What if you fell 30 ft?
 

If you were ever to fall out of the third story of a building, how would you want to land in order to cause the least injury to yourself?

I don't really know why, but I think about this question from time to time and I was wondering what you guys thought. If I had my choice, I would want to land on my side with my arms protecting my head from slamming directly into the ground.

how about you? (let's say you are falling onto grass)

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

feet first

I figure, if I'm falling out of this height, I must really be running from something, may as well hit the ground running.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

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If you were ever to fall out of the third story of a building, how would you want to land in order to cause the least injury to yourself?

I don't really know why, but I think about this question from time to time and I was wondering what you guys thought. If I had my choice, I would want to land on my side with my arms protecting my head from slamming directly into the ground.

how about you? (let's say you are falling onto grass)

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On your feet? Broken legs are better than punctured organs.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

my back...even though thats not the best way...id be afraid of landing on my side and sending my ribs into some organ i need

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

I think I'd probably want to land flat on my back, with my arms crossed behind my head to protect my head and neck. On your side sounds like it would cause serious back/neck injury, and I'm sure it would at least break your collarbone.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

Thirty feet is enough to break legs but not much more if you land on your feet, trying to roll down to your side to slow the fall some. Trying to land on your back or side would be a good way to break your back I'd think.

Swede

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

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Thirty feet is enough to break legs but not much more if you land on your feet, trying to roll down to your side to slow the fall some. Trying to land on your back or side would be a good way to break your back I'd think.

Swede

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that's what i would think....that a well timed ballup/roll might be able to deflect some of the force...but who knows....blarg? jake?

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

definitely on my head.

Seriously, though, how could it be anything other than feet first?

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

"In a good tight body position."

That's what they told us in jump school. Basically on your feet, but with every joint slightly bent, and then do a controlled collapse while rolling to the side.

Either that or head first.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

Exactly, the body is one big shock absorber, land with your limps slightly bend to absorb the force and you could wake away from it.


Cody

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

Haven't you seen the Parkour guys? They land on their feet from three story jumps. Incredible stuff. Wish I still had the link of one of their videos I saw. Maybe I can dig it up. It's from a French movie released this year.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

This is clearly 3d6 points of damage no matter how you slice it.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

Grab some roller blades or a skateboard and make a rad landing and roll away.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

I'm glad I asked this question. I guess if I landed on my side I would be lucky to escape serious injury. The feet is clearly the right response.

At least now I'll have a chance to survive if this ever happens [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

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Thirty feet is enough to break legs but not much more if you land on your feet, trying to roll down to your side to slow the fall some. Trying to land on your back or side would be a good way to break your back I'd think.

Swede

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that's what i would think....that a well timed ballup/roll might be able to deflect some of the force...but who knows....blarg? jake?

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I've known two people who have fallen off the roof of 2 storey-homes. One guy was a black-belt in jiujitsu and knew how to fall properly (I'm not entirely sure what he did, but it involved a roll), and wasn't injured at all when he got up and brushed himself off.

The other guy was a big guy who landed on his stomach. His stomach hurt a bit after he fell, but didn't break any bones, so he considered himself lucky. A few days later his stomach started to bother him, but he was going through a stressful period, and thought it was just indigestion. The pain persisted, but he refused to go to a doctor. His breath then started to get really bad...it smelled like something had literally died inside him. Actually, something *literally* had -- his stomach had moved and twisted when he'd hit the ground, and had become gangrenous over time. He finally collapsed one day with a massive fever and was rushed to the hospital. They ended up having to remove a good chunk of his stomach to save his life.

So, to answer your question, I wouldn't land on my stomach. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

I'd do whatever PLF was correct for my body orientation at the time. Might still snap an ankle or a leg or something, but shouldn't be too bad.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

pillows

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

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This is clearly 3d6 points of damage no matter how you slice it.

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I know what this means [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

The best way is to land and roll, but if thats not possible based on your trajectory, this is the correct position to land in.

One leg bent, one arm over your head, and the other at your side.
http://www.travelphoto.net/photos/pi.../aikido/i2.jpg

His left arm should be straight here though.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

Semi-NSFW

That might happen if you do it wrong.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

Also, as a random bit of information, a human can survive a fall from an infinite # of feet, if he lands on snow on a mountain or something. A human reaches a terminal velocity of about 200mp/h very quickly, and in my physics corse we discussed cases of men falling out of airplaines, landing on snow, getting up bruised and walking away.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

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[ QUOTE ]
Thirty feet is enough to break legs but not much more if you land on your feet, trying to roll down to your side to slow the fall some. Trying to land on your back or side would be a good way to break your back I'd think.

Swede

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that's what i would think....that a well timed ballup/roll might be able to deflect some of the force...but who knows....blarg? jake?

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I crashed into a truck on my bike at about 30 MPH or so, flipped up over the top, and did a standard jiu jitsu front roll, guiding myself with my hand, tucking in and then rolling. I rolled up onto one foot and was standing on my feet when it was done. But the force of the quick spin plus the speed it was started at was tremendous, and the foot I came up on coming out of the roll hit the ground pretty hard, and the outside of my knee was really sore too. My bike was snapped completely in half, though, so I did better than it did.

I don't really know what the best way to do it would be, but I think it would take a great deal of training not to get seriously hurt, or just some kind of great luck and innate athleticism and strong bones and joints. Apparently, from seeing the Parkour videos, you can jump from some staggering heights if you're trained well and be fine, landing on your feet. I think if I had forward momentum, I'd go into a roll, and if I didn't, I'd try landing on my feet. I've often thought it would be better to land on my back, because I can fall extraordinarily well on my back. But the thing is, having a feel for where your body should be when your back is only a few feet from the ground is much different than when it's 30 feet from the ground. And the way you would fall would be different too. I think landing on your back instead of accidentally on your shoulder, head, or neck would be pretty tricky, and catastrophic if it goes wrong. I think I'd rather have my legs shattered than have my head knocked off my neck.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

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This is clearly 3d6 points of damage no matter how you slice it.

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I know what this means [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

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I do too, and I never even actually played.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

My inclination would be to say tuck & roll, but i'd be afraid the ground would be coming up too fast and my attempted roll would just land me head first into the dirt. So I'd probably say soft legs and roll backward using a slapping motion at the ground as your roll back. It's another pretty common martial arts fall.

I think paratroopers roll sideways or something, but I don't know how to do it.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

Here's a link to some of the Parkour guys video.

http://www.le-parkour.com/leparkour.avi

They have other ones there too.

The movie I was talking about was Banlieue 13, and I'm hoping Netflix gets it. If not, I may buy it. Anyway, I saw a video in which a guy was doing all kinds of crazy stuff. The video here that I linked to is not quite that wild, but still shows a guy running up the side of a house, doing a very cool jump onto a narrow handrail, and some cool acrobatics. Lots of talk in it, but worth the download.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

I've fallen close to thirty feet before. I was rock climbing without ropes and got to a a point on the rock face where I couldn't climbed anymore in any direction, and I couldn't climb back down the way I came up. I just sttod there clinging to the rock face until my muscles couldn't hold me there anymore. I probably fell 25-30 feet and landed on my feet. The ground was uneven and most of the force of the fall was transfered to my left leg and ankle. The force of landing threw me to my back and I skidded along the ground for a little bit. Luckily I was climbing with a friend and she helped my to our vehicle and to the emergency room. I only ended up with a severe ankle sprain and the cuts on my back. Ever since then I have had a fear of heights that I had never had before.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

Falling will do that to you.

When I was a kid, a bunch of us would routinely climb up to our grammar school's roof to retrieve footballs and jump back down onto the grass. That was at least 25 feet high. Luckily never got hurt. I drive by the school now, and feel lucky I didn't break my neck back then.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

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[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Thirty feet is enough to break legs but not much more if you land on your feet, trying to roll down to your side to slow the fall some. Trying to land on your back or side would be a good way to break your back I'd think.

Swede

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that's what i would think....that a well timed ballup/roll might be able to deflect some of the force...but who knows....blarg? jake?

[/ QUOTE ]

I crashed into a truck on my bike at about 30 MPH or so, flipped up over the top, and did a standard jiu jitsu front roll, guiding myself with my hand, tucking in and then rolling. I rolled up onto one foot and was standing on my feet when it was done. But the force of the quick spin plus the speed it was started at was tremendous, and the foot I came up on coming out of the roll hit the ground pretty hard, and the outside of my knee was really sore too. My bike was snapped completely in half, though, so I did better than it did.

I don't really know what the best way to do it would be, but I think it would take a great deal of training not to get seriously hurt, or just some kind of great luck and innate athleticism and strong bones and joints. Apparently, from seeing the Parkour videos, you can jump from some staggering heights if you're trained well and be fine, landing on your feet. I think if I had forward momentum, I'd go into a roll, and if I didn't, I'd try landing on my feet. I've often thought it would be better to land on my back, because I can fall extraordinarily well on my back. But the thing is, having a feel for where your body should be when your back is only a few feet from the ground is much different than when it's 30 feet from the ground. And the way you would fall would be different too. I think landing on your back instead of accidentally on your shoulder, head, or neck would be pretty tricky, and catastrophic if it goes wrong. I think I'd rather have my legs shattered than have my head knocked off my neck.

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ok whatever Ong-Bak [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

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I think paratroopers roll sideways or something, but I don't know how to do it.

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Exactly, you align your body vertical, bend you joints slightly, but keep muscles fairly tight, and when you hit the ground you collapse to either side, letting the ground hit first your feet, then calf, thigh, butt, etc.

BTW, I've seen 2 people jump from 1250', chutes fail to open (but streamers), and walk away using this method.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

[ QUOTE ]
The other guy was a big guy who landed on his stomach. His stomach hurt a bit after he fell, but didn't break any bones, so he considered himself lucky. A few days later his stomach started to bother him, but he was going through a stressful period, and thought it was just indigestion. The pain persisted, but he refused to go to a doctor. His breath then started to get really bad...it smelled like something had literally died inside him. Actually, something *literally* had -- his stomach had moved and twisted when he'd hit the ground, and had become gangrenous over time. He finally collapsed one day with a massive fever and was rushed to the hospital. They ended up having to remove a good chunk of his stomach to save his life.


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let me get this straight. the guy jumped off a two story house, landed on his stomach, had stomach issues a few days later, and thought it was stress??

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

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I think paratroopers roll sideways or something, but I don't know how to do it.

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I'd do whatever PLF was correct for my body orientation at the time.

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PLF = parachute landing fall.

I'm not in the military, but I've talked with friends/seen/read about it. It'd be a shot in the dark for me to try it, but better than just flailing around.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

That would be something to impress your old classmates with on a reunion.

And I would land on my feet. Not ever would I land on my back as some said since I wouldn't be able to breathe for about 1 hour afterwards.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

One of my friends from high school goes to UCLA, and over a year ago before finals he was trying to take a shortcut in between houses to get to another street to find a party. Anyways, he jumps over this wall and he thinks its like 10 feet down, turns out its over 20 feet, and he breaks both his feet and was in a wheel chair for almost all of summer.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

I always try not to laugh at other people's misery. This time, I failed.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Here's a link to some of the Parkour guys video.

http://www.le-parkour.com/leparkour.avi

They have other ones there too.

The movie I was talking about was Banlieue 13, and I'm hoping Netflix gets it. If not, I may buy it. Anyway, I saw a video in which a guy was doing all kinds of crazy stuff. The video here that I linked to is not quite that wild, but still shows a guy running up the side of a house, doing a very cool jump onto a narrow handrail, and some cool acrobatics. Lots of talk in it, but worth the download.

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This one is pretty cool.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/29618/run_escape_jump/

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

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I always try not to laugh at other people's misery. This time, I failed.

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We used to mess with him a little bit, doing stuff like pushing his wheelchair into a corner or something, or just leaving him in the car at a friends house and walking away for a minute.

It was hilarious, until I broke my elbow and was in a full arm cast. We were a bunch of cripples who couldn't drive, so a friend would pick us up and we'd go to the mall or something and people would give us the stragest looks. Imagine a guy with 1 arm pushing a guy in a wheel chair, a few times we told people that we were the victims of a drunk driver and they'd get this horrible look on their faces before we busted up laughing.

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

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We used to mess with him a little bit, doing stuff like pushing his wheelchair into a corner or something, or just leaving him in the car at a friends house and walking away for a minute.

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LMAO, that is some funny [censored], since it was a temporary injury...

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

This one is pretty cool.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/29618/run_escape_jump/

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That's a cool sequence. Thanks.

Swede

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

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a few times we told people that we were the victims of a drunk driver and they'd get this horrible look on their faces before we busted up laughing.

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lol nice

Re: What if you fell 30 ft?
 

I was playing hide and seek with some schoolmates when I was about 7 or 8. There was a cliff behind the school that was about 50 feet in height. There was a small ledge about five feet from the top of the cliff that looked like an unbeatable hiding spot. I walked up the hill until I was above the ledge. I slowly lowered my left leg over the edge until I reached the shelf. In this position my weight was completely centered on my left leg with my right leg still on top well above my hip. As I attempted to move my right leg down I lost my balance and pitched forward. There was a remarkably limbless pine tree about ten feet out from the cliff. My last desperate thought as I peeled from the cliff like a flying squirrel was to push off in an attempt to catch the tree. Unfortunately, when I got to the tree I had already fallen about ten feet and was moving way to fast to hold on. I gave it my best bear hug but mostly just slid/bounced off slowly rotating backwards. The ground beneath the cliff was fairly soft grassless soil covered in pine needles. I landed flat on my back and the air in my lungs exited violently leaving me gasping like a fish on the bank of a river. I was absolutely unhurt. I believe the tree, although removing a large portion of the skin on my arms, actually slowed me down enough that in combination with the relatively soft ground and the sheer stupid luck and flexibility of a young boy landing perfectly flat on my back, arms out to my side, saved me from injury. Unfortunately, I was expelled from that school the next day.