what is the big deal with the paracord wrist braid

what is the big deal with the paracord wrist braid ?

Is this outdoor fashion gear ? Does it serve any practical purpose ? I see some people wear it on camping trip although they already have plenty of paracord ropes.

"survival bling"

I can understand having extra stuff that comes handy in rough times. I do benefit from the "cache" idea by pre-positioning stuff around my office and other places. I put fresnel lens and a few bandaids in my wallet, and so forth. However, going through several forums and other sites, it appears that wearing or EDCing some stuff is becoming a fashion sort of thing.

Look at this You Tube video ( minute 7:00 to 8:30 ) , you will notice a guy complaining that he does not have enough cordage for building a better shelter . Funny thing, he is wearing a paracord wrist braid on his right arm.


SAN Cold Water & Hypothermia Prevention
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dju4AOVV1cA

funny you should mention. I clicked on some YT video that showed how to open a can without a can opener (I know, sucker for 'magic'tricks), classic stereotype; lightweight tan tactical boots, jeans, paracord bracelet, big watch face knockoff chronograph watch, zero ability with a set video camera. At least he had a decent knife.

Good catch. I had previously watched that video and missed that.

And deployment bling. I got one (made by local Scouts) before going overseas. Wore it about 6 weeks before it stunk to high heaven and I realized I'd never need it.

They have one survival use that hasn't been mentioned. My son is stationed at a polar airbase and the sun doesn't come up for 5 months at a time. He makes and gives away the paracord bracelets. I think they're helping him survive the long night.

Have a paracord belt I made,gotta have a belt,may as well have a use beyond holding pants up.Would also like to make paracord dog leashes,hey,rope really is a handy thing to have,so why not?

Anything that has a practical purpose,why not give it extra capabilities?

Shoot,paracord can help with making shelter,you can make suture material,floss,it has a lot of uses.

A lot of it is survival bling, but some of it is useful. I took a course with the Sierra Club about 10 or 12 years back, and they had SERE instructors guest lecturing at the graduation campout. I remember one particular piece of advice they gave: "You can never have too much cord, too many knives, or too many ways to make fire".

It's also just plain fun to play with. It's the modern day version of sailors' fancywork knots. I've made the usual hatbands and zipper pulls out of it. I tried to make a belt out of it, but it was too thick and ended up using 4mm macramé cord (160 ft worth of clove hitched cord).

If you're looking for actual useful (easy to pull out) plaits for survival bling, look up a double chain sinnet. It's also called a bugle braid, and requires an obscene amount of material (6-12 in/in).
http://www.free-macrame-patterns.com/bugle-braid.html

I think this braid is just a outdoor Jewellery. It is better to carry paracord in a separate bundle. The video just make me feel so frustrated by unprepared people trying to look like Bear Gryllis or Ray Mears.

'If you haven't got it with you - it's no use'. A survival kit is obviously the best option but do you really have it on you 24/7? That torch round your neck and cord on your wrist could be a lifesaver if a disaster hits you in the shower.
qjs

Might be bling, but it has a proud history. Part of Oetzi's kit was a stone bead that held a bundle of thongs together. Might be a fashion accessory, might be a bundle of spare cordage, might be away to transport foraged grass or fowl.

If you are stumbling through life without a paracord bracelet, just remember that you always have shoe laces

Most are made in such a way that they would be very difficult to unravel for other uses without cutting. They should be easier to use. It is not a bad way to carry more cordage, but you must be able to unravel only the amount of cord that you need and secure the rest. Otherwise you should carry it another way.

It could be something familiar or a good luck charm, which are important in a survival situation. You might as well make a good luck charm that has use outside of sentimental value. If my daughter had made the bracelet for me and I found myself out there in a survival situation, then that bracelet would rank up there on the scale of importance. It would help me keep my spirits up and may help me hang a tarp or whatever.

Please do not do that. A suture in a survival situation is a questionable idea even with good material. A belt or a wrist band is likely to be contaminated with whatever the sweat could carry in even after a short time of wearing it. Using that stuff for a suture might be gambling with your life.

Actually a similar device is still in use by hunters in Germany. It´s called "Hühnergalgen" and it´s used to transport small game like duck, patrigde and rabbit.

Well said. A colleague came into the er after sewing up a kitchen lac with cotton button thread. cotton thread permits wicking of fluid and microbes into the wound. We took em out and closed it with monofilament.

Now, a survival bracelet woven of iv tubing with a latch made out of an IV catheter would be a real asset...

I like mine as "bling", self made bracelet. I also like paracord for EDC and since now I've worn a simple knotted braid on my belt. I also found several people who have added.... a compass, whistle, fishing supplies, or firestarting.

OK,IF I had no other suture material I would use it,it is NOT a first choice,glad you made that clear.Very good point,sterile is nice,clean will work if its what you have and all you are likely to have. IE,there are no ER's,that level.....

This nurse would do that if I had no other option.Wounds are a tough topic.

I don't really like it on my wrist, but if you make it slightly longer you can put it loosely around your ankle / boot -- hidden by your pants leg for the bracelet self conscious, and more cordage due to the larger diameter!

I especially like the one that guy made with nameplate and ferrocerium toggle -- no knife so it's basically friendly to practically everyone, but the nameplate will strike the ferrocerium. IIRC he threaded jute twine in there too for tinder.

One axion of lightweight, efficient backpacking is to employ as many multiuse items as possible. A cordage bracelet is basically serving only as a stockpile of cordage and hence is relatively inefficient Various items one would carry on a typical hike includes or can be crafted to include cordage that can be adapted for shelter construction and other uses.

For one thing, I like to carry lanyards to which I can attach knives and other tools if I am working in exposed locations where tools, etc. would be lost if dropped. These are basically lengths of paracord about three feet long, easily available for use. I am often hiking with my dog, and i carry a leash. Someday I should fabricate a six foot leash from paracord - that would provide lots of cordage in an emergency. There there are always shoelaces (and spares) as well as the neck cords for my compass and whistle. These can be pressed into service if necessary.

Of course, if I am carrying any climbing gear, I will probably have all the cordage I could possibly use. What other items could serve as emergency sources of cordage?

Good point,para cord makes excellent boot laces.BTDT.

OK,I will get my act together and get some dog leashes made.

I don't recall the source, but i recall reading somewhere that wearing those every day causes the paracord to actually start breaking down, becoming useless as actual cordage in an emergency. YMMV

I hear about this a lot but not in Canada probably due to the scarcity and lack of decent price of paracord here.

Questions about using paracord for shoe or boot laces. What happens when you need a length of cord that you are using for laces? Would it simply not be easier and more useful just to carry a 2-3 feet of cord in your pack or in a coat pocket if one was concerned enough that they may need the paracord for any myriad of reasons?

Also has anyone who does use paracord for laces actually ever had to really use it when no other options were available? Also for what purpose and what were the extenuating wilderness or urban circumstances behind that purpose?

I'm wrapping my hatchets handles, knife sheaths, and water/stove-alcohol bottles with paracord. I have made the aforementioned wristband too, but it does not feel good on the hand, especially with multiple layers of clothing.

Regarding the shoelaces, you can use less of it to actually lace your boots, (i.e. cutting one for laces, using another for cordage) or/and you can remove inner strands (all or some) and use only one of them or just the shell for lacing.

This is second hand - but I have read of a climbing accident in which a climber was hanging free after an arrested fall and fashioned prussik sling from his shoelaces, thereby enabling him to ascend the rope to safety. It certainly could not have worked very well, but it evidently worked well enough.

It certainly is easy enough to carry adequate cordage, especially with the newer varieties that are now available, but it i worth thinking of what one might do in desperate circumstances...

Sounded too good to be true so our friend Google returns this link. Not sure if this is the same you heard about nor am I sure of what movie is being referred to...

You've all seen the movie where the mountaineer is left hanging in the wind on the end of the rope, his partner unable to help. Our hero inevitably whips off his shoe laces, and uses them to ascend the rope. It makes great footage, but unless you're feeling like James Bond material, or you start using 6 or 7mm accessory cord as shoe laces, I suggest you use a more practical approach.

I wear mine because my kiddo gave it to me for Christmas. It might be practical some day but for now, it's sentimental jewelry.

I will certainly agree that shoelaces are rather too small to work well as prussiks. They can be rather challenging to manipulate even with proper diameter rope. However, to the best of my recollection, I was reading this in an AAC accident publication (a while ago)and it actually happened.

In a more common scenario, I wouldn't hesitate to use my shoelaces to lash a shelter together. In the morning, unlash, retie, and start walking. However, it is awfully easy to simply carry a decent supply of cordage.

Paracord shoelaces,as shoelaces, are fine indeed.

I replace shoelaces with paracord. Not to have "paracord back-up" but just because paracord last longer than regular shoelaces.

If "too small" means "too short" - I disagree. On my hiking boots they are almost 2 feet long - more than enough. Also one can improvise a lacing technique to have more cordage stored on your boots or to use less cordage for lacing when needed. See here, for example.

In the climbing reference and context Hikemor was referring too and what he and I are both very familiar with, if the climbers had been engaged in rock climbing then they probably would not of been wearing hiking boots but wearing running or climbing shoes instead. Specialized rock climbing shoes usually have laces much like a running shoe which are much shorter then a typical hiking boot lace.

"too small" refers to diameter, not length. Cordage selected for prussiks used with the typical 10mm or so diameter climbing rope will usually be about 6mm in diameter. There is wiggle room for variation, but the diameter of the typical shoelace would be difficult to manipulate if tied in a prussik and of course it would be prone to wearing through and breakage. But in a dire emergency.......

Thank you for the clarification. Poor climbers