Train like a SEAL on your next adventure vacation

by Kraig Becker on

Some travelers like to take a nice, quiet vacation. They fly off somewhere sunny and warm, then sit on a beach, sipping a fruity drink with an umbrella in it. Others prefer something a bit more active, embarking on an adventure that can test their mind and body alike. SEAL Training Adventures was created specifically for those types of individuals, giving them a taste of what it like to be part of an elite military team.

The SEALs, which stands for Sea Air and Land Forces, have their origins dating back to the underwater demolition squads from World War II, but officially came into existence in the early 60’s, when the U.S. government recognized the need for special operations units in South East Asia. Since that time, SEAL units have seen duty in all corners of the globe on a variety of mission types, ranging from counter terrorism to humanitarian relief. With more than four decades of service, the SEALs have refined their training methods to the point that they have become legendary, both in and out of the military. SEAL Training Adventures hopes to give us some insight into that training with two programs designed for potential recruits and civilians alike.

The first program is known as the SEAL Adventure Challenge, and it is a 24-hour introduction to the training methods employed by the Navy when preparing SEAL teams. The second program is six days in length, and is called the Special Operations Force Academy. This program will show you exactly what it like to be a member of a special forces team for a week, including some SCUBA diving and sky diving elements. Both programs will push you physically and mentally, and are taught by a staff of highly trained instructors who have extensive military backgrounds and years of training to give you the most authentic experience possible.

Of course, this isn’t exactly everyone’s idea of a great vacation. Participants definitely go into it looking for a challenge and probably get all that they want and more. It also appears that once you finish either of the programs, you’ll end up needing one of those beach vacations and fruity drinks with the umbrellas when you are done.

Talk about traveling fast: Skydiver seeks to set several free fall records

by Jeffrey White on

If you jump out of a hot air balloon, are you traveling?

Who cares. A French skydiver is looking to break four free fall records today, and is about to jump out of a balloon 25 miles above Canada. That’s 131,000 feet (kinda makes that 12,000 footer you did over Australia look pretty weak, huh?)

CNN is following the jump live. Click on the banner at the top of the screen.

Michel Fournier, 64, is taking a helium-powered balloon “pod” pretty much to the edge of the atmosphere, CNN says. He’ll wear a special suit to guard against temperatures plunging to near 150 degrees Fahrenheit. The free fall is expected to take 15 minutes.

The records Fournier is looking to break are fastest free fall, longest free fall, highest jump and highest altitude reached by a man in a balloon, CNN says.

Fournier has spent a fortune ($20 million) on this jump. He already holds a French record for highest jump with a parachute (40,000 feet). Guess he really wanted to out do himself.

Check out the jump’s official blog here.

Do You Feel A Breeze? Yup, We’re Skydiving In the Nude.

by Willy Volk on

Unless your goal is to get others to laugh at you, I can’t possibly imagine what thrill there could be in nude skydiving. Nevertheless, there appear to be a number of people who are not only into nude skydiving, they actually promote it by posting videos of it online. This short clip is my favorite: there’s a very funny thing going on it that red circle. Although the video probably won’t get you into trouble, there is a small (tee hee) chance this video could be NSFW.

If you’re interested, here are a few more nude skydiving clips (again, possibly NSFW), as well as some more details about how to do the sport properly. Watch out for that rip cord!

And here’s an interesting clip in which Daryl explains the pros and cons of the nude skydive this group is about to take. (If nipples are NSFW, then this clip is definitely NSFW.)

If you’re still with us, I’ve got a special treat: guess what happens to a a woman’s naked breast during free fall. It ain’t pretty, and it may not be safe for work.

Need more nude skydving tips? Check out this how-to, which addresses, at its end, a question that I would never, ever, in a million years, have thought of.

Wingsuits: For Extreme Skydiving

by Willy Volk on

I went tandem skydiving once. After landing on earth, I trembled for an hour. It was terrifying and wonderful all at once. Who knew it could get more intense?

This short clip — ripped, I think, from Warren Miller’s epic 2001 film Cold Fusion — shows a man in a wingsuit zooming over snow-covered, shard-like mountains. Totally amazing.

Class time:

  • A wingsuit is a customized jumpsuit with flaps under the arms and between the legs that harness the wind, letting you engage in controlled falling/flying.
  • Sometimes called a “birdman suit,” a wingsuit makes you look like a flying squirrel — but not as hairy and rodent-like.
  • If you’re interested, you can buy your own wingsuit and take some wingsuit classes.

Three more very-worth-checking-out wingsuit vids after the jump:

Here’s a clip of formation wingsuit-ing:

Through the Eyes of a Crashing Skydiver

by Iva Skoch on

If you ever needed a reason to not skydive, here it is. The UK’s Daily Mail got their hands on the helmet-cam footage of 25-year-old skydiver Michael Holmes…crashing.

Mr. Holmes is no stranger to the game: he’s completed over 7,000 successful leaps, and one less-than-successful jump.

Yep, you get to see, in full color, all 12,000 ft of his fall, after both of this parachutes failed. Amazingly, he landed in some bushes and survived the ordeal. There’s even a few seconds of him talking to his friend, who’s found him on the ground. But beware, the video isn’t for the faint of heart.