I don't have a fear of spiders or snakes or heights or confined spaces, but I do have a healthy dose of respect for them. I have handled snakes and held a few caymans in the Amazon. As a kid I climbed trees that were at least 3 stories tall. I've been on the roof of my old 2 story home and am happy to hang out over the railing of any tall building that I've been on. I've gone skydiving. I've been plenty close to spiders including a tarantula in the wild (again, in Brazil). I've wriggled through spots in roof crawlspaces where I had to exhale to get through easily.

I don't want to stumble onto a snake in the wild such that it appears to feel threatened. I don't want to have a spider crawl up my leg or over my shoulder, especially a really big one. I would be very cautious about wriggling through a tight hole, like you might have to do while spelunking.

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I'm also not likely to do any of this crap because I'm not a moron with a deathwish.
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The first two video's would require a gun to my head - and that wouldn't work.

The third is comfortable.

Here's another pretty good one, at least, for some folks.

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This one is even worse. NFW for me.

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Don't know what happened to me... as a construction worker I regularly spent hours in attics and under houses with very little space... now small hotel rooms can be too close quarters for me.

Also spent a lot of my youth hanging out at the beach and swimming in the ocean... loved swimming in high surf which involved diving under the waves on the way out and often being pinned to the sand if you wipe out body surfing.

Now if I try to swim the length of a pool underwater about half way across I freak out and have to come up for air.

Well good to know I am not alone. Love flying hate heights. Here is where the irrational fear comes in. An earth quake. I'm at the top of the Empire State building, going over the San Francisco bridge or looking over a cliff from thirty feet back so I don't slip and fall over the edge. Then in my mind an earth quake. The building collapses, the bridges span falls, the cliff shears off. Instant panic.

Two summers ago I took my wife and daughter to San Francisco. I tried to drive PCH to Big Sur. I white knuckled the drive for about twenty miles and turned back. The entire time all I could think was there is going to be an earth quake and we are all going to slide down there. Funny though a few weeks after we go home they did have that landslide that took a section of PCH out in Big Sur. So I am not completely crazy.

Have I ever once had the fear in an airplane the carburetor will ice up? No. The aluminum strut holding the wing on is corroded and the wing is going to fall off? No. Fog will roll in and we can not see the airport to land? No.

Go figure.

Falling off a cliff. I love going to Hocking Hills, but can't get near an edge to look over.

I can't do # 3. No way. The first or second, its a maybe if someone is with me like a guide. My biggest fear is getting stuck and no one is there to get my fat arse out

Fooking old man:D

We change as we get older. I was not afraid of height as a kid, but in the past 10 years or so, I would start to freak if you ask me to stand at the edge of a three story or more building. WE did a hill side home a few years back. The framers were stacking the roof on the addition. It was about 5 story drop from the third floor because it was on the hill side. After spending a an hour up there walking around, my fear of going to the edge has gone away. the first 5 min of getting near the edge had my heart working on overdrive for sure. Flying in a Helicopter looking out of that glass bubble with a partial floor? No problem

Then I guess I shouldn't mention my irrational fear of PEOPLE WALKING ON MY LAWN!!! :p

Hydraulic force. A "strainer" in the river that you get stuck against or under, a tsunami that washes you away, being trapped in a vehicle in a flood. Basically the sheer power of water.

Strangely enough I enjoy swimming, used to be a lifeguard, have done a decent amount of whitewater, enjoy spear fishing, fish in Puget Sound all the time, etc. But being overpowered by the sheer force of water remains nightmare fuel for me.

This vid is pretty much my worst nightmare: https://youtu.be/1OAn2P3k0ZY

Isn't that the true? I was dumped out of a raft from high side on the Kern river and swam for what seem like an hour but I bet it was only about 10-15 second and the cold river sucked the strength outta me. Plus I was not going anywhere and missed the throw rope from both rafts. I was so tired that I jsut wanted to wrap my arms around a log at the bank of the river. I knew what's underneath, more nasty branches. a guy pulled jumped from his inflatable kayak and yanked me back out into the river as soon as he saw me heading toward the brush with arms ready to grab on to something. He saved my life that day. I never saw him again and really wanted to thank him. I was in my mid 20s, strong, but I have never been so damn tired.