Problems weaving with type lll 550 paracord

[Ronearwaker]

I am new to paracord weaving having done a bit of macramé in the past. I bought some type lll 550 paracord from fleabay and when it arrived I tried some weaving. The results were not good. Using cobra weave the knotting looks very untidy with the work twisting and the knots coming out all different sizes. I have tried tying loosely and also tight but it always looks bad. I have done my best to make sure the tension is always the same. One thing I have noticed is that the cord slips very easily when knotting and doesn't cinch very well. The cord itself seems very stiff and has kinks in it and when cut the inner cores tend to extrude about one and a half inches of their own accord. It also does not fray easily. The 7 inner cores are nylon as far as I can tell. Having watched numerous YouTube videos the cord I have just doesn't seem the same. Am I doing something wrong or have I bought some duff cord? Any suggestions for European paracord suppliers?

 

[David Morningstar]

As I understand it, the cord with seven white strands and a fairly stiff finely braided outer sheath is the pukka US spec 550 cord. The cord with a coarser outer braid and a fluffy inner core is often sold as 'paracord' e.g. by Web-tex but it isnt the real thing.

 

[reedx]

Sounds like poor quality product. Try some of the genuine stuff from thebushcraftstore.co.uk. The cheaper 3mm PET paracord they do is also pretty good. No connection besides being a satisfied customer.

Colin

 

[IMOM]

mm mm as said above i think is a poor quality cord and not genuine 550 ,It amazes me how such a simple product can be made so badly ,the 550 stuff i have is from the US ,i don't know of a UK supplier (well I do but I cant link you to my own site he he ).
Most of the knot tying guide recomend removing the 7 strands from the center and just using the outer sheath ,have you tired doing this ?

 

[Macaroon]

Makes it completely different if you remove some or all of the cores, as IMOM has said - and the white nylon cores themselves are useful in a number of ways; you can use it in place of sinew for example............

 

[Essexman]

I've had the exact same problem before, and as others have said it's to do with the quality of the cord. For many years I gave up buying cord in the UK and shipped in from supplycaptain.com to ensure having good cord. Now I use wildelk.co.uk, not the cheapest around, but as you have found cheap isn't always good.