I was ready to get the hell out of there.
    “El revolucionario: te meteré la bota en el culo"

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    You called to mind dreams I would have of fish in tanks in really odd places like stairwells. The water and glass were so clear it seemed as if you could reach out and grasp the fish swimming nearby. I would mostly worry that they were being cared for and fed.

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  13. #67
    Super Moderator Wind's Avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Chuckie View Post
    My daughter and I were at the local zoo when she was little, we were walking up to the lion enclosure and it appeared they were 'free' due to the clearness of the glass. My daughter asked me, "Daddy are they in a cage. I remarked, "I hope so" which I realized later was not the most reassuring thing to say to my baby daughter. I did quickly follow up with, "Sweety, I'm sure they are, it is just a trick of the eye". But, for a moment I was ready to get the hell out of there.

    Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pesvNdDtRQQ

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  15. #68
    Senior Member Fred Steeves's Avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Wind View Post
    Also I really don't do well in high places. However that being said, sometimes I've thought that maybe at least one day I should try skydiving with my brother, just as a challenge.
    Do it man, I don't think you'd regret it. But surely your brother has mentioned that a time or two.

    Quote Originally posted by Fred Steeves View Post
    So to bring us on back home, if it came down to being forced to either dive with those sharks or attempt K2, I'll take the sharks any day!
    Quote Originally posted by Chuckie View Post
    I'd take K2 to the free climbing if my life depended on it. otherwise, I pass on all of it, including messing with Lions.
    Like this guy? I followed up a little bit on that one. Turns out he was preaching to the lions, trying so "save" them.

    Quote Originally posted by Dreamtimer View Post
    I've enjoyed the Outer Banks of NC when the gulf stream comes in. The water gets clear and fish swim around. My friend warned about sharks which would also be around looking for the fish. I never saw one myself. But folks have gotten attacked there. It was bull sharks.
    Oh yeah, those bull sharks are usually the ones you have to worry about on the east coast, even in very shallow water. You may have noted that often times you can survive that bull shark attack if a hospital is nearby and someone can apply a quick makeshift tourniquette, because you're gonna lose that limb they're clamped down on. And speaking of shallow water. Parents? Don't think it's totally safe letting the kiddies splash around off of that dock either just for the illusion of being safely inside of civilization. Think again.

    This will make most people jump:
    Last edited by Wind, 26th May 2022 at 20:28.
    The unexamined life is not worth living.

    Socrates

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  17. #69
    Super Moderator Wind's Avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Fred Steeves View Post
    Do it man, I don't think you'd regret it. But surely your brother has mentioned that a time or two.
    That would be huge "leap" for me mentally, to actually do it. I already know how scared I would be, but I love the idea of being free in the air and even better if that won't lead to my death. I've always had the feeling that I am being protected though. My brother has actually never mentioned skydiving. Frankly I think he would be more of a chicken in that case even though as my older brother he has always prided himself in being the fearless man in the family. I think he might do it because he couldn't show me that he would back away from something like that even though he surely would like to do that. Even if he did I wouldn't think any less of him though, but he is like that.

    What I first wanted to try with him was some firearms training though, with handguns. Even though I have always had interest in weapons, especially revolvers, I have no real practical experience because I don't count air guns as real weapons. My brother was a military police so he has handled multiple weapons and is a trained marksman, but I don't think he has touched a gun in 20 years so I'm not sure how rusty his skills might be. He doesn't really like guns though or more like what they can represent, perhaps he knows too well their lethal power. I like guns and martial arts, but I despise violence and love peace. We people can sometimes be complicated.

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  19. #70
    Super Moderator Wind's Avatar
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    What about them gators and crocs? Welcome to Jurassic Park, or in other words Florida.


    Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhD_BUwRpdk


    Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXn1g0xtUMk


    Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxIVkc3k_4E
    Last edited by Wind, 26th May 2022 at 21:12.

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  21. #71
    Senior Member Emil El Zapato's Avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Wind View Post
    Jesus, I think it was feeding time at the zoo. The zoo keepers in Taipei were not exactly hurrying. Calmness or just not too worried, for themselves,
    Last edited by Emil El Zapato, 26th May 2022 at 21:02.
    “El revolucionario: te meteré la bota en el culo"

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  23. #72
    Senior Member Fred Steeves's Avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Fred Steeves View Post
    Do it man, I don't think you'd regret it. But surely your brother has mentioned that a time or two.
    Quote Originally posted by Wind View Post
    That would be huge "leap" for me mentally, to actually do it. I already know how scared I would be, but I love the idea of being free in the air and even better if that won't lead to my death. I've always had the feeling that I am being protected though. My brother has actually never mentioned skydiving.
    Make a date for you and your brother to go out to your nearest drop zone and just watch for a day, maybe even pay the jumper's rate to go up on a run and watch from up there, bottom line no pressure, just doing something interesting. That way you've at least done some mental reps., it's a recon mission, more available information to ultimately decide yea or nay with.

    Quote Originally posted by Wind View Post
    I like guns and martial arts, but I despise violence and love peace. We people can sometimes be complicated.
    Humans are a complicated bunch, aren't we?



    Quote Originally posted by Wind View Post
    What about them gators and crocs? Welcome to Jurassic Park, or in other words Florida.
    Cool videos. Yeah I spent the first 47 years of my life living in west central Florida. When you're living there it just goes with the territory: sharks and jellyfish at the beach, gators and cottonmouths in lakes and rivers, rattlesnakes in the woods, and of course hurricanes and lots of lightning. It's not like you see this kind of thing all the time, but when you want to enjoy the lakes, rivers and the ocean, it just pays to be employing some situational awareness and make the risks calculated. Bad things seldom happen, but they can.

    The price of living in paradise.


    P.S. Forgot to add. That video of the gators walking across golf courses, reminded me of when I'd be doing some work in the well to do, gated neighborhoods where the back yard of the house you're working on might run right out into a fairway. Every now and zen we'd see a big old gator out there lumbering from one pond to the next, it was always an occasion to take a little break and watch them go for a few minutes.
    Last edited by Fred Steeves, 26th May 2022 at 21:49.
    The unexamined life is not worth living.

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  25. #73
    Super Moderator Wind's Avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Fred Steeves View Post
    Make a date for you and your brother to go out to your nearest drop zone and just watch for a day, maybe even pay the jumper's rate to go up on a run and watch from up there, bottom line no pressure, just doing something interesting. That way you've at least done some mental reps., it's a recon mission, more available information to ultimately decide yea or nay with.
    Actually here just very close by there is or was an airport for small airplanes and it was well known for having skydivers there for decades. Sadly it was discontinued just last year because they want to build apartment houses there. I remember in my childhood seeing paragliders in the sky and wondering what they were doing. Also at times hot air balloons were going close by, once one even emergency landed on a field real close to my home. I still see them sometimes here during the summer. Maybe I will do some research for opportunities to see skydivers sometime in the near future. It's on my bucket list.

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  27. #74
    Senior Member Fred Steeves's Avatar
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    Chuck Norris talks about his first time training with the Gracies

    The unexamined life is not worth living.

    Socrates

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    Has anyone watched the show "Swamp Creatures"? I think that's what it was called. It's about folks in the bayou who hunt alligators. It's quite the fight. And it looks hot and uncomfortable out there. But you can't jump in the water 'cause you'll get eaten!

    Cool videos. Yeah I spent the first 47 years of my life living in west central Florida. When you're living there it just goes with the territory: sharks and jellyfish at the beach, gators and cottonmouths in lakes and rivers, rattlesnakes in the woods, and of course hurricanes and lots of lightning. It's not like you see this kind of thing all the time, but when you want to enjoy the lakes, rivers and the ocean, it just pays to be employing some situational awareness and make the risks calculated. Bad things seldom happen, but they can.

    The price of living in paradise.
    Yeah, that's what Beau says. It's a state that'll try to kill you. Australia light.

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