Rotten said - "Hanging just seems like such a painful way to die. It does leave nice bodies though."
I don't want to encourage anyone to try, but it's not that painful in my experience, at least with a reasonably thick rope.
A few years back, at a weight of about 154 lbs, I thought I'd try a proper noose; no harness, no neck padding. When I stepped off the chair it was a bearable pain (far less than being caned) which was diminishing rapidly as my brain began shutting down. The sense of heat and pressure in my head was more dominant than the rope burn around my neck. I don't suppose I swung more than two or three seconds before stepping back on to the chair and releasing myself, but I'm convinced that had I hanged to the end, I would swiftly have been quickly anaesthetised by the noose. Of course, I was as horny as hell, which might have clouded my assessment.
Nevertheless, based on that experience, I reckon hanging is a humane method of execution, even as practised by Iran.
The long drop method is more instantaneous for the victim, who is knocked unconscious at the end of the drop, but I, for one, would feel cheated of the experience if there was not at least a few moments of consciousness swinging on the rope.
And yes, hanging does display the bodies of the victims to good advantage, particularly if Starrider's suggestion is adopted.
