Getting a little snippy there, dude... why the hostility?

Jumping out of a building is no different than jumping out of a plane? I can only disagree. I've already given my explanation for my position on this.

To answer your parenthetical question, I have rappelled off of cliffs as high as 300 feet, in the dark, and in the rain, and in constricted conditions (pits). I have parachuted out of planes. But I have never jumped out of helicopters at 500 feet... in other words, I wasn't in the military.

I spent my youth learning physics and advancing the knowledge base of this country. You may not agree, but I think that is at least as noble of a pursuit as being trained to defend it physically... does the fact that I am not a rescue jumper or an airbourne ranger invalidate my opinions on this board? Alas, I cannot "out macho" you, but I would hope that I could still have something to offer here.

Would I spend virtually any amount of money to protect my life? Certainly. But the financial argument is valid because money I spend on a parachute that I will probably never use, is money that I could have spent on tools that might be more useful to my survival.

And if this conversation is stupid, then why are you still keeping up your end of it?

If you're trained to BASE jump, or at least skydive, then go for it! But I think the risk of using a parachute untrained are pretty dang high... even with a canopy chute. I'm told a fair percentage of active and experienced BASE jumpers die every year. I think that percentage is much higher than say, mountaineers. I can look up the hard numbers for you if you like, but it might be better if you do the research yourself. That way you don't have to take my word for it. If you can prove me wrong, then I will gladly and humbly "stand corrected."