I don’t think there’s anyone who could argue that paracord isn’t a handy item to have. People use it to replace their shoelaces, weave it into bracelets and belts, or just keep big hanks of it in their gear, in order to always have some handy.
True paracaord is made of multiple strands of smaller cordage, usually seven strands, and those strands are usuall made of three smaller strands. (Don’t quote me on those numbers.) The cheap Chinese knock off cordage is just a nylon sleeve with some sort of poly fiber core. Avoid that crap. Spend the money, get the good stuff. Take a deep breath, tense up your core, and pay the money for a giant spool of the stuff. There’s no point in doing things halfway and buying, say, 100′ of the stuff and thinking “that’ll do it.” There’s just so much to do with paracord.
For me, the reason I carry it in the Bag O’ Tricks is to tie doors open, tie doors shut, hoist things up to places, secure things closed, hold things open, create lanyards for gear, etc, etc. Dude, there are hundreds of reasons to have a generous amount of this stuff in your gear. But the problem is, how the heck do you store it neatly? I mean, you want it to be stored in such a manner that it doesn’t turn into a rats nest that leaves you standing there with a Gordian knot of paracord.
Originally, I simply rolled all my paracord into ball, like yarn, and then wrapped it in a couple cut-inner-tube-rubber-bands to keep it from unspooling itself. But, there were a couple problems… Most of the time it worked out just fine, but more than a few times the rough-n-tumble of tossing my bag around would sometimes overcome my efforts and things would get all tangle-y. The other problem was that for the amount of paracord I wanted to keep in my bag (the more, the better) the ball of cord was fairly substantial and not a very efficient use of space in my bag.
Originally, I figured the simple solution was to simply wind the cord around something to keep it one place. I tried several different ways of dong it but everything seemed to fall short. First, I chucked a length of dowel into a power drill and wound a bunch of cord on that. It worked, kinda, but still unwound itself at times. Then I tried something with a flatter profile… I cut a butterfly-shaped wedge of thick cardboard and wound it around that. That worked pretty well but eventually with all the banging around the cardboard got bent and lost its rigidity (hey, it happens to us all, right?)… back to square one.
Surely I can’t be the only person with this desire to have an organized way of carrying around a buncha paracord, right? What does the free market come up with? Handiest I found was this – a simple piece of plastic with a built in razor cutter and a pocket to hold the cigarette lighter used for melting the ends of the cord. To keep things even more organized, I keep it in a snug ziploc bag…this way if it does start to unravel (which, so far, it hasn’t) it all stays in one place.
One other item I found interesting was this geegaw. Its a belt-mountable dispenser that lets you pull off a length of cord and cut it – all one handed. Its 50′ worth of cord, which is useful, though I prefer to have a lot more than just 50′ worth. Where it shines is that this is about the size of a pair of tape measures side-by-side, keeps it self free from snagging and tangles, is refillable, and is just generally pretty well thought out. If you don’t mind it being only 50′ this is a pretty nice one-stop-shopping solution.
I really can’t overemphasize the utility of paracord. It really is one of those products that is ‘only limited by your imagination’.. But my experience has been that there are a lot of times, even without the world coming to an end, where having this stuff is amazingly useful. I really think you’d be foolish not to make this stuff a ‘must have’ in your emergency gear or everyday carry bag.
As an aside, it is also worth mentioning that this type of paracord is also available in a variety of colors….ODG for those military and subtle needs, and blaze orange for the ‘needs to be visible’ applications. And pretty much every color in between.
BUT….make sure you’re getting the multiple-strand stuff. Not the cheapo Made In China ‘mil-type’ crap. Lowering your gear from the rooftop of a flooded WalMart into a waiting rowboat is no time to discover that saving $15 by buying the ‘almost as good’ product was a bad idea. Don’t cheap out on gear that might turn out to be very mission-critical someday.
And while we’re on the subject, for Crom’s sake, learn to tie some knots. Without getting into boffin country, there are an amazing amount of knots out there that have qualities that make them very much worth knowing. Grab five feet of paracord, go jump on YouTube, and learn some useful knots. Seriously.
The year is 1.9% over and I still haven’t bought any guns.
I have gone __7__ days without buying a gun this year.
Ok.
So here it is, we are starting the first chapter of GBA online.
I will go first, my name is Dan and I buy guns…
Hi Dan!!
My name is Jack, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea for me to join.
Hi, my name is Boris and it’s been (checks watch) 23 minutes since I bought a gun.
23 Minutes that’s great Boris, keep up the great work.
You seen the offers PSA have out?
I take the time and put a hundred feet or so into a daisy-chain donut.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W4_ETPO6S0o
Works well if you have some QD swivels and want to make a 60-foot one-piece sling so you have to shuttle it over and under like a carpet loom. Made some about a decade ago that still go strong.
When calculating if you have bought a gun for the year yet, does a bid on an auction that hasn’t closed yet still count as ‘haven’t bought one yet”?
Asking for a friend.
Discovered the Atwood paracord winding gadgets a few years back. Always thought they were the shiz.
If I ponder on it, there’s about 10 knots I can tie without thinking about how.
One of them is a bowline. The other nine aren’t.
Never found any need to learn another 40, which are each no doubt useful to a miniscule portion of society. YMMV.
Even better than paracord, pick up a bag of rolls of floral wire in several different gauges. Get the ones with a built-on wire cutter on the package.
Learn to tie a trapper’s double-loop cinch using a small stick, that tightens when you pull on it, and you’ve got rolls of green plastic-coated snare wire that’ll make you 20-30 survival snares per roll.
Any one roll of which could keep you alive in a tough spot.
If you get really bored, pull all the guts out of a 100′ roll of paracord.
Pull out aq bushcraft book, and weave a fishing net with those inner strands, attached to the outer wrap.
After you’ve done the basic knot a few hundred times, you’ll be able to do it again from muscle memory without further instruction.
And you’ll have a spiffy fishing/trapping/cargo net/hammock.
I’ve long thought that having a pre-made fishing net set up would be worth its weight. It would come out when sport fishing is out the window, and ‘dinner’ fishing is required.
Most of the paracord brands that I have run across look like braided chineseium. Any recommendations on reliable brands?
I was pretty sure I threw a link in there.
There is also the paracord store:
https://theparacordstore.com/
I agree with CZ I bought several spools a few years back, made in the US, military stuff.
I’ve spent years fighting the paracord in my bags and packs. I am definitely going to buy a couple of the Atwood’s. The other one is pretty cool, but I just don’t see the scenario where I need to have one handed access to paracord. Plus, where on my belt, bag, pack or rig am I going to put it that makes sense?
FWIW, a 100′ length of 550 cord balls up perfectly into a US GI compass/field dressing pouch made for ALICE gear.
For MOLLE gear, the otherwise useless grenade pouch serves the same purpose, (unless you’ve somehow stumbled onto a far more useful supply of frag grenades).
Putting that hank of cord into a Ziplok baggie gives you dry cordage, and also another Ziplok baggie for whatever (dry storage, water carriage, etc.), in a pinch.
Also, if you pack it right, that grommet drainage hole at the bottom of the ALICE compass/field dressing pouch becomes a “paracord dispensing hole”.
YMMV.
Damn – now THAT is handy advice about pouch and dispensing built-in. I have a couple of those pouches purchased years back when they were sold surplus inexpensive. Now can be a bit troublesome to find in stock.
Thank you Aesop !
Way back in the day when I was learning to climb with a regionally famous climbing club, everyone got two hanks of paracord and a link of chain tied to a ‘biner.
The cord was tied into loops of about 3ft and about 18″. You tied it into a small hank and it was intended to be carried on your harness whenever and wherever you were climbing so that you could tie two prusik knots around a line and self rescue by prusiking up the rope. One for harness tie off, one for a foot loop. They were both compact and light enough that you didn’t notice you had them until needed.
The chain link was big enough to pass a loop of climbing rope, and in conjunction with the ‘biner it was leashed to, could be used as a belay device or a rappel device.
Seeing those items on a climber’s rack or harness meant they’d been thru the same training as you, and you could expect a good foundation in the basics. The hotshots who decided not to carry them might cut other corners too, and you paid attention…
——
I bought a thousand feet or more of various colors of paracord from a store that went out of business. My only problem is convincing myself to USE it instead of keeping it “just in case”.
n
I had the same problem.
My solution was to buy so much of the stuff I couldn’t justify “saving it for an emergency”, and instead started looking for ways to use some of it up.
We’re talking a milk crate full of spools and smaller hanks, but a drawer would also work.
If it starts looking empty, replenish.
If it’s overflowing, go out and play with some.
Nature loves a balance.
Beside the 550lb Paracord, it also comes in 750lb and 1,000lb strengths.
Days wo guns counter at the bottom is awesome .
More awesome would be an over under pool on how far it goes .
I’m in with a bet of under the month of January .
Best para cord story from
Personal experience . Hit a 12’ tall rock shelf at the bottom of a big canyon once . Doubled the paracord, hooked around a tree so we could recover it from below , got 3 people safely down the small cliff .
Hello, my name is Zero and I’m a gunaholic. I’ve gone 7 whole days without buying another gun.
Can’t wait for CZ to make amends! Will he apologize to all the guns he hurt by not buying?
You notice he says nothing at all about Ammo, parts, knives or accessories?
Baby steps, grasshopper.
The journey of 1000 guns starts with a single “no bid”.
https://rapidrope.com/
Might give this a look
Back in the day, while in the Infantry, most of us carried 100′ to 150′ of parachute cord in our rucks. We wrapped/wove it into what was referred to by everyone as a “Ranger Roll”. It’s kind of a woven flat doughnut shape that doesn’t come unraveled in the bottom of your pack, but you can pull off as much cordage as needed by simply firmly pulling one end. They take a little time to make initially, but there was always down time that was being otherwise wasted anyways. Anyhow, the habit stuck with me and I keep a Ranger Roll in all of my packs to this day.
Backcountry Bum
I’d like to learn more about your “ranger roll”, Backcountry Bum.
Hopefully this link works. Hope it helps.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bjzl2wXceQQ&pp=ygUuSG93IHRvIG1ha2UgYSBtaWxpdGFyeSByYW5nZXIgcm9sbCBvZiA1NTAgY29yZA
TMI if your blood alcohol content is over .08
Dang, that means I can only watch it on maybe a Wednesday and possibly the early part of a Thursday.
after a long day of learning knots and trying them out in use, the sf instructor closed with: “in the end, any tangle will do.” that’s why i keep roles of rope, 550 and bankline handy. bankline has taken a lot of tasks that i once “wasted” 550 on. many times i don’t need that much strength, but i always have some with me…..do gun parts count in the gba group, or is there another group for that?
If you cain’t tie a knot, tie a lot!
Get a small drawstring bag, large pill bottle or similar. Drill a hole in the top big enough for the cord. If using a bag, skip that. Grab the end of your paracord and start stuffing it into the container. When you’re satisfied with your stash, cut it, melt the end and stick through the hole or opening. If you want to store the end in the container, tie a bowline or figure 8 and attach a small carabiner. If I’m using a pouch I’ll clip the ‘biner to the drawstring. This method works for most lines if the container is appropriately sized.
If you can get the core out, you can feed from the center of the spool on most cordage. A lot of spooled fastener (baling twine, tie wire) is designed to pull from the center of the spool. I have a big spool of hay baling twine in a flower pot. I pull from the center and cut it whenever I need disposable cordage around the garden, barn or wherever.
Help me out, CZ. Why the obsession with carrying poundage of 550 cord? I can see 50′, maybe 100′ in the BoT, but this isn’t your home away from home, its a light, maneuverable bag for something emergent, and an alternative way home. I love the idea of sealing a full spool in a vacuum sealed bag for preservation, but carrying it on my back in case I need to do some Army-grade crochet defies my personal logic & reason function. Now, if you told us about the accompanying grappling hook, and plans to use 2nd floor entries, that would make some sense.
It is not my intent to criticize. Everyone has to make their own decisions about what and how much they carry in a bag of this type. My desire is to understand why someone would “go overboard” on a single item. Clearly thought went into how much is carried. Maybe enlighten us fellow cretins as to why lineal miles of cordage are important to you? Just asking. I love what you are doing here.
I really like the idea behind the Atwood MFG. Ideally, one finds more than one use for the item cordage is wrapped around. Personally, I like wrapping cordage around the handle of a super-light camp shovel (polymer, not steel… unless its one of those Soviet death shovel/hatchet combos).
Im a bit confused. I re-read my post several times and I don’t think I made a statement about how much paracord is in the BOT. I did say that a person shouldn’t just buy 100′ of the stuff and think they were done. That statement was meant to convey that you shouldnt think that having 100′ of paracord stashed in your basement would be enough for whatever apocalypse you foresee…you should have a big spool of the stuff somewhere and then cutoff whatever amount you think you need to keep with you and your gear. I did mention that I thought 50′ of cord was, for me, not as much as I’d prefer. I stand by that. For me (and this is the important qualifier – “for me”..your mileage may vary) I like to have a good bit more than that. Because I have literally no idea what the next emergency in my life is going to look like, I’d like to err on the side of caution. Most emergencies don’t require paracord at all. But…I have no idea what the future holds, so I like to be prepared. I threw my BOT stash of paracord, on its winder, on the scale and it comes out at about 9 ounces. Im comfortable with that amount of weight and space being taken up in my bag in exchange for, what I believe, is the tremendous utility and options afforded by having it along. Space-wise its about the size of a Coke can.
I suppose this is a lot like the ‘how much ammo should you carry’ discussions I see elsewhere. Everyone has their own idea about what the next Big Emergency is going to look like. For me, I feel a Coke-can-sized spool of paracord is something that has enough utility and handiness that it’s worth its tradeoff of nine ounces of weight. I probably won’t need it, or need as much as I have, but the extra margin doesn’t really take up that much more space or weight.
On a side note, I live in the same local region as the Commander, and if you’re activity involves camping overnight in this area you need about 30′ of dedicated cordage with a carabiner to hang your food bag out of reach of the large footed chipmunks we have in this area. I’ve tried using other types of cordage for this to save on weight, but have always come back to using 550 cord.
Grappling hook – I’m not thinking of a device that bears my weight to climb. A large salt water fishing treble hook can be spun and thrown at overhead branches to pull them down, or retrieve items far below. I keep it in a pill bottle (but never thought to already have it attached to a line – that was dumb !). All grappeling hooks (even collapsible designs I’ve see) are pretty bulky.
I’ve carried some of this SurvivorCord around for a good while. Pretty handy stuff and a nice way to have some additional snare wire, fire cordage, and fishing line all in one with a true 550lb tensile strength cordage. Available in 100ft hanks, 500, and 1000 foot spools. A little less strong than the 750lb Tough Grid cordage but honestly why the hell wouldn’t you have both. All from a US Veteran Owned and operated business.
https://www.titansurvival.com/collections/all/products/dragonscale-survivorcord-spool