Geniuses wrap themselves in rope, let an excavator sling them through the air

Updated Sep 22, 2014

Excavator swing

Most people see construction equipment from afar. And most people, when meeting these machines in person for the first time, display a healthy amount of respect and even a bit of fear for the powerful, lumbering pieces of steel.

But then there’s another group. This subset of people just get dumb ideas whenever they’re around large machinery. Take, for example, the two videos below. Somehow, both of these groups of Einsteins had the same idea: “I think I’ll tie a rope around myself and let this machine throw me around a bit.”

The first guy below literally just puts the rope beneath his shoulders. That’s it. He doesn’t even opt for a helmet even though he just removed one after riding a dirt bike. And the second guy is apparently harnessed around his waist, but has nothing supporting his upper body and comes very close to getting a face full of the excavator’s stick when the rope gets wrapped up.

Not sure who’s dumber in these situations: the people flailing around or the operators who allowed them to do it in the first place.