Parachute cord -- What & Where ?

Mississippi_Dave

Mississippi_Dave

Joined
Jun 7, 2000
Messages
298
What exactly is parachute cord? And is that whats used for the lanyards and handles on knives? I went to a local army surplus store and asked for it, but what they had was nylon rope with an inner white core, kind of cheap looking stuff. Is this the right stuff or is it something else. I've found places that sell it on the net, but kind of hard to see what its made of without looking at it in person.
 
It's pretty much a nylon cord. They have plenty of paracord of all different colors at my surplus store.

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Chang the Asian Janitorial Apparatus
 
Send me your address by e-mail to me and I'll send you a bit of paracord scraps so you know what they look like. Cool? echang@uni.uiuc.edu

And I believe some has the white inner part and looks like of cheap. My paracord feels much more durable though.

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Chang the Asian Janitorial Apparatus
 
Mississippi Dave, I have used several different colors of paracord but I`ve used plenty with the white insides. I learned a good secret here on the forums not long age about paracord. Depending on what you`re using it for and how strong it needs to be. If you`re using it for a neck knife Just make a fresh cut and pull the white strands out. They will come out very easy. No all you have is the black outer part. Take your bic lighter and melt the edges so they won`t fray. This still makes for a very strong cord. It is also great for wraping handles this way. Try it and I think you`ll be pleased. Thats the only way I ever use it anymore. I also have some with the black strands going down the center so I know that it`s available and you`re right, it doesn`t look quite so cheap. But what you`ve got will work fine. Hope this helps. w

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Hey Guys....

What you want to look for is a cord with 4-7 smaller inner strands. This is refered to genericly as "550" cord.

ttyle Eric...

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Eric E. Noeldechen
On/Scene Tactical
http://www.mnsi.net/~nbtnoel
Custom,Quality, Concealex Sheaths.

Leading The Way In Synthetic Sheathing.
 
Try this...

Happy Hiker
905 River Rd
Gatlinburg, TN 37738-3136
Phone: 423-436-6000

It's a very nice camp supply store that just opened not long ago. They have spools of different sizes & multiple colors. You have to ask about which color combo they have in, they never know what their supplier will send them...It changes almost every time.

You can see some of mine I got there by looking at two post I responded to..

- Buck Intpepid II
- Sebenza laynard, to tie or not
(look for these similar post in the BUCK & CR forums)



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Keith D.Armacost
If at first you don't succeed, Skydiving is not for you.
 
Like people have been indicating, parachute cord is an odd type of thin nylon rope. It consists of a thin-walled tube of woven nylon over multiple strands of polyfiliment nylon cord that run straight up the middle (they aren't woven together).

As a kid I used to buy 20-foot lengths of the stuff at surplus stores that had been cut off army parchutes. I learned to hate the stuff because abrasion would wear out the outer layer which would slide down leaving the individual polyfiliment strands dangling in the wind. Since I made slings (ala David & Goliath) using the cord I abraded through them all the time. I switched to using equivalently sized woven nylon cord instead. Anytime someone suggests using parachute cord I assume he really means 1/4" woven nylon rope.

[This message has been edited by Jeff Clark (edited 08-03-2000).]
 
Let's clear up some confusion here. 550 paracord is the military shroud line for "personnel parachutes." It is an OD green woven nylon sheath with seven (7) strands of white nylon inside. It has a Defense Logistics Agency National Stock Number (although I don't remember it). This stuff is the best. It has a 550 lb tensil strength when all strands are intact (tough stuff). This is the real stuff!

Now there are commercial copies and counterfeits on the markets. Some of the copies have varying colors of sheaths. Some counterfeits have less than 7 inner strands, and may be as few as one! These are rarely as good as the mil. stuff.

The value of the real stuff, besides tensile strength, is the inner strands may be removed and are quite tough as individuals. I use one inner strand as a thumb loop lanyard on my Spyderco Military because the intact cord is too thick to go through the lanyard hole. As has been mentioned, the sheath alone is quite strong.

My daughter came home from the local sporting goods store with 20 feet of counterfeit cord, purchased for her summer camp activities. She was quite proud of herself for buying it at half what "Dad" pays for his. I then explained the difference, threw hers away, and gave her 20 feet of mine.

Hope this helps.

Bruce Woodbury
 
Jeff, I probably have woven nylon cord. It's about 1/4" thick. It doesn't seem to have any white filling strands though, just a solid olive green nylon cord. Is this "paracord"?

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Chang the Asian Janitorial Apparatus
 
Comrade C. Your nylon cord sounds like it is NOT paracord, but never the less may be preferable to paracord for many purposes. Paracord is designed for parachutes. If you are not constructing parachutes or planning to split the cord to extract individual lines out of it, you may prefer your woven nylon cord. I know that I do. You can probably dead lift more weight with paracord and the paracord will not stretch as much.

[This message has been edited by Jeff Clark (edited 08-03-2000).]
 
back in the good old days in the army (big sigh...)

we used to use the cord to tie everything to everything else - and it never failed us.

We dug out people from snow slides with it...

the best stuff is found at outdoor retailers that specialize in mountain climbing - there you can get stuff that will hold anything up to and including 4 tons of stuff - but they are rather thick...(the cords not the climbers..)

 
The stuff I found was labeled "550" cord and made by the Atlanta Rope/Cord/Something Company. O.D. green with inner white core, but package didnt say how many inner strands. This the stuff?
 
A little off topic but Welcome Mississippi Dave! I see you are pretty near my old home town, McComb MS. Enjoy the forums.
 
Miss. Dave,

Yeah, close enough...Bruce is right about the seven strands inner, one outer nylon rope being what a Parachute Rigger or Jumpmaster qualified soldier calls "550 cord"--considering their qualifiacations, I'm sure those soldiers call it by its EXACT nomenclature, whatever that may be
wink.gif
Not that many active duty units on "jump status" in the Army as a whole (82nd, 18th ABN Corps HQ, SOC, and several separates scattered throughout), but like someone said, we ALL use it as a staple--just like 100mph tape. Commercial versions will take on most tasks--just don't advise you to try repairing your T-10 para with it (wrong time to go oops).

[This message has been edited by icarian (edited 08-05-2000).]
 
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