cordage?

[nichiren-123]

So I'm new.
I've been using some twine I found in my mothers house but it's quite brittle and not strong at all.
What do you guys use as cordage? for stringing up tarps and the like?

 

[mousey]

I'm going to need some cordage soon as my kids keep on nicking bits for their own projects.

I've found this:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product...sfl_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3QQQEQGSFRAHD

for general use I think this will be perfect, cheap for quite a lot. Not proper paracord though so not massively strong but it'll be good enough for guylines.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Or this.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Camping-T...9?var=&hash=item25de41284b:g:4IMAAOSwz2tZnT7n

 

[Toddy]

I got a real like that from ebay a few years ago. It's what I used to re-rig my chute. It's been very good, and it was cheap too

M

 

[Robson Valley]

Here, it's called "surveyor's cord". #18 nylon with a breaking strength of 450lbs. That ought to be enough to allow your kids to do chin-ups on the tarp lines.
We get yellow, white and fluorescent pink (no less!) Sold as 1lb spools in hardware stores, that's about 1,000 yards of cord.

I have a preference for the #18 tarred version, not stinky or dirty, which is called tarred nylon seine cord. Salmon netting for ocean fishing. Sold at chandler's stores.
As handle wrapping, it's just sticky enough that cosmetically pretty tool handles don't rotate in your grip.

I should add that #18 tarred is recommended for the dry whipping of both elbow and D adze blades.
Pulled hard, you can see the 1/4" shank flex a little to sit at the carved design seat in the handle wood.

 

[Toddy]

I think the stuff you first mention might be what we call 'Builder's Line'. Brickies use it to keep their levels. Comes in dayglo colours, twenty metre hanks for a quid, kind of thing.
It's blooming good wrapped around wooden handles that are used in water

M

 

[crosslandkelly]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/36-Nylon-B...=UTF8&qid=1507833348&sr=8-1&keywords=bankline

 

[Robson Valley]

I'm surprised at how little you get for the obscene price and it's 1/2 the size (#18) that I can find here.
Maybe it's OK for what you need to do but I'd keep looking in places such as a chandler's. I'd enjoy another visit to Whitby, NYorks.

Hindsight has shown me that our spools of 1,000 yards don't last as long as you might expect.
Even what looks so little whipping a blade onto a D-adze handle takes more than 20'.

 

[C_Claycomb]

Arborist throw line, specifically "Marlow Throw Line". comes in 50m spools, braided, bright orange with a black fleck. Seems to be about the same as the stuff sold for sailing. Polyester, doesn't absorb water the way nylon does, doesn't stretch loads when it gets wet. I bought mine when it was £7 a spool. Its also something that can be found in some shops, same as their sailing stuff can be found in shops.

The builder's line is a lot cheaper, I have heard that it is better to try to get the braided stuff, rather than twisted. I may well have gone that way, had I not encountered the Marlow stuff first.

 

[Robson Valley]

I'd far rather use a line which stretches. Easier to put up a tarp and it reacts properly in the wind.
Of course that's a big deal ocean net fishing. Not sailing, fishing. I pulled a shrimp trawl for 4 months, 6 days a week.
That #18 tarred line was great for mending abrasion holes. Doesn't suck up water hardly at all.
The whole net stretches like it's alive. I don't sail. I need to see spark plugs.

I think if I wanted braid, I'd look at ocean fishing line, braided dacron. Less stretch than nylon.
I have a 1,000 yard spool of dacron. It's about #18 or maybe #24 in size. No idea of the breaking strength ( something useful to know)
and it's bone, bone dry and slippery. Pretty much useless for whipping unless I could run it through a block of beeswax.

 

[Robson Valley]

Fluorocarbon mono is all the rage for saltwater fishing in this day and time.
I can still buy braided dacron and Dyneema, but the price is scary.

High Seas: 1,200 yds 150# is $230 USD, the 200# is $235 USD.
Sufix: 1,200yds 65# is $155 USD.

Just for fishing. Last spool of #18 tarred nylon 450# was about $20 or less.

 

[Bishop]

So I'm new.
I've been using some twine I found in my mothers house but it's quite brittle and not strong at all.
What do you guys use as cordage? for stringing up tarps and the like?

Never use mothers washing line, apart from that it's generally all good.

Garden string will degrade with age like any natural fibre and there's some horrible cheap stuff that falls apart from new. However a roll of inexpensive jute twine can be braided to produce some decent cordage. Here's some I just made waiting for the kettle... not as good as genuine paracord but strong enough for most jobs.

 

[Toddy]

I think that's a very good point; our local 'poundstore' is selling two balls of fairly decent stuff for the quid, so it's cheap enough not to fret if used to try out techniques and skills. It's an excellent way of getting used to using natural fibres. It's good practice, one becomes familiar with just how string/rope, cordage is made, can be improved, and can be used. Netting for instance. It's easy enough with a small blunt ended fid to take apart knots in modern lines, but it's a different matter in sodden wet natural cordage. Splicing too can be very different.
And, when you're done playing with the stuff, just fluff it apart and it's a brilliant firestarter too

M

 

[bob_the_baker]

+1 to this. It's nice and grippy and, at 83kg breaking strain, strong enough for most applications

Arborist throw line, specifically "Marlow Throw Line". comes in 50m spools, braided, bright orange with a black fleck. Seems to be about the same as the stuff sold for sailing. Polyester, doesn't absorb water the way nylon does, doesn't stretch loads when it gets wet. I bought mine when it was £7 a spool. Its also something that can be found in some shops, same as their sailing stuff can be found in shops.

The builder's line is a lot cheaper, I have heard that it is better to try to get the braided stuff, rather than twisted. I may well have gone that way, had I not encountered the Marlow stuff first.

 

[MountainGoat]

What do you guys use as cordage? for stringing up tarps and the like?

The intestines of sacrificial offerings.

Wait, wrong forum.


Prusik is a good option. Try Decathlon and you'll find it in their climbing section.