for survival needs what can you do with para that you cannot do with cheaper alternatives? i'm not talking about rapelling down cliffs , just repairs, shelters, bowstrings etc. you can use jute as tinder which is a bonus, too. jute or sisal rolls can be had for a buck or two at home depot.

i think some of us prefer para-cord because we used
"binders twine" in scouts and then discovered the cord
in the army/name your service..and never went back..
twine seems to un-ravel and is hard to untie and reuse..

Stronger, easier to work with. Sisal has a habit of breaking under any kind of load larger than a water bottle, unravels and starts to rot in days. While nylon DOES break down under exposure to UV light, it still will hold up longer than sisal.

What sisal does have going for it is that it burns, sorta, which means it can be used as wicks, and biodegrades, so if you have to leave it behind you aren't leaving something for future archaeologists. But if you are out long enough you need wicks, you can make your own cordage, and for practice, pack it out with you. In the real deal, you either break down your shelter when you move out or just leave it, just like scattering rocks from a fire ring.

I've never knowingly worked with jute, so I can't comment on it.

Oh, and I want to see you make a bowstring out of sisal or paracord, I'm thinking it would be some kind of sketchy.

The inner strands.

You get seven inner strands plus the outer casing. That adds up to a lot of line in a small package.

Both jute and sisal break down quickly in sunlight, and neither are very strong. Wind blowing a tarp tied with either will break them loose very quickly.

In fact, jute rots so quickly that most museums will no longer accept any kind of artwork made from it.

Sue

Personnaly i prefer a combination of cord/string for repair and DIYing. paracord is a jack of all trade, but a master of none. It multipurposeness also stops, when you have used it. Innercord is great, but a bit annoying to get when you have already used the cord to tie things. It's also stuff i generally don't use when practising, simply because i like stuff that rot away when i forget to retrieve it and it's cheap.

In my case, for the majority of tie-ing, twine is good enough. I don't use it for long term repairs or building anyways, so no rotting issues for me. I only use paracord and other more high-end cords for stuff that needs to be durable or/and hold a heavy load.

It maybe a bad habit but I prefer paracord or a stout nylon cord because it doesn't rot.

I like to build brush shelters and wickiups. I prefer to leave them intact afterwards since they may be needed by a lost hunter, backpacker, etc who may need them. I do a lot of weaving with living plants so that after I'm gone, the structure will continue to grow stronger.

Huh, I was thinking that the natural fiber ropes actually held up to sun exposure better than synthetics. Much like a cotton duck fabric tent (thinking of a Scout summer camp wall tent) lasts much longer than a nylon or polyester tent.

Most of the long-term tie-downs used at summer camps (wall tents, axe yards) are done with natural ropes and last for a long time (assuming Scouts don't damage them).

Natural ropes are certainly more prone to rot though.

My other experience with natural fiber rope is that once it gets wet and then dries, it shrinks very tight, especially with well done lashings. Sometimes I've needed to cut the rope to disassemble lashing projects that have gotten wet and then dried.

Yes-Paracord

Same with me... I lent some sisal or jute(do not remember which) to a friend to tie down a tarp over the top of his 'tarp over frame' garage... The stuff he had been using kept rotting away(some kind of synthetic string)... When it came time to remove it(6 to 12 months later), we had to cut it away...

I personally wouldn't trust that twine for anything needed in a survival situation. I buy this cheap stuff myself, but only for tieing up bundles of cut tree branches destined for the garbage/recycling, and things like that. Even for those mundane throw-away uses I hate it. It breaks all the time.

One advantage to paracord that I can see is that since it is synthetic it is less prone to deterioration due to elemental exposure. Natural products are far more susceptible to breaking down over time. Of course we should be checking the condition of items in our kits regularly, but I think the natural cordage would not be as reliable...have to pay more attention to it in kits than paracord.

Another thing, as far as shelter building or repairs is that the tensile strength is much higher than most things we will require as far as shelters or repairs. This can lead to the confidence that our shelters or repairs will not fail due to the cord breaking.

Paracord has the smaller strands inside which can be used individually as well as the outer sheath which can be used with or without the inner strands. This has versatility advantages that single strand cordage does not.

Test the jute and sisal in as many situations as you can. Build a shelter in your yard binding it with the natural cordage and another with paracord. How does each one stand up to the elements? How does long term direct sun affect each? What happens when they get wet, or freeze?

Remember, survival equipment is not an area to pinch pennies in. If jute and sisal fit your budget better than paracord right now, then go with it. I'm constantly upgrading components of my kits as money allows. But having something in place is better than having nothing in place...even if it's not your ideal piece of kit.

It really depends on the application for me. Paracord is great stuff when considering shock load, resistance to rotting, and relative size. It is not the best for holding a knot, and will deteriorate in sunlight quicker than natural fiber ropes do.

In a campsite, I generally prefer manila or sisal. It is easy to knot off quickly, doesn't get too slick when wet, and is environmentally friendly so I don't have to worry about leaving trimmings on the ground or throwing scrap into the fire.

When I am on the water, I always prefer polyprop. It is the only one that floats.

From a survival supply perspective, I think paracord is the best utility line you can stow, except maybe dacron line, which is SIGNIFICANTLY stronger for similar weight/diameter. I will tote some of both, with a great deal more yardage of the dacron in the 120-200 lb strength.

Paracord is strong but DOES quickly deteriorate in UV. Our antennae used to fall all the time if we used this.
Paracord is nice and it is what we all used in the military. And every Rambowannabe knive must be adorned with it.

That being said, I don't need to rappel with my cord, I've never needed cut paracord open, and I don't carry Rambwannabe knives.

I don't know about sisal.

Jute burns and makes a decent birdsnest. It is also strong enough for MOST purposes. And you can store about 3 times as much jute as paracord in the same space.

I DO carry some paracord but also carry some twine (plumbers? carpenter? something like that). I could never carry as much paracord as I carry in twine.

If you are paying $$$ for paracord, you might want to consider some of the other smaller diameter cord found at climbing places. They aren't much more expensive usually and are more than stronger enough to fit the bill. Maybe something like this: http://www.ems.com/catalog/product_detail_square.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441775671&emssrcid=BizRate.com

I once had a friend who worked in a oil field supply house. They used a jute twine to wrap various packages, etc, for customers. He had a way (kind of a trick, but it worked) of breaking the twine with his bare hands (something you couldn't do if you didn't know how he did it). No way he could do that with paracord, I had him try...

The problem with accessory cords is due to the size/strength ratio, they are pretty stiff. That makes it harder to do things like lashing, and it also means the stuff gets picky about knots. It is also hard to work with with decent gloves on because of it's small size. I've explored the stuff, and it is NOT in my kit because of it's lack of flexibility when I was testing it.

That being said, for what it cost me and what it promises, it is getting retested this summer.