"How do you repel using paracord?"

I don't.

I've always used a 3/8ths inch or larger line. I would be willing to go with a 1'4 inch line but that would be as small as I am willing to play with.

Thinking about this some more - I really don't think you want to go with the paracord.

Why consider paracord?
Simple - because it's light. Ropes are heavy - esp. if you have to carry them up hills for a long way. So people are always trying to reduce the weight of the rope.

Several responders here have pointed out that if you were to take a short bounce, the rappel rope would be subjected to a much bigger force. You might easily break the paracord, even if it is rated at 550 pounds. That's a very good point. And as I think about my old climbing days --- I gotta' say that it's very easy to bounce on a rappel rope. Happens commonly. In fact, it would be pretty hard to rappel without ever bouncing on the rope. Maybe if you did a direct vertical "free rappel" you might pull it off - if you were super careful.

There's another reason to reject the paracord. The strength of these cords and ropes depends partly on the outside sheath that's woven around the inner core of fibers. That outside sheath can supply as much as 30% of the strength of the rope. So if it gets damaged - your paracord would be a LOT weaker than you thought it was.

So if you start experimenting with crazy rappel hardware that might work on paracord, you could wind up seriously twisting or damaging the sheath on the cord. That would not be good.

I think what we've established is that regular paracord (of the size you have in mind) is just not a good idea.

What you need ... is for someone to invent a super-strength paracord that's specially intended for rappeling. If anyone does that, you could be back in business!

Pete

Well said.

I love paracord, I've got a couple hundred feet of the stuff in the cordage box on the shelf next to me, actually. But for things like lanyards, bear bagging, guy lining, boot laces, and the like. But I've had the stuff break holding a hammock up before- a sleeping Raven dump in a cold swamp at oh-dark-hundred is a VERY grumpy version of Raven. No shock, no stress, just gravity and me and some knots.

Nowadays, I use 1" tubular webbing for tree straps, and full fledged climbing biners. Works well.

Just for citation purposes…

http://www.spike.com/full-episode/fire/33779 @ approximately 37:48 in the video.

Hey all, I have been out for awhile, so first post in several months.

I recommend 1 inch tubular nylon for emergency rappelling, if it becomes necessary. It will work for rope and a Swiss seat. You do also need a carabiner. You will need to put extra wraps in the biner just to get enough friction(I recommend 4)and you will still descend rapidly. However, it takes up much less room and weighs much less than regular rope. Yes, I have used it quite a few times myself. We used it for descending from trees on parachute jumps that went wrong. It will not survive many times being used this way,the friction tend to melt it. If you have the choice, replace it after one use. It is still probably too cumbersome for EDC to the office, but it is safer than 550 cord.

But yes, if I had the choice of burning or rappelling with 550, I will rappel.

Just cord on a carabiner doesn't create a lot of friction. If used with cord, i would use a munter hitch, but i never tried that with webbing. Ohw, also nice to know, not all webbing are equil. Get the strong stuff.

As a sportsclimber i'm sticking with mine 10mm dynamic rope...

Montanero

Can you be any more specific about how you wrapped the 1-inch tubular webbing on a carabiner. Doesn't sound like an easy way to control friction ... there's not a lot of room for screwing up with that set-up (you don't want a runaway to happen). But thanks for posting the method - I'm interested.

Pete

Normal method of wrapping rope through the carabiner, just four times. There is plenty of room, especially with the webbing.

8mm kernmantle is about the same size and weight as 1 inch tubular webbing - it would be my choice

Was curious about the rope mentioned and found this little kit.

Rescue Perk Pak by Sterling Rope

* Compact lightweight Personal Escape Rope (PER) rope Made with a 40-carrier sheath construction
* Minimum breaking strength (MBS) of 3956 lbs.
* Great handling, durable, high tensile strength lifeline
* Certified to NFPA 1983, 2001 edition for Personal Escape Rope
* Includes 40' of 8 mm PER, Cordura bag, and locking carabiner


$44