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Bungee cord

Elastic cord used for fastening or shock absorption

Bungee cord
Summary

Elastic cord used for fastening or shock absorption

Close-up of bungee cords with metal hooks
Bungee cords with metal hooks

A bungee cord (also spelled bungie or bungy; sometimes called a shock cord or occy strap) is a stretchable cord made of one or more rubber strands inside a woven cotton or polypropylene cover. When the cord is stretched, the cover tightens around the core, allowing it to extend and return to its original length. Some versions, such as those used in bungee jumping, are made entirely of elastic strands. Bungee cords are often used to fasten or secure objects and to absorb shock.

Uses

Child using a bungee cord ride in a park in Moscow
A child on a bungee cord ride in Moscow, Russia

Early aircraft used bungee cords for light suspension in landing gear, and some small homebuilt planes still use them where low weight is important. They were also once used in parachuting to help open older parachute containers after the ripcord was pulled.

Today, bungee cords are sold as everyday fastening tools. In Australia, they are called octopus straps or occy straps. These may be single cords or several hooked cords joined by a ring to secure items such as luggage on a car roof rack or on the bed of a pickup truck. Similar cords are made as nets for securing irregular loads.

Bungee cords are also used in furniture design, such as bungee chairs, and in other applications that need flexible tension.

Safety

Bungee cords can cause serious eye or facial injuries if they snap back. Medical studies warn of the risk of vision loss and advise using safer fasteners when possible.

Etymology

The origin of the word "bungee" is uncertain. The Oxford English Dictionary records its first use in 1938 for launching gliders with an elastic cord.

References

References

  1. Currey, Norman S.. (1988). "Aircraft Landing Gear Design: Principles and Practices". [[American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics]].
  2. Kang, Julie. (21 January 2015). "Bungee Chair 1.0".
  3. (24 April 1998). "Bungee Cords Can Cause Severe Eye Damage, Doctor Warns". Ohio State University.
  4. (20 March 2008). "Eye warning as occy straps lash out".
  5. "bungee – definition of bungee in English".
  6. "Bungy launching explained".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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