Bungee cord
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A bungee cord is an elastic cord composed of one or more elastic strands forming a core, covered in a woven sheath usually of nylon or cotton. More recently, specialized bungee jumping cords are made entirely of elastic strands.
Bungee cords were originally used in parachuting to absorb the shock of the opening of the canopy, in order to prevent damage to the parachute. Bungee cords are most often used to secure objects without tying knots and to absorb shock, as in bungee jumping or dog sports such as scootering. In dog sports a bungee cord absorbs the shock of sudden loads like a suddenly stuck sled or bicycle so that the dogs are not jerked.
Cheap bungee cords, with metal hooks on each end, are kept on hand at as a general utility item by many people. They can be used:
- to secure items in the bed of a pickup truck or on the roofrack of a car.
- to wrap a roll or bundle of material.
- to hold a door or gate shut.
- to suspend an item from a pole or tree branch.
[edit] Etymology
The word bungee was created in imitation of the sound made when a bundle of the cords stretches violently during the opening of a parachute canopy. Because these bundles are on the harness next to the jumper's ears, the noise is rather dramatic. Veterans of the Korean War and World War II are sometimes credited with the name, making it GI jargon. [citation needed] However, the origin of the term remains uncertain. The Oxford English Dictionary records the use in 1938 of the phrase bungy-launching of gliders using an elasticated cord.
