35 years ago before I was married, my roommate and I were moving to a different apartment. We had his truck loaded full of furniture, and were working to strap it all down. He was pulling on a bungee cord draped over the top that was just an inch or two short. He gave it all the muscle he had, and pulled so hard the metal hook on the opposite side straightened out and the cord came loose. It flew over the top of the furniture and hit him in the head.

He went down writhing in pain, but surprisingly enough never made a sound. I just stood there helpless witnessing the situation. After a minute he got up with tears streaming down his face. Surprisingly there was no blood. We proceeded to continue strapping down the load, only this time ganging two bungee cords together over the top. He was a tough guy. I've known him since high school and that was the only time I remember seeing him cry.

To this day whenever I use a bungee cord I remember the hollow sound of that "thud" as the cord hit his skull.