Is this a good deal on paracord?

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

Edcraft

Forager
Apr 17, 2012
100
0
Liverpool
Never bought any before. Seems really cheap to me this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mil-Com-100...W78G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335039342&sr=8-1

No I'm not the seller lol is there any cheaper?

I made a really decent bow from wild rose stems/trunks (they were about 2" thick) and I could hit things upto about 60 feet with them and hit it hard. I used paracord from work to make the string and it was pretty good, even when it got wet, it dried out quickly.
 

haydenw

Member
Mar 25, 2012
30
0
Nottingham
Couldn't comment about the link you posted as i've not used it. I did however get 50m of green paracord from poundland last week for... well £1.

At that price i thought it was well worth the money and seems ok.
 
Hi Ed,

As with many things, it's called paracord, but it's not actually paracord... This stuff has an advertised breaking strain of 50Kg which in theory should be enough for a bow string. That said, I have no idea what effect the shockwave of releasing a bow would have on it. "Paracord" is often referred to as "550 paracord", which refers to its 550lb breaking strain. This is the stuff that originally came from discarded parachutes. It has seven inner strands of cord which can be pulled out and used separately.

£12 posted is a good price for a whole spool of this stuff, but if the breaking strain is a consideration, then I'd go for the stronger stuff - and that will be more expensive.

Hope this helps,

Rich
 

Edcraft

Forager
Apr 17, 2012
100
0
Liverpool
Couldn't comment about the link you posted as i've not used it. I did however get 50m of green paracord from poundland last week for... well £1.

At that price i thought it was well worth the money and seems ok.

That offer on amazon was 100m for £12 !! Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to poundland I go :) cheers
 

Bucephalas

Full Member
Jan 19, 2012
1,058
0
Chepstow, Wales
I bought a roll of this and it's fine for the price. I would warn that the plastic reel will fall apart instantly leaving you with a huge mass of tangled cord if your not careful!
 

Edcraft

Forager
Apr 17, 2012
100
0
Liverpool
Hi Ed,

As with many things, it's called paracord, but it's not actually paracord... This stuff has an advertised breaking strain of 50Kg which in theory should be enough for a bow string. That said, I have no idea what effect the shockwave of releasing a bow would have on it. "Paracord" is often referred to as "550 paracord", which refers to its 550lb breaking strain. This is the stuff that originally came from discarded parachutes. It has seven inner strands of cord which can be pulled out and used separately.

£12 posted is a good price for a whole spool of this stuff, but if the breaking strain is a consideration, then I'd go for the stronger stuff - and that will be more expensive.

Hope this helps,

Rich

Ta Rich, very helpful there :)
 

Edcraft

Forager
Apr 17, 2012
100
0
Liverpool
I bought a roll of this and it's fine for the price. I would warn that the plastic reel will fall apart instantly leaving you with a huge mass of tangled cord if your not careful!

Oh well, the navy trained me to coil rope and stuff so no worries there :p just coil it and wrap it round itself. No worries. Be easy to pack and use without the spool too. Not to mention Lighter.

edit: i was joking there, it's not hard to coil string is it haha
 
Last edited:

The Big Lebowski

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 11, 2010
2,320
6
Sunny Wales!
If you want really decent US issue stuff... see the bushcraft store on fleabay (no, I don't work for them :) )

I've had the same length on a bowdrill for a year, I've no doubt it will go another. Check it out.
 

Bucephalas

Full Member
Jan 19, 2012
1,058
0
Chepstow, Wales
Couldn't comment about the link you posted as i've not used it. I did however get 50m of green paracord from poundland last week for... well £1.

At that price i thought it was well worth the money and seems ok.


I bought the "Emergency shelter" for a £ a peice and a Tiffin box but gave the cord a miss. The packaging doesn't mention paracord, it describes itself as a camping guy line; at least the one I was looking at.
 

Lister

Settler
Apr 3, 2012
992
1
36
Runcorn, Cheshire
If you want really decent US issue stuff... see the bushcraft store on fleabay (no, I don't work for them :) )

I've had the same length on a bowdrill for a year, I've no doubt it will go another. Check it out.

I can second that, deal with them regularly as we go through the stuff like hotcakes with scouts, they also do bulk orders at reasonable prices.
 

rik_uk3

Banned
Jun 10, 2006
13,320
24
69
south wales
Do you need paracord? what will you use it for? I've a load of good quality paracord but what I use for most things such as tarps is either tent guyline or plastic garden twine.
 

VFR800Essex

Tenderfoot
Feb 28, 2012
78
0
Essex UK
The so called paracord in the Amazon advert isn't multi core. It's just single core multi fibre and goes all fluffy when you cut it. It's good but not 550 specification.
 

roger-uk

Settler
Nov 21, 2009
603
0
long Eaton
I can second that, deal with them regularly as we go through the stuff like hotcakes with scouts, they also do bulk orders at reasonable prices.

I'll second that Excellent to deal with order today and its on your doorstep tomorrow.

Never had any problem swith them and uses them many mnay times with Scouts

Colours are great too
 

swright81076

Tinkerer
Apr 7, 2012
1,702
1
Castleford, West Yorkshire
When I was big into the old "survival bracelet" scene, I used thebushcraftstore.co.uk. (no affiliation). They were terrific with delivery, huge choice of colours too. I had a good run on pink bracelets once.

In the end I bought about 2km of the stuff on a few big rolls from the states. All cayote brown. Exactly same stuff as bush craft store.

I've had that mil tec stuff before too. It depends on the use. Genuine 550 for strength and inner cores. Mil tec if you want some cord to play with or guy lines and boot laces.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 

spandit

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 6, 2011
5,594
308
East Sussex, UK
I bought 100m of starter cord from eBay for £8 - it's more wear resistant than paracord, stretches less and is rated at about the same strength. I'd wager that the Poundland "paracord" is 50 feet, not metres, and although it's fine for general use, it's pretty poor quality
 

Vickyjs

Tenderfoot
Sep 18, 2008
60
4
Devon
I had a reel of the stuff off Amazon, the plastic reel was fine (still hasn't fallen apart) the paracord was for general use - guy lines etc and is really useful to have a big reel of it and it is much better than the poundland stuff and perfectly OK for general use (and makes good bracelets). For £12 delivered it has been a good buy for us.
 

Essexman

Forager
Jul 26, 2010
213
23
Essex
If that cord suits your needs then go ahead and buy.

Having purchased paracord from the usual suspects, I now buy paracord from supplycaptain.com in the US. Top spec product and great customer service.

I've had trouble buying good quality paracord from any UK source who can supply the colours I want whilst keeping the quality constant.

If anyone finds a good UK source for paracord please shout.
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE