What is the scariest situation you have been in?

[Don Ro]

Originally Posted by flyenby

I may have posted this before. I was 20 yrs old, Nam 70...went into a tunnel complex with a .45. I was pissed off because my friend has just been blown to hell.
My first ambush...sweeping the kill zone afterwards , darker than hell in 5 to 6 ft elephant grass, I came across a wounded VC.....terminated him on the spot. I had been in country 15 days, was 19 Yrs old.

Yo, Brother!
.
A year+ in Viet Nam - '66. Don't think I ever relaxed. Lots of insomnia.
Nuff said.

[LeeH]

At 17, jumping my dirt bike and having back end kick up. I was sure I was going to roll it forward. Leaned back with all my might and landed hard, front wheel first. A friend who was watching said it bounced twice on the front wheel before the back end came down.

Riding my Yamaha Seca II through the north Georgia mountains, I leaned over in a high speed right hander and had my boot catch the pavement, which pulled my foot off the peg, upset the bike and got the rear wheel sliding. I ended up dragging my foot on the pavement like a dirt track racer. Thought about launching off before it high sided. Through sheer force of will I hung on and as it slowed, the rear wheel gently came back in line. I coasted to a stop and thought about life for a while after that.

I rented a sailboard at NTC Orlando when I was in the Navy. The guy in charge said to stay away from the west side of the lake because that's where the alligators hung out. I had no idea what I was doing and before I knew it, the sailboard was bouncing off the trees that grew out of the swampy west side of the lake. I paddled out a bit to get some room and as I pulled up the sail, saw a 6' gator surface, then submerge about ten yards from me. I stood there for quite a while waiting to see if I got another glimpse of him. Finally, I folded up the sail and paddled back to shore using very quick, shallow strokes.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by dwight45

What ship? Te Vega?

Corwith Cramer

[aap1966]

Parachuting.
Screwed up the exit.
Haven't done it again.

[aap1966]

Originally Posted by flyenby

I may have posted this before. I was 20 yrs old, Nam 70...went into a tunnel complex with a .45. I was pissed off because my friend has just been blown to hell.
My first ambush...sweeping the kill zone afterwards , darker than hell in 5 to 6 ft elephant grass, I came across a wounded VC.....terminated him on the spot. I had been in country 15 days, was 19 Yrs old.

Thanks, mate.
Seriously, thanks.

[oldE]

I lead a sheltered life compared to you guys. Thank you for reminding me how wonderfully boring my life has been. It is indeed something for which I am thankful.

From 1984.
Pre dawn driving way too fast (but really, how fast can you drive in a '79 Rabbit diesel?), when a massive shape lurches onto the road maybe 50 yards in front.
I've got both feet in, braking as hard as I know how and realizing I am looking at the north end of a south bound moose. I don't know which way he will go. I do know if I take his legs out from under him I will die.
I guess the moose didn't want to deal with that either. Just before impact he veered back to the right shoulder and I was by.

I was to the top of the next hill when the shakes set in.

Best
Les

[WPOZZZ]

Back in high school, my school puts on an annual carnival that is run by the junior class. The carnival runs Friday and Saturday on the first weekend in February. The carnival ended and were all gathered in the cafeteria for a late night/early morning meal. Time to head home and all our cars were parked on one of our school's soccer/football fields. At 1 am, it was rather cool with lots of dew on the field. I start my car and turn 180* and give it a bit of gas towards the entrance to the field and WHOOPS! I'm in one helluva spin heading straight towards other parked cars. I counter steer and nothing. The car keeps spinning. I keep counter steering and giving it some gas and it finally stops. Take a minute or two to collect my thoughts, check my shorts and head home.

Another time, I was up a mountain with a bunch of friends just hanging out and drinking. We used to race up and down this mountain every weekend, but a young friend showed up with a 928s his father bought him. He had the car for several months and should have known its limits, but he did not. He took a couple of us for a ride and stupidly, we goaded him into going faster. We hit a very slight chicane and he accelerated out of it and into a fast right hander. He was going into the right hander too hot and we ended up going off the mountain. We stopped about 100 yards down and scrambled to get out of the car. Bushes and small trees blocked the car doors from opening so we had to climb out the window. In a panic thinking the car would blow, we all scrambled up the hill. We were cut and bleeding, but were alive. I still see us hitting the railing as if it were in slow motion. We sat on the ground stunned for about 20 minutes when one of our friends was headed home and saw us.

[ckelly78z]

Just last week, a guy came screaming around me heading West on a 2 lane state route while coming up to a country intersection where there was a red light. He blew through the light that had just turned red, and so did a speeding tanker truck coming North across the intersection. He shot just in front of the trucks bumper (about a foot or two) and ended up slowing down and parking about 1/4 mile down the road (I drove by about a minute later), and saw his straight ahead "deer in the headlights" stare with both hands gripping the steering wheel like his life depended on it.

I just bet that his story would qualify for this thread.

[masraum]

I've been held up at gunpoint, and wrecked a few cars. I've gotten the shakes from some of those instances, but none of them really seem that scary looking back. I guess at the time they must have been.

[WPOZZZ]

Originally Posted by masraum

I've been held up at gunpoint, and wrecked a few cars. I've gotten the shakes from some of those instances, but none of them really seem that scary looking back. I guess at the time they must have been.

I was a VP at an inner city high school and one of the kids pulled a knife on me, another time a kid pulled a gun and ran. It didn't phase me back then as I was young, dumb and full of testosterone. lol Of course, lots of the kids also thought I was an undercover cop/DEA agent.

[GH85Carrera]

When I was about 21 I was driving to to Fort Walton Beach, Florida from Troy, Alabama in my 914 after a long Friday afternoon photo shoot. I was on my way to meet my girlfriend for a weekend rendezvous of fun. I was driving on some very rural highways and the roof was off of my 914 and I was pumped full of testosterone knowing my girlfriend was already in FWB waiting for me.

I came up behind an old beat up pickup full of three rednecks drinking beer. They were driving about 40 and I pulled out to make a legal pass. They decided it would be fun to prevent that and the big V8 in the truck was screaming. They tossed two beer bottles right at me as I pulled along side of them pedal to the floor in third gear. The good news is both beer bottles missed me and the 914. I hit redline in third and went to 4th and kept it floored. I knew if I let them in front of me they would stop and it was three against one. I was in their little world. I managed to get in front of them and kept it floored. This was in the bad old days of the national 55 MPH limit and I was likely in triple digit speed running for my life. The highway came to a curve in the road and I hung on though that curve and kept moving to get some distance. They were still throwing beer bottles but that is hard to do against a headwind. Fortunately there was a series of curves that I just barely made and I looked in the rear view and saw them drive right off the road through a fence and way out into a cotton filed.

I did not go back to check on them.

My weekend was spectacular with the GF and I was sure to take a much different route back home to Montgomery.