Descender rig
The standard catch for free-falls above roughly 25 feet. A pneumatic bag whose deflation curve absorbs vertical energy progressively rather than abruptly.
Mechanism
A high-fall airbag is an open-top inflatable mattress sized to the working height of the fall. Compressed air keeps the bag firm during deployment and standby; on impact, the performer sinks into the upper foam layer while the inflation air vents through controlled relief panels (commonly six to twelve panels around the perimeter). The vent geometry is what produces a survivable deceleration curve rather than a hard rebound. Bags are sized in feet of working height — 12-foot, 20-foot, 30-foot are the standard sizes — and rated against drop tests with weighted dummies before each production. The performer must land on their back, dispersing energy across the largest possible surface area; head-first or side-on landings exceed the bag's vent design and produce concussive deceleration.
Safety
The bag must be re-pressurised between each take and visually inspected for vent-panel damage. A second performer ("airbag spotter") watches the inflation pressure and flags any partial collapse before the next take. Wind shear above two-storey heights deflects the trajectory enough that a horizontal safety line is run from the launch platform; performers above 60 feet typically wear a back-mounted ratchet that decelerates the last 10 feet, halving the bag's energy load. Bags are not rated for performer recoveries from helicopter heights — that work moves to fan descender or twin-line ratchet rigs.
Variants
Used for falls below 12 ft where the airbag is overkill and a foam pad is faster to reset between takes.
Two airbags inflated to different pressures, used when the impact has horizontal travel — the upper bag absorbs the angle, the lower the vertical.
On screen
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References
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