Friday, August 29, 2014

Jump Safely From Burning Buildings Wearing This Window Escape Pack

As more and more cities battle urban sprawl by building taller and more densely-packed buildings, threats from fire, terrorism or similar calamities become more pronounced, especially for people living and working on the upper floors where the designated exits are their only options. But this lifesaving device aims to gently lower its wearer to safety from 25 storeys up.


Built by Israeli firm SkySaverUSA (the same folks that are working on the AirMule UAV ambulance) and bearing the same name, the SkySaver system is a self-contained, personal evac kit designed to provide people trapped on the upper floors of buildings an alternate means of egress — specifically, rappelling down the side of the building.

The Skysaver is available in two sizes — a 10kg version with 50m of fire-resistant cord for $US500 and an 80m, 12kg, $US850 version — both of which can support up to 130kg of person.
The system fits in a backpack and is put on as such. The user then anchors the rope to something sturdy and dives out the window.

From there the automated line feeding and braking functions will steadily lower the user at a rate of 2m/s until they reach the ground or the rope runs out. [SkysaverUSA via Kitup]

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