Bungee Jumping Gear

Bungee jumping gear is fairly straight forward, consisting of an elastic rope to bounce on and a some kind of harness which you wear.

• Bungee Cord - There are two main types of bungee cord - an industrial quality braided shock cord and an unbraided version where the elastic strands are open to the air. The first type gives a shorter harder recoil while the latter unbraided version gives a longer, smoother bounce. Some bungee outfits make their own cords but you need a lot of experience to do this.

• Bungee Harness - At first, ankle harnesses were used in bungee jumping, in imitation of the Vanuatu land divers. There were some cases of these harnesses slipping and causing accidents however, so these days many outfits use a body harness too, even if only as a back-up. Modified climbing harnesses which are designed to secure a person attached to a rope falling from height as safely and comfortably as possible are used in bungee jumping.