safety issues

Bungee jumping was banned in France after three deaths in 1989. The Australian government declared a hiatus after an accident in 1990, and the summer of 1992 saw a few accidents in the United States that were given major exposure by the media and caused several state governments to get involved. But the activity is clearly basically safe. All accidents can be traced to human error as related to improper attachment, mismatch between jumper and cord, total height of jump available, misunderstanding or miscalculation of the physics involved, and other lapses. This view is shared by Carl Finocchiaro, a registered professional engineer who operates Sky Tower Engineering Inc. and has been professionally involved in this sport for several years. He is a charter member of the North American Bungee Association and is the original and incumbent chairman of its safety committee. He has stated, "I have investigated many accidents and can confidently conclude that all are caused by human error and not faulty equipment."

Minor injuries such as skin burn, which is caused by gripping the cord, occur when jumpers act contrary to instructions. Some jumpers reported getting slapped in the face by the cord. But serious injury inflicted by the cord, such as strangulation, appears not to happen. This can be explained by a combination of factors, including:

1. the cord's minimal torsional stiffness

2. some pendulum motion, which tends to keep the cord away from the jumper

3. the fact that any entanglement will occur when the cord is slack, and will be

gradually and gently unwrapped and forgiven as the cord develops elongation

and associated low tensile force.

No modern-day jump site has seen any serious entanglement, and it is noteworthy that many participants enjoy somersaulting during the free fall without any detrimental effects.

Some daredevilish embellishments may tempt the adventurous participants. "Slingshotting" (from the ground up), "sandbagging" (jumping with extra weight), and "bodydipping" (over water) are examples. Extreme care and proper application of the physics involved are vitally important in these challenges.

bungee jumping equipment

There are two main parts of equipment that we use for bungee jumping, cords and harnesses.

1. CORDS

There are two main types of bungee jumping cords, sheathed and all-rubber.

Sheathed cords were the first cords used for bungee jumping, initially by England's Oxford Dangerous Sports Club. They have a rubber core, encased in a cotton, and/or nylon sheath. These cords look like big versions of the bungee cords you use to strap a load to your car roof, hence the name bungee.

All-rubber cords were developed in New Zealand specifically for bungee jumping. They are comprised of over 1000 individual strands of rubber tied together into one solid cord. All-rubber cord stretches to approximately 4 times it's resting length while jumping. This results in less impact or G-forces to the jumpers body, than sheathed cords. The lack of the sheath results in less friction and heat generation, and hence less loss of energy than sheathed cord.

2. HARNESSES

Chest and waist harnesses should be used for beginning jumpers and shorter jumps. With these harnesses the cord is connected to your body very close to your center of gravity/rotation. This setup produces the least stress on your body.

Ankle harnesses allow for head dips, graceful jumping and advanced stunts. They should be used by jumpers with a little experience. If you jump and just stand straight up, the cord will whip you upside down when you reach the end of your free-fall.

my point of view

If you want to see how it looks when somebody wants to kill himself with jump from top of the 80m high building, just try this. First time it is a little bit scary but every next time you will enjoy unique sexperience. For me bungee jumping is astonishing adrenalin shot and amazeing flight liberated of any danger and connected with your life with bungee jumping cord. My first bungee jump was from the bridge and till now I prefer more jumps from the bridge, becouse from the bridge you will experience complete freedom within jump, it's not less safer from the crane or something similar but I just don't feel comfort.

After first couple of times i tought that's it, I try and Ok but after fourth or fifth time I brake shell of fear in me and after that for me jumping became a real joy. I will notice that bungee jumping equipment is 100% safe and I naver fright of failure from that side and now I have more than 100 bungee jumps.

If you decide to jump and and especiali if you like the jump send me your experiences of the jump and allso we can exchange bungee jumping photos and movies, I have everithing on pictures and movies almost everithing.

bungee by definition

Bungee jumping is an activity in which a person jumps off from a high place (generally of several hundred feet/meters) with one end of an elastic cord attached to his/her body or ankles and the other end tied to the jumping-off point. When the person jumps, the cord will stretch to take up the energy of the fall, then the jumper will fly upwards as the cord snaps back. The jumper oscillates up and down until the initial energy of the jump is dissipated.