paracord moment

Posted by: yeti

paracord moment - 04/03/07 02:25 PM

I just spent 4.5 horrendous HOURS unraveling and re-winding 1200' of paracord. The shipper put it in a box undersized for the spool and in transit the spool broke. I ended up with a large wad of cord.

So...my question is, all the unraveling and rewinding, kinking, etc...how much of a problem is that for the cord itself? The more you knot and use it, the more the sheath and core play. Thoughts?
Posted by: OldBaldGuy

Re: paracord moment - 04/03/07 03:20 PM

I wouldn't worry about it too much. In my younger days a college skydiving team used to come to my rural home town to jump. A lot. I hung out at the airport all weekend, watching them repack their chutes after each jump. Their canopies were former GI, the fancy ones of today hadn't been invented yet. I have no idea how many jumps were on each chute, but there were a lot. The lines are doubled back over and over again as they are packed in the pack, and I never heard of, or saw a problem with, any of the lines...
Posted by: billym

Re: paracord moment - 04/03/07 05:37 PM

My condolences! I used to work in the climbing dept at an REI store.
We would get all kinds of cord and webbing on broken spools in a big knot.
Sometimes we would just remove it from inventory because it would cost too much in labor to fix the mess.
Posted by: Stretch

Re: paracord moment - 04/04/07 01:37 AM

I agree with OldBaldGuy. There shouldn't be a problem, especially since the cord wasn't stressed while knotted. ....And even then, not a problem in my opinion.

Most of the time we're not depending on paracord to support it's tested weight, such as in climbing, rappelling, etc. It's reserved for more mundane tasks and less for "life support". Even then, I think I might be concerned like you were, because we never know how we might have to use that stuff someday.
Posted by: CANOEDOGS

Re: paracord moment - 04/04/07 02:37 AM


it seems to me the more you handle cord or rope the better
"hand" it has..it becomes easier to work with..
Posted by: LongLook

Re: paracord moment - 04/06/07 04:20 AM

Where did you buy that much para-cord from? And WHY did you buy that much para-cord?
Posted by: Roarmeister

Re: paracord moment - 04/06/07 09:21 PM

Paracord is available in 1000 and 1200 ft rolls on Ebay. A large quantity like that is great for bulk purchases and distribution to others. For example, a boy scout leader could buy a spool for their group. I had about 2400 ft myself and it is distributed across my family/friends, various vehicle and bug out bags...
Posted by: LongLook

Re: paracord moment - 04/08/07 04:48 AM

Well i think i am going to go buy 1200ft of paracord. Is that enought to wrap the handle of my Ka-Bar?
Posted by: MichaelJ07

Re: paracord moment - 04/08/07 12:42 PM

It's a good start. I bought 2 rolls of 1000' and in the immortal words of Cosmo Kramer "I'm out!"