Bungee Running

Bungee running is an activity we borrowed from the UK. Our Cubs had a lot of fun with it. Pulling the Cubs and letting them go gave a much faster ride than just having the Cubs try and run out. Cubs have never been so clean at camp! The UK fact sheet is very informative.

Comments from a UK Scouter (Ewan Scott):

• You need:-
• Anchor rope, this you set up as a belay, as for climbing, but with the belay points some distance apart ( specification I think is given in the factsheet). To this belay you add a length of dynamic rope, ie climbing rope, as a buffer, this is attached by caribiners to the belay and to the bubgee cord. This is about 11-12mm shock cord, with eyes mechanically crimped in either end. The length of the cord is up to the user, but may again be specified as a maximum in the factsheet.
• The bungee cord is attached to an old climbing harness at the rear by a crab. It is possible to use only the belt loop.
• Helmets are not required by the factsheet, as I recall, but are strongly advisable.
• The poly sheet should be at least eight feet wide, wider if possible, and should lie along the full run of the shock cord from before it tensiones to full stretch.
• For the run to work safely it really is best to soap it up and keep it soaped and wet.
• I have seen dry bungee runs where Scouts have pulled the rope to the max and then stepped back, or , for a laugh, jumped, the result is that they appear to fold in two and flay back through the air at an amazing speed landing on their coxix, or being thrown back and receiving potential whiplash injuries or worse.
• The soaping means that they tennd to lean forwards and land on their hands long before the max stretch is reached - minimising kinetic energy and all that, or theuy slip back onto their bums and slide backwards with a big smile on their face.
• It is important that the rearward slide is on the sheeting, because if still travelling rearward at speed when they hit the grass, the sudden increase in friction can throw the victim backwards to banh heads and necks on the ground.
• The area between the belays should be clear of rocks, tree stumps etc., and the crabs linking the belay, the dynamic rope and the bungee should, in a perfect situation, be covered but inspected regularly.

And from another UK Scouter (Ed):

• We've run this activity for our Scouts. We found the most popular method was to use a soaped up plastic sheet and various ground sheets as "the run", using a climbing harness and doubled up 10mm bungee cord. Then have two leaders pull the participating scout as far as they could, give it a "3, 2, 1!" and let go. Result: the Scout is catapulted back to much glee, the leaders lose balance on the slippery sheeting, fall over and get soaked, again much to the Scout's glee.
• We tried doing a run as far as you can thing, but they soon realised they got a lot more fun from being pulled out further than they'd be able to get themselves.

Documents

Document	PDF
Fact Sheet (UK)

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