How far can a man fall?

[cdn1337]

How far can a soldier, wearing full combat gear, fall without being injured?  The same into water?
Also, can a soldier exit a LAV at full throttle and escape with no significant damage?

I'm wondering, because there's a BF2 mod, http://www.realitymod.com/, and they seem to think that it's little over 10 feet.  Also, sliding down hills in Afghanistan maps can also cause injury.  Dropping say, 15 feet, will wound the player.  Then they'll start bleeding. Eventually, without a medic coming over, they'll become wounded (basically dead, but still revivable).  So essentially, the gameplay mechanics put a 15 foot drop (even if they're prepared for the drop), or probably around 20 into water, can mortally wound you. My explanation's pretty weak, and you need to have some knowledge of BF2 mechanics to know WTF I'm talking about.

But in summary; this accurate? Can a soldier drop 15 feet, onto concrete, and continue fighting.  I'm looking for some conclusive answers (please, no depends how you fall),  just in general.

 

[Michael OLeary]

I'm looking for some conclusive answers (please, no depends how you fall)

This condition is self-contradicting.

 

[Shamrock]

The average infantryman can survive a fall of over 100' provided he lands on his head.

 

[bdave]

You can die by falling off a bicycle that is standing still. You do so by hitting your head.
Depending on how you fall, where(/what) you fall (on) and how much weight you're carrying can be anything from nothing to breaking your back. I'd say in full gear (+70 pounds) you could risk injury at 5 feet.

For the LAV question, do you mean the LAV is driving at full speed?

 

[owa]

Sorry, but it would totally depend on how you fall, but 15 feet is pretty high to fall.  Could you drop that and land on your feet and be okay?  Maybe, but you could also blow out your ankle or break your legs.

I'd say 15 feet is a good starting point.  20 feet gets dicey as hell, and anything higher is sure to kill most of the population.

Then there's this guy:

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/08/31/2010-08-31_miracle_man_plunges_seven_stories_crashes_atop_of_dodge_charger_and_lives_to_tel.html

39 story plunge...  Article mentions a guy who fell 42 stories once.

 

[Maelstrom]

I fell about 14 feet onto hard stone and smashed both my heel bones. that was 3 months ago and im JUST starting to stand on my feet again.  I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt so im sure that being weighed down would cause a break further up my leg or back.

 

[brihard]

I can calculate the force and everything... in physics it's nice to assume that we live in a vacuum with frictionless surfaces and rigid bodies, but this is real life.

Forgive me.  ;D

 

[mariomike]

Then there's this guy:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/08/31/2010-08-31_miracle_man_plunges_seven_stories_crashes_atop_of_dodge_charger_and_lives_to_tel.html

"an apparent suicide attempt"
Amazing. A jumper does a Peter Pan from the 39th floor and survives. Meanwhile, some poor little kid falls out a  window because there are no safety devices. You never know.

 

[MedCorps]

Ah... a popular exam question.  There is a direct correlation between height of fall and lethality.

If we assume the average "floor height" is 12 feet the textbook answer is:

The lethality for 50% of the population (LD50) is four floors.
The lethality for 90% of the population (LD90) is seven floors.

See: Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice, 6th ed (2006).

I hope that is of some help.

MC

 

[Oh No a Canadian]

Same thing goes for the LAV question. How does a person exit?

I do believe in this game the character simply appears outside of the vehicle, no doors open nor is there any animation sequence of the character exiting.

 

[Oh No a Canadian]

Well, true in the game, but in real life, as the OP requested, a door or ramp or something would need to open. Would the person dive out of the LAV? Barrel roll? Try to run in the opposite direction? Try and land on all major impact points to absorb the impact?

Yes, I was just stating that there is no specific answer to that question.

As for the safest one would get out of a LAV traveling at full speed I would think than laying down (on one's chest) on the end of the ramp and rolling off onto one's back would result in the least amount of injury.

 

[cdn1337]

I just threw this up because I think there's too much falling damage ingame.  You can't have random fall damage in a game, everything is set. 
I figure if you're hoping out of a LAV, a BMP, BTR, Bradley w/e you can jump out with little injury.

I was hoping you'd all unanimously say a man can safely drop that far.  Then they would probably change the mechanics.
Right now, the fall damage is set so high people occasionally take damage descending stairs. By occasionally I mean like 20% of the time.  Tell me THAT'S not over kill.

 

[Jungle]

How far can a man fall?

I've never seen anyone fall farther than the bottom...

 

[Shamrock]

I just threw this up because I think there's too much falling damage ingame.  You can't have random fall damage in a game, everything is set. 
I figure if you're hoping out of a LAV, a BMP, BTR, Bradley w/e you can jump out with little injury.

I was hoping you'd all unanimously say a man can safely drop that far.  Then they would probably change the mechanics.
Right now, the fall damage is set so high people occasionally take damage descending stairs. By occasionally I mean like 20% of the time.  Tell me THAT'S not over kill.

Stand in a room, toes and ankles together.  Close your eyes.  Lock your knees, hips, and core.  Lean forward.  Continue to lean forward in this rigid manner until gravity takes over and you strike the ground.

You have now fallen zero feet and have likely taken fall damage. 

 

[ArmyRick]

To look at the title of the of the thread and the ridicolous way the original poster put his guidelines and doesn't want "depends..." Well guess what, here are a few things to think about, buds.
1. If a man falls out of a plane at 33,521 feet, then he will probably fall 33,522 feet (an extra foot for the imprint his body will leave in the ground).
2. If he falls on the moon, then I guess he should be ok for like 40 feet or so...
3. If a black belt judoka is throwing you then you can be severly injured from a fall of 3-4 feet
4. If you fall on concrete covered with 3 feet of peat moss, than 20 feet should be ok
5. If he falls on concrete wearing MK3 hockey puck combat boots, than 6 feet might do him in
6. If he falls with a servicable parachute and deploys it, then he should be good (any PI or MFF PI want to comment?)
7. If he falls and lands on his head, neck or back, than I would say it could turn out nasty
8. If you fall off the back of a moving truck or horse or a charging elephant, than it may not go so well
9. If the concrete has a layer of six nails poiting straight up than any height will not do him any good

I am getting ridicolous but so is the original post IMO. You don't want depends, but guess hwta, IT DOES DEPEND. What is the soldier wearing, how does he fall, whats his joint health, Does he fall feet first or head first.

All this for gaming?

 

[mariomike]

"10 Amazing Free Fall Survivors":
http://www.oddee.com/item_96967.aspx

 

[Journeyman]

I've fallen a number of times from 14,000' and I'm still OK.



But then, I'm immortal.........well, so far anyway  ;D

 

[owa]

"an apparent suicide attempt"
Amazing. A jumper does a Peter Pan from the 39th floor and survives. Meanwhile, some poor little kid falls out a  window because there are no safety devices. You never know.

I know, it's kind of upsetting in that regard

 

[brihard]

You can fall no farther than this: