Another Paracord Question

M

maury

Joined
Sep 24, 2000
Messages
606
Just curious: what exactly is "genuine 550 paracord?"

I have also seen the term 'mil spec" applied to paracord - which I figure means military specifications. Is this really a standard of quality, or just an advertising tag line?

Assuming that there is some "standard" paracord, is an inner an core of 7 strands an absolute guarantee that the stuff is genuine or are there knock offs/sub standard cords out there that are also made with 7 strands?

And just when I thought life was getting more understandable.....
:
 
"Genuine 550 paracord" is a misnomer. Since "Paracord" is not the name for the stuff the military uses, the word "genuine" only modifies "paracord" and does not give you a guarantee it is of military quality.

What everyone wants is MILSPEC Parachute Shroud Line. I don't have the National Stock Number handy but it has one. It also has a Military Specification associated with it. It is the OD green woven nylon sheath with the seven white nylon woven inner strands, and nothing else! It is used by Riggers to repair parachutes. It is the line material that attaches the canopy to the harness the parachutist wears. It has a nominal 550 lb tensil strength.

Since the stuff can be more costly than most civilians want to pay, many immitators have sprung up on the market. They are called "paracord" to give reference to the real stuff. No one would use these for parachute shroud lines unless you want to die! Even if they did test out at a true 550 lbs of tensile strength, they are more abrasive on the outside of the sheath, possibly causing malfunctions of your chute during deployment.

MILSPEC Parachute Shroud Line has only one Military Specification but may have many National Stock Numbers (a number for OD, possibly white, and each different pack size -- 1000 meter roll, smaller packages, etc.).

Hope this helps.

Bruce
 
Thanks Bruce! So, the "real" Paracord is GREEN ONLY. Kind of suspected that, whick leaves me with only one other question: Other then getting a roll directly from a military supplier, is there any way to determin if a given legnth of green, 7 strand cord is indeed MILSPEC?
 
4020 00 240 2146
is the NSN
found it in a navy survival curriculum
Quantity is specified as "1 sl" at a price of $59.99

MIL-C-5040H
seems to be the Milspec
 
maury, the MILSPEC number must appear on the original packaging. If you are being offered say 100 ft or something less than the original spool, ask for the MILSPEC number off the spool, perhaps the NSN also since only MILSPEC shroud line will have an NSN.
 
Well, we buy the stuff all the time, comes in a big spool, "1 sl". May I ask why the stringent requirement for MILSPEC? Our parachute riggers at work could probably figure it all out real fast. I think that as long as it has the seperate strand core, you are getting as close to MILSPEC as you could get without a laboratory. Most places will call it 550 cord.
 
Hookus, I think most people just want the best. I doubt any civilian stuff is "better" than MILSPEC shroud line so that becomes the gold standard. I personally haven't seen any civilian copy "paracord" with the seven inner strands. I have seen a bunch that looks like shroud line on the outside but only has three inner strands and a bunch of filler fiber inside. I don't care if it does test at 550 lbs., the original military stuff is the best, and way more useful since you can extract the inner strands for other purposes if you want.

I used to carry a full size BM AFCK when I ran -- protection from both two and four legged atackers. Shroud line was too thick to run through the thong hole but a single white inner strand was just right to form a loop to secure the knife to my hand so I didn't drop it in the dark.

Bruce
 
More information: MIL-C-5040 is a specification for a family of braided nylon cord with a core (coreless nylon cord is MIL-C-7515 but is used for cargo parachutes, not personnel chutes). It lists several strengths of cord along with it's lateral stretch limits and pounds per 1000 ft.

Type I 100 lbs tensil strength
Type IA 100 lbs
Type II 375 lbs
Type III 550 lbs
Type IV 750 lbs

Since there are numerous National Stock Numbers for Type III (one for each color -- white, OD, maybe black -- and length per spool) it is only important that if you want military quality parachute suspension line (I erroneously called it "shroud" line), you ensure it meets
MIL-C-5040 Type III specifications. This is the "seven inner strand" stuff used to connect a military personnel parachute to the harness worn by the Airborne Soldier.

Bruce
 
Furthermore,

When I was at Ft. Bragg the 550 cord was EVERYWHERE, everyone had a 1000' spool they procured from the supply Sgt. or Rigger friends.

When I went to Air Assault school they absolutly forbid us to call it 550 cord we had to call it Type III Nylon.

They even tried to trip us up during the slingload tests by using white type III nylon in place of 1/4" cotton webbing (A NO GO)

If I call it type III nylon now nobody know what i'm talking to (civilian world)

Geoff
 
tknife, I'm sure I've seen non-MILSPEC paracord with 7 inner strands. The only way to tell military stuff is the MILSPEC number associated with the goods.

Geoff, I'm also familiar with "Type III Nylon" rolls in every supply room I've been around. With it so prevalent, I'm sure whoever procured it for DOD probably thought every military member with a green ID card had two or three parachutes also!

Bruce
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top