Not what I said at all. I said it is negligible on short tethers. Negligible doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t help at all, it just means that it won’t help you that much. This would be dependent on weight, amount of slack, distance of fall, direction of fall, elongation of each rope, how the rope is attached, type of attachment method etc. All of which can be calculated and have been calculated. Before you ask, no I’m not sharing my own calculations because like everything said on this website there are pros and cons and you have to take the responsible for that yourself.
This opinion isn’t my gut feeling. This isn’t fairytale land, all of this can be tested, calculated and proven. Until you do the math or the test to prove otherwise you point is mute.
The dynamic tether advocates (like many things on saddlehunter) continue to hype benefits while disregarding or failing to mention downsides or risks. I wasn’t advocating for either, I simply said they each have pros and cons. That’s why I think it’s lame to come on here and safe shame people based on no data and without talking about other risks. And simply saying dynamic tethers are safer is the biggest gut feeling response there is. Why is it safer? Quantify why it is safer or provided data that suggests otherwise, otherwise it’s just your unsupported opinion. And No, bouncing around on a short tether as a justification for it being safer to fall 4 ft from is not doing it for me.
This is a lot chirpier than I like to be over text forums but I felt called out on your reply haha
sorry if I rubbed you the wrong way, I don't think I shamed anyone
I don't think it is fair not to share your reasoning with others that might read this and be influenced by it. I'll share my calculations here.
I'm not a physicist but I did teach a general science course for 5 years with a physics section and labs (which included drop experiments, impact, projectile motion) and I really enjoyed that and spent a lot of time on mine own studying Newtonian physics.
Of course, this is a simplification, but I believe it is an accurate one. I won't use real numbers but variables and will focus on percent reduction in force and not absolute reduction. After a certain % reduction, you might very well still get hurt or die, but I'll take a certain discount.
Falling under the force of gravity accelerates you at around 9.8 m/s/s
Your kinetic energy as a result of the fall will be KE = 1/2 * mass * velocity squared (velocity a result of gravity and time falling, of course)
The work that the rope has to do to slow you down is equal to that KE and is
Work = mass x acceleration x distance
The work is a function of your mass and fall time and so can be taken as a constant, it does not change no matter what is going on with the rope
Your mass is constant
The acceleration is the rope decelerating your body and the lower the number the better for you
Distance is the amount of rope stretch, with a stretchy rope decelerating you over a longer distance
We can rearrange the Work equation to
Work/(mass*distance) = acceleration
let's throw in a number of 1 (units don't matter here) and then 2 for rope stretch (distance over which the deceleration (negative acceleration) occurs)
Work/(mass x 1) is twice work/(mass x 2)
since (work/(mass x 1))/(work/(mass x 2)) = 2
So, the rope that stretches a unit of 1 will have twice the deceleration as a rope that stretches 2 units
The units here don't matter if we focus on the percentage change
A rope that stretches 2 inches will have half the deceleration from the rope as a rope that stretches 1 inch (this could also be 2 feet and 1 feet....it is still half with the 2 feet of stretch vs 1 foot).....this translates into half the instantaneous force since mass is constant and force = mass x acceleration
That's why the concrete vs grass example works, and not just for falls from standing height
There are a decent number of cases (I even know someone that observed this in the military) of people falling from planes (chute didn't open) and they landed in a field and survived.....I've never heard this happen on concrete......it might be possible to hit concrete and live but (although both are rare), I'd say the grass field is way, way more likely
When viewed this way, I don't think you have to include many other complicating factors.