If adventure is the name of the game, there is nothing more adventurous than getting a high from falling from a height. Bungee can be classified in the category of sports, which, to put simply, is the name of courage under fire. Falling from a height of around 120 to 700 feet and bunging up and down is only for those who have no love lost for their life! However, on a realistic plane, there is only an iota of risk involved in this game as most of the organizations that hold such events maintain high quality of professionalism. And if you won't die of fear, you would be okay after all.
There are great debates among the bungee jumpers as to the origin of the game. Some of them say that bungee jumping started with the people of Vanatu in the Pacific who used to throw themselves down from the towers with their ankle tied with vines. The Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club took inspiration from this ritual and started few experimental jumps in the 1970s. A. J. Hacket (owner of the bungee jumping company by the same name) saw the video of these jumps and thought of developing it as an adventure sports. He tested the latex rubber cords in the |
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extreme conditions and jumped first at Tinges, France and a new game was born.
According to legend, the sports got its first jumper around 1,500 years ago. This happened when a tribal ran away from her enraged husband who tried to kill her. However, when she saw her husband gaining in speed, she climbed a tree and perched herself at the top. But the husband was behind her even there. As a last resort, she tied her legs with few vines and jumped on, thereby giving birth to a new and exciting adventure sports.
The sport was commercialized in the mid-eighties, and within a few years, became quite popular in Europe and North America. In India, bungee jumping came in the early 1990s. Today, most of the Indian metros have bungee jumping sites and more and more people are taking to this adventure sports.
EQUIPMENTS
Cords
Most bungee jumping cords are made from natural rubber. The common bungee cords like Euro and Mil Spec cords stretch 2 to 4 times the original length and the jumper feels 2.5 to 3.5 G's. It is important to note that commonly mountaineering cords are used for bungee jumping, but they should be stronger as the stress on the cord is always more when you are participating in bungee jumping.
Harness
A bungee jumper uses two types of harness. One is leg harness, which is attached with the cord, and other is body harness to give the backup.
Big Equipment
This includes the equipment from which a bungee jumper takes his jump. It can be a mobile crane, a bungee tower, a river bridge, bungee platform of a building, etc.
Other Equipment
- Jump Deck
- Rigging System
- Additional Requirements for Elevating Jump Decks
- Portable Hoisting Device
- Harnessing Procedures and Specifications
- Rigging Equipment and Hardware
- Carabiners
- Slings/Webbing
- Ropes
- Pulleys/Shackles
- Ascenders and Descenders
- Scales
- Retrieval Vessel
- Equipment Inspection, Testing, Maintenance and Replacement
- Bungee Cords
- Hardware
- Ropes, Cables and Webbing/Slings
