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Bungee Jumping Cord – an Introduction
Bungee Jumping Cord or the Bungee Cord is the cord that is used to tie the jumpers with the structure. It stretches during the jump to hold jumpers tightly as well as help them to fly upwards again as the cord snaps them back. The jumpers continue to oscillate up and down, and the elasticity of the cord helps them in this matter. There is hardly any need to explain the importance of bungee jumping chord in this popular adventure sport, as it holds the jumpers. Any malfunctioning from the cord may lead to a disastrous outcome.
Types of Bungee Jumping Cord
There are mainly two types of bungee jumping cords available. The first one is called ‘Mil-Spec’ Cord or the Military Specification Cord, whereas the second one is the more basic type and is called as ‘All-Rubber’ Cord. However, there can be a few other types of bungee jumping cords, but these two are the most used ones.
Mil-Spec Cord:
Mil-Spec Cord is the bungee jumping cord whose rubber is held by a braided nylon sheath in a pre-stretched position. This braided shock cord consists of several latex strands, which are covered by a hard outer cover. This is the cord that the members of the Oxford Dangerous Sports Club in England used during their first attempt of bungee jumping from the 245-Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. The cord gives harder and sharper bounce. It is also durable at the same time.
Depending upon the weight of the jumpers, three to six 5/8” diameter cords are bundles together, each of which has a minimum breaking strength of 1500 pounds. With correct number of cords for a specific body weight, mil-spec cord can stretch up to 2.1 times of its resting length. It also has got a breaking strength up to 10 times.
All-Rubber Cord:
All-rubber cord is specifically designed for bungee jumping. There is no sheath in the all-rubber cord and thus no pre-stretch. Developed in New Zealand, all-rubber cords are collection of more than 1000 individual strands of rubber tied together to make it a sold cord. These cords can stretch up to 4 times of its resting length. As a result, there is less impact or G forces to the body of the jumpers than the mil-spec cord. Due to lack of sheath in the cord, there is less friction as well as heat generation with all-rubber cord, which results in less energy loss than the mil-spec cord. This type of cord has also got longer life than the other one.
Therefore, before choosing your bungee jumping cord, you need to consider what are your requirements are. Your decision would largely depend upon a number of factors like your weight, height of the jump, and location etc.
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