So this buddy of mine that pretty much knows everything...(just ask him!) was saying something about 550 paracord being for survival purposes and is not used with parachutes...thoughts?

look at this site ;
scroll down the page to Type III nylon cord ....
AFAIK, that's what's called paracord ....

I have some pieces from military chutes that were taken out of service and parted out. It's the same stuff as the1000 ft of 550 I bought on a spool.

If the piece of paracord in question is indeed in your survival kit and not attached to a parachute, then your buddy is correct. It is not being "used with parachutes". Unless you have one of those in your survival kit too! ;-)

Having always wondered why anyone would want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane in the first place, I've never parachuted myself to have gained any first hand knowledge. I would speculate that paracord is really used for paracuhtes however.

It's possible that it used to be use for parachute but has been phased out by another technology. But the outdoor people kept on using it as a utility nylon cord. Apparently you can trace back the manufacturer by checking one of the seven inner strands that have a distinct color and some coding. I know some manufacturers such as Rothco make mil-spec 550lb paracord but they are replica, as seen there:

https://www.sealsactiongear.com/catalog/store/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=746

Same picture on the Rothco site:

http://www.rothco.com/general/index.cfm/.../search/Rothco/

I bought mine from countycomm but didn't check the colored strand to trace back the manufacturer...

Frankie

Next time you and your buddy go skydiving, cut a few cords on his parachute so he can see exactly what they are.

There is alot of "fake" stuff on the market that calls itself by the name but really isn't. Perhaps that is what he is talking about.

The last P 51s were phased out of Arizona National Guard Service at Luke AFB . General Barry Goldwater reminded a smart alek reporter 'those relics' were still dedicated fighters.

Yep. 7-strand paracord is parachute cord. But even if it wasn;t the "real thing", it does what we ask of it (which is generally not to tie it to a parachute)

Indeed. It's primarily used for lashing when you can gut it (remove the seven inner strands) and it's elasticity is beneficial in this application, while you can save the inner strands for other uses like dental floss, fishing line, etc.