Is it possible to purchase authentic 550 military issue cord? There seems to be an abundance of after market around.<br><br>

www.MajorSurplusNSurvival.com sells current milspec 550 paracord. The cordage is braided nylon,three inner strands similar to a fat candlewick and three tighter strands.All are nylon and will melt,not burn. Skeins are 300' in black or OD. You will have to email ,it is not shown online or in current mailer. Last price was @ 22.50+7.95 s/h. Drop them an email from website and theyll advise.<br><br>

Hi Castaway,<br>Please do NOT use 550 cord to rap from. Every knot you tie in the line reduces its strength 20 -30%. Add to that the bends over the windowsill and around your friction device and youv'e got a problem. In addition you'll find that you will not be able to create enough friction with that small a diameter for a controlled descent. <br>I have a bailout kit that's made from 5.5 mm cord. I don't carry it anymore, in favor of 8mm. The 5.5 cord is just barely adequate for this purpose.<br>JB<br><br>Expect poison with the standing water.<br> -William Blake

Thanks for your post. I have learned that there now is an extremely strong, relatively thin line available through climbing sources such as www.rei.com that would be an excellent choice. I believe it is a new product. It is called Spectra line and is available in a thin, 5.5mm, diameter with a 17.6+ kilonewton breaking strength. That's a measured breaking strength well in excess of typical bulky climbing ropes which often measure at around 10 kN (note, spectra lacks the elasticity of a "dynamic" climbing rope, so it would not be suitable to catch a falling climber, but is fine for rappelling). It's a bit pricy at $1.05 per foot, but is considerably stronger than the other lines discussed such as perlon, paracord, etc. Suitable perlon could be had at about a third of that cost. Anyone interested should look into the knotability of Spectra which is more slippery and would require special care when choosing and tieing knots.<br><br>

Hi again,<br>I'm familiar with Spectra. I believe it is kevlar- and is extremely stiff-it has a tendency for knots to come undone. (I have some chocks slung with it). I don't know how well it will work running through/around a friction device.<br>Please let us know if you try it.<br>JB<br><br>Expect poison with the standing water.<br> -William Blake

Just FYI, SPECTRA and Kevlar are brand names of two different fibers with very different characteristics. <br><br>Doug Ritter<br>Editor<br>Equipped To Survive

My local REI was out of stock, so no first-hand experience with it yet. I asked the clerk about flexibility and he said some of the styles they carry are very flexible and easy to work with. More info later...<br><br>

While Growing up in Arizona, we spent a lot of time on Apache lands. One day, the fan belt on our Hemi Chrysler snapped. A local Apache cowboy rode up,and wove a temporary replacement out of Yucca fronds! It got us to the gas station-trading post! My point is, I hope everyone has paracord or even bailing twine on hand. The pursuit of perfection is fun,but stay equipped ;)<br><br>

My apologies to all. I made a bad assumption and am very embarrassed. Spectra is actually a polyethylene, not an aramid like kevlar. It is roughly twice the strength of kevlar (by weight), Kevlar is roughly 5 times the strength of steel, by weight<br>CMC sells a 5.6mm GUIDE line, but their ESCAPE line is 7.4 mm. both are kevlar. I SUSPECT that Kevlar is the better choice for those products due to heat resistance, which the polyethylene Spectra MAY not have.<br>traditional escape lines have been made of 8mm nylon kernmantle.<br>Any thoughts anyone?<br>thanks<br>JB<br><br><br>Expect poison with the standing water.<br> -William Blake

O.K. make me feel obsolescent. Packing horses, I use 60' of 5/8 silk manila for the diamond hitches and two 30' 1/2" scant silk Manila reatas ( no longer available). My packing horse is a retired roper.He is trained to resist rope tension, and I have actually belayed off him! Well belayed is a fancy way of saying I descended like a sack of spuds with legs and arms. In any case,regardless of what miracle material you choose: please secure a proper rope knife AND a marlinspike. All rope can get wet and frozen. the marlinspike will work those knots free. A sheepsfoot blade is nice if you hate self mutilation and a truly SHARP blade will cut through just as fast as sawing with serrations. I love my Myerchin folder. The blade is actually a semi sheepsfoot and quite usefull.Every material, twist ,weave and combination thereof has it's own peculiarities or 'life'. get an extra few feet, practice your knots and get to know it's FEEL. <br><br>