Paracord question

[spader]

I am planning to order some paracord for guying and making hanging lines for the canopy shelter frame.

Would it be better to go for something more expensive and branded paracord, or are they all more or less the same?

From eBay it seems a lot cheaper about £10 for 100m long and 4mm thickness for a pack, but unknown make and unknown sellers.

From Amazon, for 30m long 4 - 6mm thickness paracords seem some branded and well known stuff but they cost from £10 - £15.

Last time when I bought paracord was about 10 years ago, so I can hardly remember the price and make, and now I am totally lost which would be better buy.

 

[John Fenna]

I find the cheap stuff perfectly adequate for guys, lashings, laces and even ridgelines for my shelters .... never had any (KombatUK, Web-tex etc) fail yet...and some has been in use for over a decade!
The real 550 stuff is stronger and better - but IMHO a bit of overkill for the use I put it to

 

[Broch]

As John says, for what you are describing, the cheap stuff is probably fine. The real stuff has a core of individual twisted threads - the number depends on the overall core thickness as far as I can make out but someone on here will know better. The cheap stuff is just a core of nylon fibre. It's not as strong and you can't extract it to make fishing lines (but, you didn't want to!).

 

[spader]

£10 for 100m 4mm thickness paracord from eBay sounds OK then. A 100m length paracord will be plenty for another 10 years.

 

[Astrochicken]

I've used paracord 550 in a bunch of forms, mostly sourced from ebay and some from Amazon. You can get beige camo colour at 100m for around £8.00 incl post and its still got 9 core strands. It's super tough but very useable and isn't rigid - you can bend it into tight bites and it holds knots perfectly. I've also bought some that says it's paracord 550m at 4mm but is actually more like 3mm, and the outer core is cheaply woven (made by Savage Island). I don't think the price point was sufficiently cheaper enough to make me want to buy it again personally, I just needed a particular colour at the time and they made what I was looking for.

I've also purchased some of the more expensive options and one thing I've really noticed is that the more expensive ones ideally need a heat crimp to seal the ends - the exterior sheath can easily slip from the inner core if you just use a lighter to singe the end to prevent fraying, making the whole line prone to separating. It could just have been an odd batch / my method, but I've done hundreds of paracord knick-nacks (bracelets, key rings, etc), and this core/outer slippage happened frequently on the expensive stuff, but almost never on the cheaper £8.00 cord.

 

[Jared]

Last paracord I bought was by Atwood Rope, 100feet for £11.99 on Amazon.

Now £12.77

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Atwood-Rope-MFG-Paracord-Parachute/dp/B07THBN5J6/ref=sr_1_5_pp

 

[spader]

Managed to locate, and ordered one from Amazon a 4mm noname paracord 100m length for £9.61 including FREE delivery.

Will update here on quality in due course.

 

[spader]

I find the cheap stuff perfectly adequate for guys, lashings, laces and even ridgelines for my shelters .... never had any (KombatUK, Web-tex etc) fail yet...and some has been in use for over a decade!
The real 550 stuff is stronger and better - but IMHO a bit of overkill for the use I put it to

The 100m roll of paracord from Amazon for £9.61 arrived next day, and it seems good quality. I managed to tie up the shelter frames guying it down to the heavy rocks and washing poles. The paracord was bending and tieing very well like string. The canopy shelter feels more secure and stable now.

Pleanty length of paracord from 100m roll, which can be further used for putting up tarps in the other corner of the garden.

Thanks John for your info and advice on the paracords. I am glad having gone for the cheaper one, which does exactly the same job allowing a lot more cords from the generous length. More is definitely better in this case.

 

[Bishop]

Not all cordage labeled 'paracord' is equal. The real type 2 stuff has a breaking strain of 550 lbs (250kg) [static load only! For falls and slung loads this figure comes down drastically]. Anything cheaper is probably type 1 rated to 275lbs static load or worse it's completely fake, fit only for a washing line.. For most camp & shelter construction it's overkill with common jute garden twine good for 50-60lbs of grunt. It's also way cheaper, biodegradable and makes good tinder. Plus you can learn to knit or crochet when nobody's watching, hats, foraging bags, rucksacks.

 

[Tobym]

I am planning to order some paracord for guying and making hanging lines for the canopy shelter frame.

Would it be better to go for something more expensive and branded paracord, or are they all more or less the same?

From eBay it seems a lot cheaper about £10 for 100m long and 4mm thickness for a pack, but unknown make and unknown sellers.

From Amazon, for 30m long 4 - 6mm thickness paracords seem some branded and well known stuff but they cost from £10 - £15.

Last time when I bought paracord was about 10 years ago, so I can hardly remember the price and make, and now I am totally lost which would be better buy.

As others have said I've never had any problem with the cheap stuff off Amazon. And I use quite a bit of it on my courses. This is the company I use but have used several different types over the years for other things and never really had any issues.
EdcX Paracord 4mm, 35+ Solid Colors (15m, 30m, 50m, 100m, 300m) | Ideal for Crafting, DIY, Camping, Survival, Outdoor | 100% Nylon Rope 4mm | Tactical https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07LFHZ2X7/ref=cm_sw_r_apanp_J8x68XOEOCxYi

 

[The Frightful]

30 or 36 gauge tarred Bank line is strong enough too, less bulk as well

 

[Woody girl]

I use bank line for guy ropes for tarps, replaced all my tarp guys with it, and much else where I need to tie anything . I got a huge roll about 4 yrs ago for about the same price as 100m of parracord, and it still has so much left, I reckon it will last me a lifetime!
I only use parracord for my ridgeline nowadays. My prussicks are bank line, which stay on the ridgeline at all times.
I've made countless guys, and used it for lashing many times. Great stuff. Pound for pound, its more economical, and doesn't fray, and is lighter and real tuff stuff.

 

[demented dale]

i use web-tex. 100 meter. all my lashings are permanent and outside. often for years. didnt even know anything better was available. i had no cause to even consider that there could be. x