People acting squirrelly

i-dc95b4f5ab152bcaec72cea6b8441d3d-squirrel_suit.jpg

So the other day, my sister and brother in-law were visiting from California, and at one point got talking about these people who were dressing in "squirrel suits" and jumping off buildings and some of the cliffs out there.

So, I imagined what I would think most people imagined. Crazy people dressing up as giant squirrels (maybe some of them dressed up as chipmunks or rabbits or whatever) and climbing around and jumping off things. Like squirrels do.

But apparently they were talking about something else. Something that you have to be a bit squirrelly to do, but not exactly squirrel-looking. They were talking about this:

More like this

Good question! I imagine the first dozen or so times this was invented it was a dead end!

Actually, they are wearing little parachutes and they deploy them before they hit the ground. They can slow down with a squirrel suit but not enough to make a safe landing.

Or so I'm told.

Saw one of those squirrel suits on Top Gear (Brit TV programme) a few years ago. No cliffs around, though - he was just racing one of the presenters who was driving a Porsche Cayenne.

How do they land?

With a parachute. You can just see it open right at the end of the clip.

By Kevin Anthoney (not verified) on 11 Jan 2009 #permalink

Those make an appearance in one of the Tomb Raider movies (don't recall which one). A daring escape (tm) is made by putting those on and leaping from an under-construction skyscraper.

Ha! My first thought was also "Hm, but they're not showing any landings..."

Put me in mind of this video. (Kiwi!, for the click-averse)

Mike V: it was the second Tomb Raider, "The Cradle of Life". That shows the switch to parachutes in order to land. Great scene. Real stunt, not CGI.

Something that you have to be a bit squirrelly to do, but not exactly squirrel-looking.

Greg, I'm surprised at you. Haven't you ever seen a flying squirrel? They use the webbing between "arms"/"legs" and body to glide and thus extend their jumps from tree to tree. These suits very strongly resemble flying squirrels.

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=flying-squirrel

I have seen flying squirrels in both North America and Africa, and the difference is if you drop even a regular squirrel about 40 times its body height it (usually) is uninjured, but if you do that to a person they (usually) don't survive!

Now, that video ... I don't know about that video ...

I prefer this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZgcBUx0Vwg

That really looks like fun, and I would try it if I were younger and in better shape and had life insurance for my kids. I can't think of any better way to die than flying like that.