Available at: Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, JumpKing.com

Introduction
JumpKing trampolines have been around for over 20 years, although the original company lost a major injury lawsuit, and the name was purchased by YJ (USA) Corp a few years ago. The company has since completely re-engineered its products. The Bazoongi JumpPod is a successor to the previous Lifestyles line. It features a very unique support ring that holds the upper portion of the net in a circular shape. It is clearly one of the most popular and recognizable trampoline systems available. The ring itself is a fiberglass rod with aluminum connectors, and is similar construction to that of a tent pole. Overall installation time for the trampoline and safety enclosure system was 2.5 hours

Trampoline
The JumpPod offers construction quality on par with other trampolines tested in this category. The frame is an 8 segment design with 44 mm diameter tubing and a 1.5 mm wall, which is typical for trampolines in this price range. It has only 80 springs, which is less than average. Each spring has a barrel diameter of 25.5 mm, but shorter than average length of only 7.25”. Unfortunately, the pad only had 4 rows of stitching, and no sun guard, so longevity will be shorter than most other trampolines. Our tests showed that the legs were bent significantly after two impacts at the maximum user weight of 200 lb. Bright spots include a relatively soft bed, which helped its score in the Safety category, and a nicely cushioned pad. On the down side, this trampoline had a very high annual owner cost, primarily due to a large quantity of pricey replacement parts and a short warranty period.

Safety Enclosure
The safety enclosure on the JumpKing JumpPod features four vertical support poles, connected by the “G4 Pole”- a circular hoop which holds the netting in an attractive cylindrical shape. The poles are topped by a unique plastic cap which joins with the hoop. The net is a small aperture lightweight stiff mesh. It has a zippered entry and exit door with added clips which can only be fastened from outside the enclosure. Because it is not self-closing, making sure that children close the door after entering is a potential safety issue. Installation was longer and more tedious than expected, since it required “sewing” cords around the entire bottom edge of the net in order to attach it to the V-rings on the bed. This produces a clean and neat appearance and holds the trampoline pad securely in place. Unfortunately, the hoop is not robust enough to support much weight, allowing it to be easily damaged by the force of a user leaning on or falling into the net. Our testing at 200 lbs damaged two of the hoop connector pieces, leaving the unit critically weakened. Another downside of the hoop design is that with expensive replacement parts and a short warranty, it adds to the high annual owner cost.

Conclusion
Overall, the JumpKing JumpPod was one of the lowest performing trampoline and safety enclosure systems we’ve tested. Some of the advantages of the JumpPod are its soft bounce with a good feel, thick pad, and attractive hoop design. However, these are outweighed by its few springs, short spring length, weak legs, inadequate enclosure support hoop, and high annual cost. The JumpPod has an Annual Owner Cost of $595, the highest of any system we’ve tested to date. Although it can be found for below the $500 price point, there are several less expensive options to choose from that actually offer better performance. Since there is no user group for whom this trampoline would be the preferred choice, our recommendation is to avoid the JumpKing JumpPod.