I got this email recently and have no clue if paracord will sink or float. Has anyone experimented with it and knows? ...

"I am a Duck Hunter, & want to make a 'gang' line, with decoy's every 12'/4 yards; 80 yards long, with heavy anchors on each end, with one in the middle. Will the paragold line sink below the water line, between the decoys with sufficient slack, so they are not visiual from above, or are they make to float on the surface???"

Thanks,

Alex

I just tried a 50' hank of paracord in the utility sink and it floated but not very well. I do not know if this is because of air trapped within the cord or if it is actually buoyant?

Mike

nylon has a greater density than water.

Polyethelene and Polypropylene are less dense and will float.

Canoeists use single braid polypropylene (the yellow stiff rope) because it floats and can also be used to seal cracks by melting it.

Quick Test:

Initially cut off about a 1.5 inch segment of paracord and dropped into a bowl of water. It floats, but just barely. It is very close to being neutrally buoyant.

It was still floating after about an hour.

I picked the cord up and compressed a small section -- the compressed part quit floating.

I then compressed the entire length of cord, and the cord sunk.

As a guess, trapped air in the weave caused the cord to float. This segment was from unused cord. I wouldn't depend on used paracord floating. It might float, but the entrained air may be squeezed out during use or the outside sheath damaged enough to allow the entrained air to escape.

As any engineering accurate answer to will paracord float -- maybe!

-Tommy

Thanks for all the responses, especially to tommyb! (and welcome to the forum, tommy)