After seeing this clip
I wonder what is the Longevity of the suits minus if you crash in them

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmlAW_1hgT8&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]

i’m going to guess that the suits become out-dated before they fall apart…

I made a wingsuit out of an old vango tent that had gone a bit mouldy.. I stapled it together using the office stapler..

It works a treat.. 8)

u have been flying your tent? really?

That is awesome!

I made a wingsuit out of an old vango tent that had gone a bit mouldy

I made one from a pair of 1970s curtains, its fairly rad and fashionable.

I’ll try it out later when i’ve had some more whisky.

Brilliant vid, i wish i had the bollox to do it.

vid was shot round the back of Nationwide in Swindon..

You wonder if there’s scope for something in between a wing suit and a hang glider?

Am I bad for thinking those wing suit guys are dicks?

You wonder if there’s scope for something in between a wing suit and a hang glider?

Am I bad for thinking those wing suit guys are dicks?

I’m wondering if you have the cojones to try it yourself. The words ‘put up or shut up’ do spring to mind.

The words ‘put up or shut up’ do spring to mind.

I dunno if having massive capacity for putting oneself in danger automatically makes one less of a dick though..

<CaptainFlasheartmode-on> I know a fabulous wing-suit taylor on Saville Row, e-mail in profile. <CaptainFlasheartmode-off>

Countzero of course I wouldn’t, I value my life (and don’t have the skills or balls). I suspect these guys don’t which is probably why I think they are dicks.

How does “put up or shut up” apply here? Doesn’t it mean “if you say someone should put up or shut up, you mean they should either take action in order to do what they have been talking about or stop talking about it”

Do continue to hero worship them if you like,

I bet most women would rather their partners donned a wingsuit than a big hitter cape x x

Am I bad for thinking those wing suit guys are dicks?

I know folks that think riding an mtb is a bit stupid, so I think you’re on safe ground, as it were.

Countzero of course I wouldn’t, I value my life (and don’t have the skills or balls). I suspect these guys don’t which is probably why I think they are dicks.

Do you think anyone who has different values to you is a dick?

Not sure why anyone would consider these guys dicks… presumably you know nothing about the skill and courage required to do what they’re doing…??

I used to skydive 10 years ago when wingsuits were just beginning to be tried out. They’re pioneers in the real sense of the word. What they were doing then was cool but this kind of stuff is amazing. It takes more balls than any trick you can do on a bike.

Yes it’s dangerous. But it’s a hell of a better way to go than old age or under a bus IMO… and who knows what kind of military purposes they’re using it for, a lot of skydivers are ex-Paras. One day someone doing this may save your life….

The skill it takes to control yourself in freefall is beyond most people. To have the level of control these guys have now is beyond belief…

I value my life

maybe you should give skydiving a go someday then. You appreciate life like you’ve never done before when you see a full canopy above your head…

Go Brooess Go! You get my vote!!! 😉

Impressive, but am I the only one who thinks that these extreme activities are exploitation on behalf of Red Bull? Looks like a clear push to more and more extreme activities.

What life assurance for wind suit flying?

Don’t say anything bad about them FFS!

It was the shit stains that killed my wingsuit

Whilst that video’s great, don’t the shadows around the four minute mark look fake?

Looks cool. What happens if you scratch your nuts though?

Nothing but admiration for them – the chap who recently landed without a chute even more so!

Theyr’e definately very close to dicks cos theyr’e nuts!

I don’t think theyr’e dicks but I know of plenty on here who are.

The skill it takes to control yourself in freefall is beyond most people. To have the level of control these guys have now is beyond belief…

I was on the train with a guy who had tried the modern suits (had a couple in a holdall on the way to gatwick). He was friends with that other guy who hit table mountain recently, was telling me about it.

His vibe was that actually flying; even flyting reasonably close; is pretty easy. The difficult parts are the takeoff (placement, getting terminal velocity and so forward momentum and lift) and the chute pop (because you have to flare, you lose your forward momentum and so you lose all of your lift and start to plummet like a stone) were the shit bits.

i shouldn’t imagine bird-strike would be especially pleasant in one of those things…

lets talk Winged Sluts.. in pre-biblical times the world was awash with plagues of them..

it must have been awful..

They could be dicks. A couple of them might be moody, or be argumentative, or a bit overly sensitive and therefore a bit snappy. One of them might be a little arrogant or overtly loud when he has one too many beers. One of them might have an overwhelming sense of self importance or like the sound of his own voice too much.

So it is possible they are dicks, not collectively as a bunch of wingsuiters though.

ah get over yourself, there is no law against being wingsuitist, yet

The guys I’ve known who do it have been the most friendly, calm, quiet, self-effacing people you’d ever want to meet.

Actually I’m not sure I think they are dicks, it’s probably the unbridled love-in/adulation/hero worship that gets me.

EDIT where’s that road in the OP? Looks like an ace climb.

I seduced one the other day and persuaded him to stay the night..

in the morning he under seasoned the eggs benedict..

he was called Dick and I now have a very low opinion of him..

So brooess, what control do you have. Do the sits have a natural sink rate like a parapente canopy? If you are hugging the mountain and suddenly there is a higher bit in front – what happens? Presumably you cannot climb (or can you?), so its SPLAT! The margin for error seems so tiny its amazing.

Having never done it I don’t know quite how much control they have – Continuity’s comments up there suggest a few awkward moments have to be dealt with….!
Freefall terminal velocity is c 120mph and AFAIK these suits give you nearer 60 which means less of a wind to push against for control. But I guess the larger surface area of the suit gives back the control, but moving more slowly. I suspect the videos are edited to look as good as possible…

You’re essentially falling all the time, I don’t know if they can actually regain height, depends on your speed I suppose. I suspect the places they jump from and the routes they take are very well planned so they know there won’t be an unexpected higher bit…

Skydiving and BASE are pretty well understood in terms of the risks and how to manage them and as it goes, relatively safe – very few incidents as a % of jumps being done. As you say the margin for error is tiny in wingsuit.

Which is why I admire them. It takes balls to do that… and I can’t think of another sport where the limits of what man is capable of are being pushed so far right now…

Some intresting analysis /videos over here…
Fatalities in extreme sports over the past 5 years per 1,000 participants. Anyone with an ambition to climb K2 might take note of these figures too!

Skydiving: 3.3
Base Jumping: 44
Hang Gliding/Paragliding: 3.8
Summiting K2: 104
ATV Riding: 0.5
Scuba Diving: .06
Snowboarding: .05

Although wingsuit flying is not on the list (there is probably not enough data to work with yet) it is probably somewhere between skydiving and BASEjumping. It is an interesting aside, though, that fatality rates were very high during the developmental period for this extreme sport. Between 1930 and 1961, 71 out of 75 people died trying to perfect a wingsuit.

Although wingsuit flying is not on the list (there is probably not enough data to work with yet) it is probably somewhere between skydiving and BASEjumping.

What science did you use to work that out?

Do continue to hero worship them if you like,

Where, exactly, did you come to assume ‘hero worship’ on my part? All I did was call you on labelling a group of extreme sports participants ‘dicks’, purely because of their participation in that sport.
I have huge respect for anyone prepared to risk their lives taking part in any risky undertaking.
I reserve ‘hero worship’ for those who have acted in a heroic fashion, say rescuing someone while risking their own life.
Is that clear enough for you?

Exactly what CountZero said.

Essel, thank you, sir! 😀

Do continue to hero worship them if you like,

I’ll be mostly doing this.
I’d guess most of us have always wanted to fly, this is about as close as you’ll get. The feeling must be awesome.
Unfortunately I’ll never have the opportunity to try it. I believe you want/need 300 off free fall jumps before even trying base jumping. That’s before getting close to a wing suit.
Expensive and limited in where you can do it.