Are there any drawbacks to using bungee cord?
2007-01-04 05:29:25 · 5 answers · asked by one_dumb_mothah 1 in Sports ➔ Outdoor Recreation ➔ Other - Outdoor Recreation
Ur dumb NO BUNGEE. Pay for real rope. Real rope does flex but bungee stretches up to 75% of its lenght so a 50 foot bungee will stretch to about an extra 30 feet. Not to mention it will be hard for a beleyaer to belay bungee and bungee is eiser to cut so if i scrapes a rock it snaps. AND bungee may not hold 100+ lbs.
2007-01-05 09:54:32 · answer #1 · answered by MACMAN9494 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No you don't need a rope to climb at all since you climb the rock and not the rope.
You only need the rope in the event of a fall....if you don't fall, then you won't miss not having the rope.
Some people free climb, that's climbing without rope.....I've done it myself, but it's a risk only you can decide upon.
On balance however I would suggest you would be better off with a climbing rope for obvious reasons.
Try your best to keep it clean and dry, buy a rope bag for it and store it there when not in use....ultra-violet light even from daylight gradually degrades rope.
Check if for wear and tear regularly and change it when you need to...again, this is a judgement you have to make.
You should always change it after a couple of years use anyway and ALWAYS after having taken any kind of significant fall on it.
It may look fine on the outer but the inner core is designed to give in the event of a shock loading and can be physically weakened.
In this state it might fail you the next time you load it.
Climbing ropes are dynamic, that means they stretch....this is used to absorb the energy of stopping your body in the event of a fall.
So in a manner of speaking climbing ropes work in the event of a fall a little like bungee cords...just VERY much less so.
I wouldn't suggest using a bungee cord as a climbing rope simply because it would allow far too much drop before it arrested your fall.
In short, you'd still hit the ground so it wouldn't exactly be doing it's job.
Static ropes, ropes that don't stretch are not suitable for climbing unless they are used only for top roping.....where there is NO possibility of falling any distance before the rope arrests you.
In practice this would probably apply to a climber belayed from above with a taut rope...if you fall, the rope takes your weight before you are allowed to drop at all.
If you do take a drop on a static rope then all the energy of arresting your fall is absorbed by your body....and that can hurt.
The only other uses I know for static ropes are abseiling/rapelling and towing broken down cars.
Leave bungee cords for bungee jumping and buy a climbing rope for climbing.
2007-01-04 15:46:41 · answer #2 · answered by Angela D 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Actually some rock climbing ropes have a small elastic quality to them to cushion the blow when you fall. Bungee cords would have too much spring which would cause you to bounce uncontrolably.
2007-01-04 13:44:31 · answer #3 · answered by Donald C 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the give from a bungee cord in combination with weight would most likely result in a ground fall or swinging into another feature on the rock.
i would not recommend it.
2007-01-04 22:04:27 · answer #4 · answered by ssyrah 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no
2007-01-04 13:38:07 · answer #5 · answered by Huh? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋