I got to thinking last night that theoretically, with enough hair, the air resistance would slow you down so that your terminal velocity would be low enough to land unharmed. How long would it need to be? How would one go about calculating this?

I assume you need some kind of drag coefficient and a density for hair to start with. Not sure where to find that information.

  • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.netOPEnglish
    131·
    20 hours ago

    Well first no since I’ve never used one lol. But also this is deceleration from a speed you would never reach so I don’t think that means it would necessarily be a problem.

    I was wondering about this issue as well though. Can people survive being lifted by their hair? I’m unsure.

    • Otter@lemmy.caEnglish
      12·
      19 hours ago

      Can people survive being lifted by their hair? I’m unsure.

      Coincidentally, I saw this from a few days ago

      https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2025/5/circus-performer-hangs-by-her-hair-for-over-25-minutes-to-take-decade-old-record

      A circus performer with seriously strong locks has broken a hair-hanging record that went unchallenged for more than a decade.

      In the picturesque setting of Redwood National and State Parks in California, USA, Leila Noone spent 25 min 11.30 sec hanging by her ponytail to claim the record for longest time suspended by the hair.

      The American took on the challenge in June 2024, breaking the previous record of 23 min 19 sec, that had been set by Suthakaran Sivagnanathurai (Australia) all the way back in 2011.

      • Pennomi@lemmy.worldEnglish
        7·
        18 hours ago

        For what it’s worth, if you don’t train for this you can get some nasty scalp separation injuries.

    • MyPornViewingAccount@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      19 hours ago

      The point of the dropping the floor out when hanging someone wasnt to choke them to death, it was meant to break their neck, so my vote is no, you would survive rapid deceleration from the neck.

      • Em Adespoton@lemmy.caEnglish
        5·
        18 hours ago

        He had a valid point though; hair would not cause rapid deceleration. The bigger question is whether it affects your terminal velocity enough that you would survive the fall.

        But even that has too many assumptions. People have survived falls from airplanes flying at 30,000 feet. Was it because of their hair? The displacement of their body and clothing? The surface they landed on?

        Probably all of the above plus other uncalculated factors. But I doubt that hair drag played a big part; after all, there’s a reason we deploy 70lbs of horizontal airtight fabric instead of 70lbs of thread when skydiving.