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Comment by weaksauce | Hacker News Reader

> wingsuits are dangerous

Are they really that much more dangerous than parachuting? I know they have more fatalities but wingsuiting is only more dangerous because people take more risks with them and fly close to the ridgeline(typically you only get into wingsuiting if you are an experienced parachute operator). Similar to in rock climbing with typical roped climbing vs. free soloing(sans ropes).

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Wingsuits aren't inherently dangerous, but they're only fun if you're flying close to things, and flying close to solid objects in an impromptu aircraft with terrible aerodynamics and highly questionable control scheme is dangerous.

So yes, wingsuits when used in the way that wingsuits are almost always used are inherently dangerous.

> but they're only fun if you're flying close to things

I only rock climb but wouldn't it still be fun to be in the air for a longer time even if you are not close to objects? I think the wingsuit craze of flying near objects has more to do with being bored of the normal parachute experience.

I'd imagine if you want more hang time you'd just open your parachute earlier. I've seen videos of people wingsuiting in clear air and it looks pretty boring.

Well it's about the sensation you get, not how it looks. With a wingsuit you can drift faster so it's already something, but it's true that you fully realize the (horizontal) speed you're flying at only when you're close to others objects.

Over the last fifteen years there have been three times as many wingsuit deaths as freesolo deaths, for what its worth.

the general practitioner of wingsuiting is pushing the limits of what can be done safely. watch video after video of them do close calls near the edge of a ridgeline. most(perhaps all?) freesoloists are well below their limit(hell even honnold only freesolos well below his limit).

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