I've seen several companies advertising "Survival Paracord" with various features out there. Some include fishing line, Kevlar cords, fire tender cords and so on. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them and had any input on how useful it is or if it's just a gimmick?
I had some that used the fire cord stuff and it worked well as zipper pulls and such. It also served it's advertised purpose when I tested it. I gave all of my running group Victorinox Classics with Firefly firestarters and Firecord for Christmas. It was kind of a trick to get them more into survival mode but those who are super minimalist really loved the idea.
I have some of the orange Survivor cord, actually just mailed it to @Jacob Peterson to have him make a Baldric sling for a new Junglas. Neat stuff, the jute burns, the wire conducts electricity, hope it just stays as a piece of mind thing, don't really want to use it. If you want something that really pops look at their fluorescent colors with reflective thread in it, and it comes with a handy little velcro strap.
I have gone back and forth on the “survival cord” idea for at least a couple of years. Some questions that I always wonder are. Is the cord really still weight “rated”? Does using the cord under tension or say wrapping a handle with it effect the cords components such as durability, usability etc ? I have also wondered how practical the cord is if only used at small lengths (I don’t think it’s very practical) For example what good is 4 inches or less of fishing line or Kevlar cord from a zipper pull? All that said I normally switch all my shoelaces to para cord. I have in the past threaded additional string through the laces with a long thin I believe it called a “doll” needle. I have added Kevlar cord for added strength, E&E, Etc. All in all I like the idea, But I have always had more questions then answers on the subject..
That's pretty much how I feel. The idea has merit but I'm not sure that the benefits are there in practicality. The fire cord that has the flammable core I think would be useful. But I'm not sure that the Kevlar cordage and fishing line as enough value to justify the cost. And one other question. Why the Kevlar cord? Where do you guys think that the Kevlar cord would be more useful than the entire section of 550 cord or just pulling a single strand of the core?
From Titan Survival; "110 LB KEVLAR UTILITY LINE - We've integrated a super-strong, 900° F fire-resistant Kevlar strand into the core of the SurvivorCord XT that can be used as a friction saw, a way to bind tools together, or even to secure your food over a camp fire. In the end, this Nano-Aramid fiber WILL NOT BURN or BREAK EASILY!"
@TerryD Cutting zip ties and other sawing projects is the idea behind it. Due to my size I have never been successful at the cutting zip ties trick. But I have felt a lot better about securing gear with extra shoelaces knowing that have the added Kevlar in them. If nothing else it’s always a interesting conversation when it comes up about your weird looking shoe laces
Two years later I finally got around to ordering that Survivor Cord sling, more specifically a Baldric to carry my Junglas and a few other goodies. You can see @Jacob Peterson found a way to get a little extra length involved, the green Baldric is the standard weave, from measuring what's left I would say there is just over 40 foot of the Survivor Cord in it. The Velcro straps that came with the cordage were incorporated, works great to gather things up for storage, I'm thinking they would hold a CAT tourniquet, just in case the Junglas gets away from me.
