ALL ABOUT STRONG BUNGEE CORDS: A BRIEF AND FUN HISTORY

They Used What as a Bungee Cord – and When?

Sometime around 500 A.D., the first known use of a stretchable cord to strap items and objects down was used by travelers in Siberia in what would later come to be known as part of the USSR. With strips of caribou gut, these innovative travelers were able to keep hold of their possessions as they traveled around the northern parts of chilly Russia.

Some one thousand and three hundred years later, in 1845, a Frenchman by the name of Charles Moore de la Cardamine developed rubber from tree sap. This discovery would lead to an incredible slew of inventions – from rubber tires that made automobiles, concrete paving and highways necessary to the classic children’s song about the Ant and the Rubber Tree Plant. It also, for our purposes, helped to start the chain of events that would eventually lead to heavy duty bungee cords from SuperBungee. But we’re digressing!

From there, in 1922, Stephen Perry (not the vocalist of classic rock band Journey) patented the rubber band. Together, these ideas spanning nearly 1500 years helped to develop what we know today as the helpful, utilitarian bungee cord. AND the invention of the best bungee cord on the market today – SuperBungee cords.

Bungee Cords Take Flight…to the Moon!

By using large rubber elastic cords, English glider pilots in 1936 were able to launch their planes off of hillsides and into the air - thereby coining the term “bungee” for the elastic cords. (We always thought “bungee” would turn out to be an Australian word invention, like “barbie” for barbequing and not for the Mattel doll beloved by millions of girls but freakishly long-legged) When World War I hit, those cords were used to provide a lightweight suspension for the undercarriages of planes, playing a vital role in piloting aircraft. Those same original bungee cords for launching planes skywards into English skies inspired the balsa wood and rubber band-launched toy planes of many a boy’s day dreams too. Sometimes the rubber bands powered the toy propellers also!

Seeing the strength of these cords, NASA decided in the 1960s that man’s first trip to the Moon needed a bungee cord or two to help hold things down in zero gravity space. Thus, they designed their own type of bungee cord for making space travel easier and more efficient.

The Modern Bungee Cord Is Here

Today, bungee cords not only hold down valuable possessions, but people use them recreationally for bungee jumping, exercising, and even in place of a dog leash or to keep energetic children close-by when out and about in social situations!

Our SuperBungee bungee cords stretch to over 500% of their relaxed length due to our patented Annular-Pleated Circular Braid. One of our cords can replace multiple low-stretch and low-strength ordinary bungees due to its tensile strength of over 1,500 pounds! Ragner Technology Corporation & Gary Ragner took the bungee cord from Bygone Days and gave it a fuel-injected makeover, propelling the bungee cord into modernity for everyone to know, love and use today.