1 April 2013
For Immediate Release

The National Rope and Tie Company of Exeter, New Hampshire (NASDAQ: NRTRE), is pleased to announcethe company will be offering their innovative new ‘XP8’ eight-strand parachute cord to the civilian market, starting today.

A heavily restricted item until now, the revolutionary XP8 brings “paracord” into the 21st century. By adding a single 0.4mm fibre optic strand to the cord, XP8 paracord is 18 percent stronger and even more multi-functional.

“With our reliance on high-technology battlespace, having the ability to connect components is critical”, said Iam Sam, President of National Rope and Tie and an Army veteran of Afghanistan. “A unit lands in a hot LZ and the Air Force FAC does not have a USB cable with him? There goes your air support.”

According to Sam, XP8 solves that problem. “Every soldier or Marine I know carries some paracord with them. If they carry XP8, they never have to worry about loss of connectivity again. Pull out the fibre and go.”

XP8 will allow as much as 55.5Mb throughput on the single fibre optic strand, depending on the devices connected. To connect devices, National Rope and Tie, working with Apple Computer and other manufacturers, developed ‘Connect-Dog’, a dog-tag sized unit a soldier or Marine can wear around their neck with two universal connectors. To improve functionality, the Connect-Dog also has a small screwdriver and bottle opener built in. Over 500,000 have been ordered by the DoD.

For the civilian market, XP8 is initially offered in the standard military colors. It is planned to have more than 30 non-military colors and patterns on the market by year’s end. With the civilian market in mind, National Rope and Tie is working with Fastex to port the ‘Connect-Dog’ technology to a ‘Connect-Buckle’ for bracelets and pouches. The Connect-Buckle’ is anticipated to ship in the fourth quarter of 2013.

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