Parachute Jumping vs Bungee Jumping
Call us biased, but we think skydiving is the creme brule of extreme sports.
If you’re looking to try something extreme that involves falling or flying of some sort, you may find yourself bouncing between videos of bungee jumping and skydiving. They both are pretty accessible, both provide a vague feeling of flying, and both cause your adrenaline to spike as you leap from your comfort zone. But the similarities end there.
When making your decision, we urge you to consider which will provide the greatest bang for your buck and leave you with longer-lasting memories. To help you out, we’ve broken down why we favor parachute jumping over bungee jumping.
Skydiving can be done with a fear of heights
There’s something about standing on the edge of a plane 13,000-feet above the Earth and staring at its curvature on the horizon that completely numbs any fear of heights you might harbor.
With bungee jumping, you’re so close to the ground that you might feel that same sense of vertigo or fear you might get by standing on the roof of a skyscraper or bridge. You can see the rushing water and rocks below you. They’re so close you can make them out and your brain can process all of the things that can potentially go wrong.
With skydiving, the ground below looks a beautiful painting.
Skydiving takes much less of a toll on your body
Not only is the ground rush much more prominent with bungee jumping, but it also tends to take a much harder toll on your body.
Your heart is pounding, a nervous feeling doesn’t leave your throat and you’re entering into dead air, which gives you as similar a feeling of weightlessness as you might get driving fast down a steep hill or flipping around on a rollercoaster.
At the same time, your are whipped upward after the bungee cord has been stretched fully, which can cause people to feel a bit of whiplash.
With skydiving, on the other hand, you are jumping from a moving object — a plane — which produces relative wind that offsets some of those uncomfortable feelings of falling. At the same time, the parachute opens slowly and smoothly, moving your body comfortably from a lying position to a vertical position under canopy.
The overall experience is better with skydiving
Besides the amazing views and better physical effect skydiving has on your body, it’s also just a better experience.
The skydiving experience is significantly longer than bungee jumping, which tends to be over in a blink of an eye. With skydiving, you enjoy a 15-or-so minute plane ride, where you can check out views of Newport and the surrounding area.
You then freefall for an entire minute before pulling your parachute, which gives you an exhilarating rush. Once under canopy, you have a peaceful five-minute ride until you’re back down on the ground, which gives you more time to check out the bird’s-eye view of the Atlantic Ocean and the beautiful area surrounding the island of Newport. Make your reservation with Skydive Newport today!
Is Shock Cord The Same as Bungee Cord?
Shock cord and bungee cord looks like it’s the same product, but they’re market towards different buyers. Is there really a difference between shock cord and bungee cord?
Is shock cord the same as bungee cord? Yes, bungee cord and shock cord are the same thing. They’re both made out of thin elastic strings bound together in a nylon sleeve. Make sure you check the cord length, thickness, and ends before making a purchase.
Shock cord and bungee cord are basically the same product, but that doesn’t mean you’re getting the same product. You will end up frustrated when the elastic inevitably dry rots, loses elasticity and breaks.
Don’t waste your money on the cheap dollar store bungee cords. The following article will explain how I make my own heavy duty bungee cords.
The Main Difference Between Shock Cord and Bungee Cord
Bungee cord has lots of different names. It can be called bungee rope, bungee cord, stretch cord, stretch rope, bunge, bungie, bungee, bungy, elastic cord, elastic rope, shock cord, shock rope, elasticated rope and elasticated cord.
You have all those different names for essentially the same product. It’s just an elasticized cord made from natural or synthetic strands of rubber covered with a nylon/cotton fabric sheath. The strength of the cord depends entirely on its thickness(thicker=stronger).
Bungee cords can be found in virtually every hardware store. They usually come in short 1-2 ft length multi-packs with pre-installed ends. Unfortunately one size fits all doesn’t work in every application. The cords are either too weak or short.
You could link a few bungee cords together, but that setup looks terrible and won’t last. When you need longer runs you’re better off purchasing a spool of shock cord.
Shock cord comes in spools ranging from 10ft-1000ft. Don’t waste your money on cheap bungee cords. Make your own high-quality bungee cords at a fraction of the cost.
I’ve been purchasing shock cord from Paracord Planets Amazon Store for the last couple of years. They have every size and color that you could possibly need. The 1/8th inch shock cord is the most popular size, but 1/4″ would be better for kayaks and other heavy duty jobs.
Using Shock Cord Instead of Bungee Cords
There are 2 main ways people use shock cords. You can either cut your cord to length and install bungee cord hooks or install metal/plastic cord locks. Refer to the picture above if you don’t know what I’m talking about.
It doesn’t matter which style you decide to use, they’re both self explanatory. Just run the cord through your cord lock and set it up however you’d like.
Installing your own bungee cord hooks will be pretty use. Just run the shock cord through the center of your hook and install 1/2″ hog rings to hold them down. Dewalt sells a tool that makes installing hog rings easy, but you can also use pliers to squeeze them together.
What Size Shock Cord Should I Buy?
It’s hard to say for sure what size shock cord you should buy. I’ve found that 99% of applications call for either 1/8″, 3/16″, or 1/4″ shock cord. Larger sizes would only be needed for safety purposes or heavy duty applications.
I usually purchase Paracord Planets 1/8″ inch shock cord. Their spools are cheap and come in a wide variety of color options. The 1/4″ shock cord is mainly used for my truck and boat tie downs. It’s perfect in my kayak and for holding a tarp down on the bed of my dump truck.
Dry Rot and Elasticity
It doesn’t matter what type of shock cord you buy. The interior rubber strands will eventually dry rot and stretch losing its elasticity.
Keeping your cords dry, indoors and out of direct sunlight will extend their life, but they will eventually rot. Spend the extra money on a long spool of high-quality shock cord and replace the lines every couple of years. I guarantee you’ll find hundreds of random uses after buying a 100+ft spool.
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Parachute Jumping vs Bungee Jumping
Call us biased, but we think skydiving is the creme brule of extreme sports.
If you’re looking to try something extreme that involves falling or flying of some sort, you may find yourself bouncing between videos of bungee jumping and skydiving. They both are pretty accessible, both provide a vague feeling of flying, and both cause your adrenaline to spike as you leap from your comfort zone. But the similarities end there.
When making your decision, we urge you to consider which will provide the greatest bang for your buck and leave you with longer-lasting memories. To help you out, we’ve broken down why we favor parachute jumping over bungee jumping.
Skydiving can be done with a fear of heights
There’s something about standing on the edge of a plane 13,000-feet above the Earth and staring at its curvature on the horizon that completely numbs any fear of heights you might harbor.
With bungee jumping, you’re so close to the ground that you might feel that same sense of vertigo or fear you might get by standing on the roof of a skyscraper or bridge. You can see the rushing water and rocks below you. They’re so close you can make them out and your brain can process all of the things that can potentially go wrong.
With skydiving, the ground below looks a beautiful painting.
Skydiving takes much less of a toll on your body
Not only is the ground rush much more prominent with bungee jumping, but it also tends to take a much harder toll on your body.
Your heart is pounding, a nervous feeling doesn’t leave your throat and you’re entering into dead air, which gives you as similar a feeling of weightlessness as you might get driving fast down a steep hill or flipping around on a rollercoaster.
At the same time, your are whipped upward after the bungee cord has been stretched fully, which can cause people to feel a bit of whiplash.
With skydiving, on the other hand, you are jumping from a moving object — a plane — which produces relative wind that offsets some of those uncomfortable feelings of falling. At the same time, the parachute opens slowly and smoothly, moving your body comfortably from a lying position to a vertical position under canopy.
The overall experience is better with skydiving
Besides the amazing views and better physical effect skydiving has on your body, it’s also just a better experience.
The skydiving experience is significantly longer than bungee jumping, which tends to be over in a blink of an eye. With skydiving, you enjoy a 15-or-so minute plane ride, where you can check out views of Newport and the surrounding area.
You then freefall for an entire minute before pulling your parachute, which gives you an exhilarating rush. Once under canopy, you have a peaceful five-minute ride until you’re back down on the ground, which gives you more time to check out the bird’s-eye view of the Atlantic Ocean and the beautiful area surrounding the island of Newport. Make your reservation with Skydive Newport today!
Source https://www.skydivenewport.com/dropzone/skydiving-articles/parachute-jumping-vs-bungee-jumping/
Source https://thehikingauthority.com/is-shock-cord-the-same-as-bungee-cord/
Source https://www.skydivenewport.com/dropzone/skydiving-articles/parachute-jumping-vs-bungee-jumping/