Who needs the £ shop?

[spandit]

Just went into the East Grinstead 99p shop and cleared them out of 4mm utility rope (what most of us would call paracord, comes in 20m hanks). 2 lots of it are conventional dark green but the other two are a quite nice tan with brown fleck - not garishly bright for those of us who want to blend in a little, but not overly militaristic either!

Shouldn't run out for a bit, now!

 

[The Lord Poncho]

That very same branch used to be my regular for paracord too! unfortunately, i now work away from the area.

 

[spandit]

Good job, really, they've got none left! Thought I was only going to get 3 lots but found one out of the packet on top of the shelf. Also bought some jute for making a birds nest with.

 

[blacktimberwolf]

Is it the real McCoy ?

 

[The Lord Poncho]

The bags of chocolate misshapes always got heavily depleated whenever i made a visit too!

I would imagine that the aluminium mess tins they sell would make a good source material for a home made crusader mug lid....

 

[The Lord Poncho]

Is it the real McCoy ?

It's not the real 550 paracord, no, but more than adequate for most uses.

 

[spandit]

Is it the real McCoy ?

"Real" paracord has very thin silky fibres in the middle that give it strength. This stuff has a smaller braided line in the middle which is pretty useful on it's own if you've removed it for some reason. I don't know the strength of it but for guylines and rigging a tarp it should be more than OK. At 5p a metre, you can't really complain as it's certainly not crap

 

[spandit]

If you look at this thread it shows the exact stuff I bought (although I got 20m per pack, not 15!!)

 

[Zingmo]

I Just threaded the canoe with this very stuff

Z

 

[spandit]

I Just threaded the canoe with this very stuff

Z

I've heard some euphemisms in my time...

 

[Hugo]

At that price I would have thought they would have stretched to give you a bit more.

 

[spandit]

On closer inspection, the green stuff still has the useful cord inside, the brown stuff, however, has a really weak core - seems similar to the stuff they make wet wipes from - it's a ribbon about 40mm wide that's rolled into a tube but it's sort of fibrous. I'll try to do a test to see which complete rope is strongest

Anyway, makes a nice little keyring (the thin cord is the inner bit of the green stuff which is tied in a loop with a figure-of-eight knot - the knot and tails are hidden inside the weave):

 

[Andy BB]

Got a couple of nice paraffin lanterns for 99pence each at one near us.............

 

[spandit]

Well, my strength tests are inconclusive. They'll both suspend a 3-gallon bucket full of water without breaking (but I guess that's only about 15kg). I'll try using bricks tomorrow to see if I can get some snappage

 

[Toddy]

Sometimes it's not so much the 'snappage' as the 'stretchage' that's the problem When your backside bounces off the deck and your hammocks still on the trees kind of thing

cheers,
M

 

[spandit]

As I've stated in previous threads, I won't be hanging my hammock using paracord, £ shop or otherwise! That's why I made my Dyneema whoopie slings today

 

[resnikov]

Sometimes it's not so much the 'snappage' as the 'stretchage' that's the problem When your backside bounces off the deck and your hammocks still on the trees kind of thing

cheers,
M

Sounds like you speak from experience?

 

[Toddy]

Not on a hammock, but from observation
I use tapes.

I did try the cheaper stuff for a washing line though. Depends on the cheaper stuff available I suppose. Mine left towels dragging on the leaf litter

cheers,
M

 

[spandit]

I can report the inner thread won't support the aforementioned bucket but still useful for things

 

[Toddy]

It really does sound as though you got a bargain

I was given a selection of climbers accessory cord and it sounds like the same size as your inner stuff. It's awfully useful

cheers,
Toddy