: Joe used some kind of high magic to create some knotless bungies. He promised
: to reveal his secret one day. Please, Joe, give.
: Ross

Hello Ross,
Sorry about the late post about knotless bungees – thanks for the subtle reminder.
I have used the following technique and found it to be very good – no failures so far.

1. First measure the length of stretched bungee you are going to need for your application. Add about 6 inches to this length and cut.
2. Stretch one end of the bungee (in effect you are reducing it’s diameter) and clamp it off.
3. Apply super glue about three inches from the stretched end (thin consistency - not the gel) until the sheath is saturated about an inch long and all the way around it’s circumference
4. Let this glue cure completely and then cleanly cut the bungee somewhere near the middle of the saturation. The glue holds the bungee in it’s now reduced diameter.
5. Cut the other end so the bungee is now the desired length.
6. Roll back the nylon sheath about .75” (the end that isn’t glued of course) and then cut the exposed rubber strands flush with the rolled sheath.
7. Thread the bungee through whatever deck fittings you wish at this point.
8. Place a good amount of super glue to the end of the previously glued bungee, bring the ends together, and then quickly roll the sheath out over the previously saturated (and reduced in diameter) sheath. This step requires some dexterity to get it right so I would recommend practicing on several scrap pieces beforehand.
9. You should now saturate the dry sheath with super-glue – effectively securing it to the one underneath. If you can’t get a nice flat sheath, try whipping it with some fine thread and then saturate it with super-glue.
10. I like to finish this off with heat shrink tubing – this is for cosmetic purposes only. I will place the joint underneath the soft padeyes on the kayak where it is totally hidden from view (and where there is the least amount of stress placed on the stretched bungee). If performed cleanly, the overall diameter for this joint should be very near that of the original bungee.

Note:
When gluing two pieces of wood together you want the glued surfaces to mate together as closely as possible – this ensures that there is the maximum amount of gluing surface available. Because you will be gluing the bungee ends together you need to cut your bungee as cleanly as possible (no strands protruding beyond the others) so there is a maximum amount of gluing surface available for this process as well.

Joe Greenley
Redfish Kayaks