550 Paracord Basics

Description

Krik of Black Owl Outdoors goes over the basics of 500 Paracord and some of it's many uses. Originally designed for paratroopers during World War II, 550 paracord is one of the most useful cordages available for anyone needing lightweight, strong, versatile cordage.

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Tags: black owl outdoors,nature,camping,hiking,backpacking,survival,bushcraft,wilderness,forest,backcountry,550 cord,550 paracord,paracord,basics,uses

Video Transcription

hey what's up Turtles its Creek here with blackout outdoors today I wanted to do a video talking about the characteristics background and general use of 550 paracord also known as parachute cord down here on the blanket I have three examples spread out so on my left in your right I have a P so this is probably about 40 40 feet of paracord this is in a fast rope design this is a method I really like to carry paracord in general I'm going to do a video on how this works and why I like doing this but this is considered a fast rope has this cool design on this next two I just had some high vis yellow I guess neon yellow whatever you want to call it in a fast rope design as well and actually on this I want to show the characteristics of paracord I'm going to use this because it's a brighter color this was originally used as parachute cord that's where the short prefix para comes from people call parekura's parachute cord used to spend soldiers in World War two those that were jumping out of planes and they had a lot of uses the soldiers were using it and it is then such since then been used in military and other civilian applications because of the characteristics I'm going to mention but some of the specs of this cord there's a lot of variation there's different variation in it it's generally about four millimeters in diameter this is a nylon sort of casing if you will which I have just the casing right here which I will show in a second this is just the casing inside this is anywhere from five seven eight nine strands the true milspec I believe is eight or nine inner strands and potentially three ply this one makes sense I'm going to cut this open and show you what the insides look like and why this is so strong okay you can see I cut the end off and what's inside this casing is actually all these smaller strands and this is 2 ply meaning each one right here pinched between my thumb and forefinger this is just two more pieces of nylon twisted together but this one has one two three four five six seven so this is seven this is pretty good I definitely bought one that had five in here which obviously it's not going to be as strong as seven eight or nine but potentially you can even then untwist this and even get more get an even smaller single strand which has a lot of uses but this is the inside of it and it stretches this paracord stretches because it was used as parachute cord it had to have give if it didn't have give and just you know probably physics wouldn't work but this is what the insides look like and this piece right here I have next to it actually use the inner strands you can see the inside of this there's there's no inner strands with this because I gutted this to use the inner strands for a little project I was using but nonetheless just this casing I want to say there's upwards of thirty at least pieces of nylon how this is braided or woven together and it still is still a functional piece of cord and all right now I'm using these two smaller pieces like I said I'm a conservationist at heart just put a bend in here just to use these two small pieces that I had they're already small in their self and I use the innards for like I said for a different project I put a bend in here now I'm just using this to wrap up my my outdoor kit that I've done a video on the one I mean I've gentleman felt so still is uses the outside even if you take out the inner the inner nylon or woven strands but that's basically and why I choose to carry this a lot is because if it's trying 550 cord this be able to hold 550 pounds which is ridiculous for something a four millimeters in diameter but just the characteristics like I said that this is the casing woven with so much and the inner strands really give that strength and it does it has possess a pretty elastic state meaning it's going to it's going to stretch a lot of weights applied and I'm going to show you the strength and some of some of the elasticity if you are looking for a one you know sort of type of cordage to carry paracord would be a great thing to have is it the best for every application no one because like I said it stretches sometimes that'll be alright

other times you don't want it to stretch it holds a lot of weight sometimes when I'm doing bends not so much bends but hitches or certain knots the paracord doesn't want to hold that well because there's not a lot of friction because it is a smooth nylon because of the tight weave of the outer casing so you have to keep that in mind depending what you're doing you I can always make paracord work but there are other options such as Bank line or other type of braided cordage that will work better but if you're going to carry one thing paracord is definitely definitely a good option to have and to carry and this is the tool kit I was carrying about I have this faster faster with paracord like I said 40 feet but now I want to go behind the camera and show you how to something set up to show the actual strength of this to prove that it is strong and it can hold a lot of weight so what I have here is another piece of 550 cord this is like in this dark OD green this is one I've designated as sort of my ridgelines I have two prostate hitches just staying on this potentially for my tarp but I'm going to ensure the example of how strong this is so what I've done is just put a couple toggles or handles in here using the Marlin spike hitch I'm going to put all my weight on this I'm going to I'm going to say I'm not a climbing expert I'm not saying anyone should be suspending themselves from paracord they don't know what they're doing with some experience because yes this will hold my weight but I'm cautious that potentially there's going to be some abrading going on with the tree the branches is on just because of friction and rubbing on it moving back and forth but this is just for demonstrative purposes to show that this will hold my weight so it will hold me like I said I'm about buck 65 soaking wet maybe you want 70 soaking wet and that what's cold but this is just to demonstrate like I said that how strong this cord is and all my weight wasn't on just one as you see I was holding on the two around the branch but nonetheless it's very strong and I'll show you just for purposes of the stretch right here it's just hanging right at my I'm standing flat on the ground I put my weight on it okay I'll stay up here or not you can see you as I flex down you can see the stretch in the cord here's no weight on it just hanging a pull down on it you can see the stretch that's basically the characteristic the ins and outs of paracord again I I told you why I like to carry it for its strength its inner strands it's just you know multi-use and it's just strong there's anything to other types of cordage you like to carry let me know leave a comment why I guess I'll probably do a video on bank line I got a big a big roll coming I'm going to start using that probably some videos on it remember to check out blackout doors on Instagram check us out on Facebook check out blackout doors calm this is Crick signing out with blackout doors later Turtles