Parachute (Classic)

Type:	Equipment
Function:	Preventing fall damage
Source:	• Crates • Shops
Cost:	$1800 +200
Notes:	Deploys automatically, but sometimes unnecessarily.

Whee!

Parachutes are equipment items purchasable from certain shops. They can also be found inside crates as a fairly common drop (just behind the bomb bag and rope piles). As of version .99.8, they do not stack, meaning that buying or finding more than one at a time is pointless. When purchased in a shop, a parachute costs 1800 plus an additional 200 per level beyond the first, tying it with the webcannon for second cheapest item in the game (after the bow).

Functionality

Parachutes prevent you from taking fall damage by releasing a parachute (consuming the item in the process) before you hit the floor. They activate automatically after a fall of 7 tiles; as the threshold distance of taking damage from a fall is 8 tiles, parachutes will occasionally deploy when you would not normally take damage, which wastes the item, and in rare cases won't deploy at all on a fall that takes damage (bug). Nevertheless, they can still be useful as a lifeline in case you do not have access to a better method of fall protection, and your ability to steer the Spelunker horizontally as he falls makes the parachute fairly useful for exploring levels in Area 3.

Parachutes may be harmful on rare occasions, as they disallow jumping off a high ledge to kill an enemy below.

Parachutes are made nearly obsolete by the Cape and Jetpack, as well as the Climbing Gloves to some extent. Nevertheless, it almost never hurts to have a parachute on hand.

Oddly, parachutes also deploy when you walk into lava.