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I am hoping that we would never have to use this evacuation method but I think it's worth consideration.
I work in a very large building in downtown, Los Angeles, we have many scares here... whether it be terrorism, fires or earthquakes – whatever it is, it raises a question on how to get out of here! If unable to get down the stairs, a colleague and I have started to question and consider a parachute... why not? If there is an emergency, where evacuation is near impossible and death would probably occur anyway... why not jump out with a parachute...???
Is this crazy to even consider..? I don't think so but some others in the office do. I have seen pictures of base jumpers on buildings near mine, so I know it's possible. Please, if anyone has tips, ideas on where to get a chute or comments... please let me know. Thanks!

Remember what may look high enough to jump from a whuffos point of view is not high enough in reality. If you really are serious about this, seek some training (including learning how to fly a canopy), get the proper gear and have a static line setup ready. Then again, the chances of you actually needing to bail from an office tower are highly unlikely. So ignore everything I just said.

if im not mistaken, there was a company (basic research?) who manufactured for a bit a high office parachute escaape system... or HOPE... it consisted of a statci lined round and claimed it could be used from the tenth floor up... (100 ft plus..)

the idea behind the round being you might break your legs on landing, but at least you didnt fly back into the building and collapse your wing, then break your everything....
so i guess check google... or maybe br...good luck.. hope you never need to use it.

Post 9/11, several companies sprang up to market such building escape paracutes.

The best implementation I am aware of was the HOPE system. I believe it was manufactured by Basic Research under contract, and I also seem to remember that the company selling them was called Aerial Egress, and was a separate entity owned by some of the same people who owned Basic Research. I was never clear on what the actual ownership pattern was.

At any rate, I saw the HOPE system, I know that it was test jumped and appeared effective when used within certain parameters. You can find more information about it here, but I am not clear on whether or not such an item is still commercially available. If you are desparate to have one, I'd bet that Apex BASE could make you one, as they undoubtedly still have the resources and expertise to do so.

Personally, I think your coworkers are right, and it's pretty much a crazy idea. In 99.9% of cases, I'd say you are going to be safer just running down the emergency exit stairs, with a sharp pair of scissors in each hand. The only way you'd catch me using one of those things to exit a burning building would be if someone had a gun to my head. You'd be far better off, in my opinion, with a good length of static line and a rappel device. I've also seen various "idiot proof" cable-based descent devices that I'd say give a higher chance of survival than a parachute.

i think nickdg said something once about a cable running from rooftop to firetruck and paradactyls on said cable....

Has anybody ever seen the emergency escape system on the Space Shuttle? It has a huge pole that extends about 20 feet clear of the body. Should the astronauts need to get out of the shuttle before landing, they clip themselves onto this pole and jump out. The relative wind and gravity work to pull them out the pole and release them clear of the wings and stabilizers.

I think that using a BASE rig as an emergency escape device from a building is ridiculous [at least to any and all un-trained jumpers], but the pole idea is still interesting to me.

Stuff's going down in the building. You pull your rig on and hit a button. The window shatters and a 20 foot curved pole sticks out the window. Hook yourself onto it and jump out. It carries you clear of the building and deploys your parachute as soon as you reach the end of the pole.

Eh.

I saw a post about this a while ago and actually saw something on TV about it. Below is the link for the exact once I saw (Its on the same site at HOPE that Tom posted). Worked by static line and was very easy to put on and operate from the instruction giving on the tv program. (no idea where and when I saw it)

The Executive Chute

http://www.saferamerica.com/...=15&productID=64

Ah yes, my favorite.

HAHA! I didn't notice that. Good catch.

These guys produce some good looking escape systems ,http://www.conceptsafety.com/

they use a static lined paradactyl ( e-vest )for 40m+ and a rappel type device ( e-rope ) for lower exit

Yo !

Hijackig this thread, but i heard a rumour of an emergency self-rescue McConkie done after a cliff strike in Oz this summer... any confirmation or details?

bsbd!

Yuri.

If I was in the twin towers in new york on 11th of sept 2001 and someone handed me a BASE rig, I think I'd have a better chance of surviving with that BASE rig then just jumping out of a window and tracking into cement

few broken legs is better then 99.99999999999999% death

Let's consider a hypothetical situation: someone works in a high building in US and that someone is a BASE jumper (not necessarily made known to the whole world). Say, the BASE jumper brings his rig to work bearing in mind possible terrorist attacks, earthquakes, other emergency cases. The rig is kept safe somewhere in the office and the jumper is happy and cool knowing that he/she can, in case of an emergency, grab the rig and jump off of the roof to save his/her life. But one day, the BASE jumper is struck with a thought: 'merely having a rig in the office is not enough! I need to practise at least a few times to be completely happy and confident that, in case of an emergency, everything will work out just the way it should'.

Now, the question is: do you think the BASE jumper has any chance of getting a legal permission to make that few jumps for the sake of practising? Through legal action?

P.S.
Then, at some point, the BASE jumper might conclude that he/she needs to stay current with this kind of rescue jumps. How about getting a permission to practise on a regular basis?

guess what?
even though F-111, ( a nylon brand / marketing designation), is no longer made, it's porosity specification was 0 - 3 cfm.
0 as in zero porosity.
Now manufacturers create a fabric simply known as
0-3 cfm ripstop nylon.

then they treat it so that it becomes what most people call zp fabric.

newer / better / lighter / less bulky fabric now being manufactured and is on the way if you are willing to spend the $$$$$$$

isn't learning wonderful?

be safe

kleggo

I was actually wondering if there was some ZP F-111 when I made that post... glad to get an answer.

In the early days of emergency parachuting no one practiced it. You did as needed. Even the Astronauts are banned from parachuting even when the "pole" was in use.

My friend Bruce Gilkey is a Navy test jumper and he jumped the "pole" sticking out of a Convair wearing a space suit. A year or so later when the Stiletto first came out Bruce bought one and spun in with line twists up at the Hemet DZ . . .

NickD
BASE 194

Another article about escape chutes. Alot of good points.

http://www.news.com.au/...7,16842761-2,00.html

F-111, ( a nylon brand / marketing designation), is no longer made

 

Read into it what you will. But I was more referring to the comments by the authorities. At least it was not a total plug for these chutes and the article recognised that some skill is required.

He said a parachutist could fly "right into the tram wires and the overhead power lines and any firefighting activities that might be going on down in the street".

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

E-vest looks like a para-gliding harness mated to a Paradactyl main canopy (formerly built in Elsinore, California, but long out of production) or a new-production Russian PZ-81 Rogallo reserve.

Frankly, the e-rope version makes more sense for lower buildings.

If you want to be picky, "F-111" fabric cesed production long before ZP fabric was invented.
F-111 was a brand name for low-porosity (0-3 cubic feet per minute) calenderized nylon fabric manufactured by George Harris. Calendarizing involves pressing nylon fabric between hot rollers, so the (originally round) threads become half-roung, closing gaps between threads and making fabric less porous. Unfortunately George died in the early 1980s and F-111 production ceased.
Silicone-coated ZP fabric was not introduced (by Parachutes de France) until late 1988 and did not hit the American market until Performance Designs introduced Zero P3 fabric in 1989.
Most ZP fabrics start with the same threads and weave as F-111, but impregnate the fabric with silicone sealant to hide the holes between threads.

However, the term F-111 became a slang, generic term - like Kleenex - meaning any low porousity nylon canopy fabric.
A sales rep from Gelvenor Textiles (the leading South African manufacturer of parachute fabric) bragged that their 0-3 cfm fabric consistently left the factory at 0.5 cfm. In the short run, that means that new 0-3 cfm fabric inflates and flies like ZP fabric.
Also remember that the better manufacturers coat new 0-3 cfm fabric so much that you cannot distinguish it from ZP fabric until you shake it. When you shake new ZP fabric it makes "crinkly noises" because of all the silicone coating.

Tom is correct, it was Aerial Egress (Todd and Anne from BR and Gary from Free Flight) that made the H.O.P.E. System. Even though Aerial Egress has taken down the shingle, interested parties can contact us at Apex BASE to discuss getting a H.O.P.E. System.

As eporter mentioned, this system does not guarantee the saving of life; it is only after every other method of escape or rescue has failed that the H.O.P.E. System would be utilized in a final attempt to escape sure death by fire, smoke inhalation, or by just jumping to avoid the above. Even though we are confident that the H.O.P.E. System will function properly if used properly, this does not mean you won't die anyway if the parachute catches fire on the way down, if crazy drafts blow you into a building, if you get snagged on something else, or if you get hit by an emergency vehicle as you get close to the ground.

Seeing the footage of the Twin Towers catastrophe and watching several people leap to their deaths to avoid burning is what spurred the people of Aerial Egress to complete the design of the H.O.P.E. System and get it on the market. It was not an attempt to capitalize on a desperate populace as some seemed to think; it was a humane response to the impact deaths that may have been averted by the use of a simple parachute.

I was personally overwhelmed by the amount of phone calls I received at the BR office on Sept. 12th. Literally dozens of people called wanting to buy our BASE parachutes right off the shelf. I hadn't watched any of the footage at that point since I didn't have TV, but later at a friend's house I did watch. When I saw the man dropping head down with briefcase in hand after leaping out the window, I completely understood why so many people had called wanting a parachute. That man would have been better off having a H.O.P.E. System than his briefcase.

Here's hoping that if eporter does decide to buy an emergency escape parachute he will never have to use it.

Regards,
Karen Thomas
Apex BASE
(formerly Basic Research)