Black SPECTRA PARACHUTE CORD

RyanMalpiede

RyanMalpiede

Joined
Oct 5, 1998
Messages
5,400
Where is the best place to buy Black SPECTRA PARACHUTE CORD I know shomer-tec sells it but with a $7 shipping fee. Anywhere else?

Thanks!

Ryan
 
Temper said:
www.1sks.com sells authentic mil spec para cord

They also pay for this forum and a reasonable.

Give them a try
Click to expand...

He's looking for parachute cord made from SPECTRA, not "authentic" nylon based cord. There's a big difference.

As an aside, I recommend reading someone's actual request before posting.
 
Hmm -- this is curious. I assume you're referring to this item? Never seen this before, thanks for the ref.

Apologies in advance for not answering your question -- I don't know where else to buy this particular product -- but I'd be highly skeptical of Shomer-Tec's listed claims. I seriously doubt it is used as actual parachute cord; but more importantly, there is no way it is has a 550 lbs. breaking strength. At 2.5mm it is basically the exact same product as Kelty's popular Triptease Spectra guyline (also 2.5mm polypro sheath/Spectra core), which is accurately rated at 188 lbs. breaking strength. If it were 2.5mm pure Spectra without the polypro sheath, then it would easily rate 550+. However, given that the polypro sheath necessarily comprises 2/3 of the 2.5mm thickness (~0.1 in.), the actual Spectra cord is <1mm (~0.35 in.) =188 lbs. breaking strength.

That said, it is still a good product, and at a good price even w/$7 shipping, just 'not as listed.'

More generally: Spectra cord is great stuff, to be sure, very popular among the ultralight crowd for maximum strength/weight ratio. The Bozeman Mtn Works link at the top of Melancholy Mutt's Google search has good info on Spectra's strength ratings, properties, and limits. The Air Core 1 and 2 are excellent multipurpose cords.

My 0.02 --
Glen
 
Skyline said:
As an aside, I recommend reading someone's actual request before posting.
Click to expand...
I recommend you back off. People do make mistakes occasionally.


Temper,

Your response to this was less than admirable and that language is reserved for W&C.


Both of you step back, take a breath, and cool off.
 
While not black (and not all Spectra), here are a few high cool high tech cords:

New England Tech Cord (Technora)
Very cool stuff. 3mm rated at 3,100lbs. Note this stuff is super stiff. Inner fibers are parallel - not braided. If I recall this stuff is pretty heat resistaint too, so treating the ends can be a bit of a pain (you can't melt them reasonably).

7/64" Spectra Cord
Rated at 1200lbs. Very flexible, but no protective covering. Braided. You can treat the ends by melting.

Both Technora and Spectra are a bit "slippery", so you'll want to pay special attention to knots.

Check out this: Comparative Testing of High Strength Cord

After finding what you material you want, you should be able to google around for it. These high tech cords tend to be carried by boating places.

-john
 
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