Paracord Prep

Paracord is one of the most useful survival tools, as it serves so many purposes, from hanging a hammock or tying a tarp at your WildCamp, building shelter or making tools for BushCraft, or securing your kit, repairing items or hauling heavy loads, being the more regular uses, amongst several other survival situations we could list forever (maybe in another post).

If you're looking for rope to serve a particular purpose then you'll likely already have a specific one in mind; for everything else we'd recommend 550lb Paracord as your go-to, which should cover you for 90% of the situations you'll find yourself in.

We'd always advise to prep your hammock and tarp for quick setup and release and have a paracord bracelet, keyring, shoelaces and/or watchstrap for emergencies; then for everything else we'd suggest 100ft strap in the car, one in your rucksack and one in easy reach in your home survival cupboard.

As there are lots of types of paracord to choose from, we want to share the ins and outs of the main ones on offer and under what purpose they should be considered. For this we've considered strength, weight and versatility and provide some field-test experience with which ones work best for WildCamping.

One of the key factors for survival is mobility and as such weight and space is incredibly important in that premium 'real-estate' in your bug-out bag or bergen. This is why the versatility of rope is so important. If you've heard the tip of switching out your shoelaces for paracord, it's for exactly that reason - if you're taking them anyway, why not make sure they're at a quality that can serve another purpose, like a field tourniquet kit, knife handle, sling, splint or rescue line in a pinch (depending on how big your feet are!),

Elastic Cord: perfect for bungee straps on your rucksack, it's strong, stretchy and helps pack things in tight. They typically come in 1/16 or 1/32 inch diameter, have braided sleeves and 3-6 inner strands. Another great use is to hold your hammock mosquito net up, with the practical benefit of being able to sit on top of it when you need a rest and watch it ping back up again when you need to get inside. Outside of home crafting that's where we'd say it's practical benefits are limited to. It usually provides too much give for a tarp or tent in high winds and if you've ever been caught in the face (or the eye!) as one pings back from the nearest tree with any regrettable hook you put on the opposite end, then you'll wish you'd have carried the extra couple of grams for paracord.

Nano/Micro Cord: between elastic and shock cord, there's nano, micro and just plain-old 'cord'. While these are the thinnest of cords, allowing you to pack lots in, that's where the benefits tend to stay. Usually around a millimetre in diameter, strength varies from 30-100lb, without normally having any inner strands. You'd usually find this cord on a lanyard or compass and it's prone to fraying. As a low cost, highly produced cord, it usually isn't tested at the loads it carries, so with the highly likelihood that it's strength is weakened with a small tear or fray then we can't recommend this as something you'd depend on for any real survival scenario.

Shock Cord: found usually in 1/4 or 1/8 inch diameter you can typically find 100-210lb strength in this preferred elastic cord, which adds a greater strength when taught, to it's 12 to 48 inner strands. As it's thicker, it's heavier (although not unreasonable) and usually a preferred choice for the car, to latch things to the roof-rack securely (1/4"), or to strap larger items to a bergen (1/8"). It can be used to hold a hammock, but we wouldn't recommend it, as the weight and weight limit ratio aren't favourable for WildCamping.

Standard Paracord: there's a long list of other paracord, which have variable benefits when compared against each other, but tend to miss out of setting their own stall as a preferred BushCraft WildCamp paracord. 95, 275, 325 and 425 paracord are some of the common ones, which range from 1.75mm to 3mm in diameter and the tensile strength is (you guessed it) matched in lbs to the number that each one suggests, each typically with 7 internal strands. If you have a specific diameter in mind for the cord you're using then these can be useful options, otherwise they tend to limit your options without any material benefit in weight improvement.

550 Paracord: there's a reason why this is the highest selling paracord on the planet and a reason why it's the go-to paracord for BushCrafters, WildCampers and the military. It's because it's the best. It's certified type III nylon paracord and is usually labelled as mil-spec due to the strength and durability testing it's been put through, for military use. It's 4mm in diameter and typically has 7 inner strands (unless boosted by fire-cord, which we'll come to later) and has 550lbs of tensile strength as the name suggests. This is the Chuck Norris, Rambo and MacGyver of the paracord world, as its strength, weight, elasticity, versatility and dependability are unrivalled in the paracord world. Usually with a reasonable price tag of £13-15 for 100ft spools/straps. This is the Disce Pati BushCraft WildCamp paracord of choice and a must-buy for your survival needs.

650 Paracord: definitely the odd one of the bunch, 650 paracord is a fatter cord, without the added strength. We've struggled to see any practical use out of this cord for survival situations as it ranges from 4mm to 5mm in diameter, but only has 4 strands and 350lb strength. Unless you have a specific reason for fatter rope we'd give this one a miss.

750 Paracord: this is our second favourite paracord, as while it's 5mm diameter makes it a little less versatile, it's strength is unrivalled for the size, with a whopping 750lb tensile strength, due to it's 11 inner strands. The only reason this doesn't get our top pick, is that for most purposes it's a little overkill (we couldn't think of any realistic scenario where you'd need to carry 53 and a half stone) and typically at up to twice the price of 550lb, you can usually hear the whimper of a WildCamper as they cut each piece off for use, or find someone's used it to tie the Christmas tree together or make a necklace for an art project. If you're only looking for 50ft then this could be an option, but as you get to testing the varied uses for paracord we think you'll soon realise that 50ft is never enough.

The Big Stuff: just because it's interesting to know how far this goes, Para-Max and Battle Cord are the biggest of the bunch. If you're looking for the beefy towing, hunting, project type paracord then this might be for you. At 1/4 or 5/16 inch diameters, Para-Max has 3-6 inch inner strands and 32 outer strand nylon, making it withstand 1,200lbs. If you thought that was tough, then the Battle Cord is 5.6mm in diameter, has 7 inner strands, which each individually hold 350lbs alone!, totalling 2,650lbs of tensile strength - that's 1.2 tonnes! It's not the most practical for WildCamping or BushCrafting, but might be an ideal choice to leave in the car.

Speciality Survival Cord: as we started with, weight and versatility are key factors in survival and there are some ingenious options available for those with, usually deeper pockets and an eye for innovation. Labelled in different ways and with a few different options, paracord has been developed more recently to include fire cord/ red tinder cord, cotton and fishing line, combined within the paracord. More importantly the line is in addition to the strength and inner strands already included and can easily be removed from the paracord, without affecting the shape or strength of the paracord itself. If you're stuck in a bind then being able to hunt, fish or light a fire are key ingredients to ensuring your survival, so having these options on hand could help save your life (or at the very least allow you to show off to your comrades at the camp). If you're opting for speciality survival cords then we'd encourage you to follow the advice we provided above, rather than make this the driving factor for your decision i.e. don't trade down on 550lb to get red tinder line, or trade 7 strand for 5 strand and fishing line; instead we'd still recommend sticking with 550 Paracord and looking to snag a deal on 3 additional strands of red tinder cord, cotton and PE fishing line, included in the sheath.

Whatever you decide, remember to burn any open ends after you cut, to stop the sheath riding up the inner strands and look out for our future blogs on knot-tying and paracord bracelets and keyrings.