In the 60s and early 70s my parents had a VW van and we often picked up hitchhikers while traveling. Once we had our two German Shepherds with us. I really don’t recall why, but I remember vividly them barking and snarling at the hitchhiker as he ran up to our van expecting a ride - then he stopped and waved us on. Seems he didn’t want to take his chances with the dogs. My sister and I couldn’t understand it. They were nice dogs, albeit protective I suppose. 
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My second experience hitchhiking was a friend and me in a truck in France. I was truly afraid we would be raped, but luckily we were able to persuade the driver to just drop us off and we took the train the rest of the way to Paris. I’ve never been tempted to try it again.
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When I finally bought a car, I was happy to finally be able to provide rides. That first hitchhiker was basically mute to my attempts at conversation, and sort of scared the …out of me. I sadly never picked anyone up again, though by that point much of the hitchhiking culture was ending here.
Ran away at 12 for two days.
Solo hitch-hiking in the 70s
Eating raw oysters in New Orleans (horrific food poisoning for three days).
Ziplining and modest bungee jumping.
Once flipped a catamaran completely upside down. Not fun.
Swam with a shark, not on purpose.
Lots of flying - on instruments, stalls etc, and once did some touch & goes outta Burbank in a tiny Cessna with a passenger jet standing on its brakes behind me and bitching to ATC. Also got to fly a real Spitfire, no lie.
Was catapulted off the deck of an aircraft carrier. Also landed on one in a pitching sea & a horrible storm. (I wasn’t flying in those instances)
Flew with the Army parachute team, but was not silly enough to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.
Then I had kids and now I squash bugs in the garden.
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What, no stories of wrestling gators? I’m not impressed.
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I can neither confirm nor deny any involvement in events of the “daredevil” variety, either legal or not. 
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The most daredevil thing I did was jump into swimming pools wholly unable to swim—repeatedly (believe I was 5 or under). I was eventually taught.
Also, drove cross country with two other people with a 5 speed stick shift when I was one of the two drivers and had the vaguest experience ever driving a stick shift. One of the drivers was banned from driving when he admitted he fell asleep routinely while driving. That left just me and the car’s owner to do all the driving. I had no idea where we were going and was not the best driver under ideal circumstances, especially since I really hadn’t spent much time behind the wheel at all. We survived and the car’s owner and I remain best friends decades later.
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Do tell!
I got nothing… other than the balloon ride mentioned in other thread (and that was age 15, Dad’s idea). I’m a bit of a fraidy cat.
I raced Hobie Cats in high school and college. Lots of fun to sail. Turning them turtle (upside down) definitely was no fun. They went thru waves rather than over them. Pitch pole (boat basically did a cartwheel at full speed) created some big potential issues. I never got seriously hurt when that happened but know some other people who did. Those Cats were much better for inland/protected waters than open waters with 2-4ft+ waves.
In college I sat on the ledge of a roof of a 12 story building dangling my feet over the side. Ledge was elevated about 3 feet. Getting on and off the ledge was the risky part. Provided a great view of campus. Worried someone would see us from below and call the cops thinking we were looking to jump.
Rode a mustang in Monument Valley. Not necessarily dare devil activity if you know how to ride. I didn’t. Less than 10 hrs trail riding experience with only brief trots. Mustang was full on extended gallop for much of the 90 minute ride. Indian lands apparently have no regulations or safety concerns. No attempt to line you up with a horse/ride that matches your experience. Lots of rocks to help keep you in the saddle.
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If we want to expand to our kids, S took up rock climbing in college. Never would have suspected he’d do it.
D learned to ski one day and then went down Diamond slope next day.
Both are still alive and no ER visits or bills.
@Gatormama, I have to ask - when you ran away for 2 days at age 12 did you go to someone’s house or were you literally on your own for 2 days???
Also, the ledge story above FREAKED ME OUT!!!
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Two of my kids did parkour in college. The other is my medical boy who just shook his head at them.
My nature lover has climbed trees ever since he could - no safety “anything” even when the trees were taller than our two story + attic house. He also walked on top of monkey bars and anything else he could find. When our ER nurse neighbor moved in the boy was in late high school or even college, but even at that age the guy called to ask me if I knew where my son was. Then he followed it up with, “ok, well I always keep an emergency bag here at the house if you ever need me.” “We” never needed him (yet), but much later on the boy confessed to us that one time when he was “too sick” to go scuba diving with us it was actually due to having fallen at a playground and hurting himself (ribs?). He just wanted to stay with grandma and recover.
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When in college, I picked up a hitchhiker who then took out a weapon from his backpack & showed me how he used it. He had made the weapon which was essentially brass knuckles with a corkscrew like extension. I gently led the conversation to a more comfortable topic.
I chose a career that led me to spending years working out in the forest alone with no radio or other form of communication. I had fun encounters with foaming at the mouth elk bursting out of the brush and then running a full circle around me and then finally running away, bears feasting on bait left by hunters which I didn’t notice until I was about 50 feet away, many rattlesnakes, and a porcupine that I almost sat on. No trails, I navigated with a map and compass. The most treacherous thing to me though was the lightning strikes that seemed to happen with no warning as the summer thunderstorms developed quickly each afternoon. One minute the sky was blue, the next minute lightening strikes so close that the light and sound are simultaneous and you instinctively throw your body to the ground. Fun times!
When I went on safari with my family years later and a cheetah jumped atop our vehicle with an open roof, I was like “just be quiet girls, he won’t hurt us”. Just another day out in nature, but a different location. And they handled it like pros. My oldest, at about age 10 or eleven, even quietly took a photo of the cheetah while it was on the hood of the vehicle and it was one of the best of our whole trip.
I shake my head at gun enthusiasts who feel the need to have guns for protection, open carry them on everyday errands - like, what are they afraid of! I’m a female who spent years in the woods alone and survived and rarely was truly frightened of anything (except the lightening).
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As an aside note: While most may think that an animal foaming at the mouth is an indication of rabies,quite often–at least with dogs–it is a result of having licked a toad. The foaming will continue until the animal’s mouth is rinsed out with water.
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I think animals like elk foam at the mouth because they’ve been running and exerting lots of energy. I’m sure my elk had been frightened by something and I just happened to be in it’s path. Still, it was a very surprising and somewhat scary encounter. I remember telling myself that if she continues to run around me, I need to find a tree to climb! Luckily, it bolted off again quickly!
Edit, I just googled, and deer and elk do foam at the mouth also when they are sick with several diseases.
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A rabid bobcat, obviously:
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I am not a risk taker…all the things I can think of sound more risky than they were…
Bike ride down Haleakala volcano on Maui. It was with a tour groupVan ride up to watch sunrise (night before H proposed and planned this so we could watch the sun rise and bike down-gravity helps, so didn’t need to be super fit, a van followed behind to block other traffic. We were instructed to keep our eyes on road instead of scenery so as not to bike off the side (eek!) and took roadside breaks every so often to take in the view.
Climbed up a waterfall in Jamaica on our honeymoon…again tour guide held hand and group went guy/girl after. I think the guide pegged me as the weak link and held my hand so I probably had the least risky spot.
Submarine tour in Hawaii.
Small plane to top of a glacier in Alaska as a tourist.
Underground mine in MN, cave in South Dakota…both tours.
Road to Hana on Maui! This was not a tour-H drove the rental vehicle.
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For anyone curious, equines get a ton of saliva when they’ve been eating clover. It often makes newbies to our farm wonder WTH? It’s gross, but not the least bit dangerous as long as their systems are used to clover enough to handle it - otherwise, founder, which is a highly significant foot problem - not gross, but can be deadly.
We have had rabid small animal encounters here, though fortunately the “dumb” kind. Having a firearm in the house has been helpful. We definitely don’t carry them around with us anywhere though.
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