Toughest guy irl...

[red_elk]

A couple of female examples:

- Svetlana Savitskaya, cosmonaut and test pilot of jet fighters.
First woman to perform spacewalk. Was awarded title Hero of the Soviet Union twice.
As a fighter pilot, made several world records on MiG aircraft. Currently, is a member of Russian parliament.

- Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Soviet WW2 sniper.
Credited with 309 kills, considered as the most successful female sniper in history.

 

[BvBPL]

Ruth Westheimer was a skilled markswoman, trained as a sniper, and worked as a sniper's spotter in the Haganah (a paramilitary organization predating the formal state of Israel) before a shrapnel wound ended her military service. As a second career, she revolutionized how Americans think and talk about intimate relations by having candid discussions on the topic.

After being rejected by the WACs for physical issues, Julia McWilliams joined the OSS where she helped to develop shark repellent for the war effort. She later married her coworker and learned The Joy of Cooking in order to satisfy her husband's palate.

 

[Phrossack]

Aron Ralston, a hiker who became trapped in a desert canyon when a falling boulder pinned his arm to the ground. After more than five days of being trapped and alone, he deliberately broke his arm, spent an hour sawing it off with a dull knife, rappelled out of the canyon, and hiked for a time until he found a family of vacationers. I could not possibly have done that. That's some incredible will to live.

 

[Narz]

For instance dunno if its true but I've read that Stalone of Rambo fame layed low during Vietnam by staying in Switzerland where he taught girls volleyball. If that's the case in hindsight he might have made some good decisions there

Banging Swiss girls vs. getting Agent Orange sprayed on you & burning down villages, yeah, smart guy!

Tough is overrated anyway, better to be smart & let other people be tough on your behalf.

 

[CavLancer]

Being enlightened about some great people here!

Cox sounds pretty cool swimming the Bering Straight, harharhar. Amazing endurance and considerable bravery. I could not have done it on my best day.

Not sure about Ginsburg and facing sexism etc. I mean if she had faced sexism and taken out 3 enemy machine guns with a Swiss army knife, sure, but she better get busy.

red elk, yes, women doing spacewalks looks good on the bio for this thread's purpose as does female snipers standing up for the motherland so terribly well.

Aron Ralston, a hiker who became trapped in a desert canyon when a falling boulder pinned his arm to the ground. After more than five days of being trapped and alone, he deliberately broke his arm, spent an hour sawing it off with a dull knife, rappelled out of the canyon, and hiked for a time until he found a family of vacationers. I could not possibly have done that. That's some incredible will to live.

I saw a documentary on this guy. Its true, that took incredible will power and courage. Don't recall if the arm was crushed or not. Horrible choice to face. I'd like to think I could do it, wife and kids and all the love in the world on the outside of that crevasse. One thing though, if the knife was dull I'd have honed it to its best edge on that rock. After I'm done here I'm going to search his name on youtube and cringe some more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObPb01zGYRA

Didn't he have a pack or something just out of reach? That whole thing makes me cringe.

Narz, you bet, good call. However if his life's ambition was to be mentioned as a superhero in this thread I'd say he blew it there.

 

[shadowplay]

Flying Pig gets my vote.