Paracording - My new Hobby

What is Paracord? - A brief History

Parachute cord (also known as "paracord") is a lightweight nylon kernmantle rope. Before World War II, parachutes were made from silk, something that was in very short supply due to the natural method of its production – the humble silkworm.

Shortly before World War II, a guy named Wallace Carothers of DuPont invented a new “synthetic silk”, all of you may know: Nylon.

This new, synthetic silk made it possible to mass produce parachutes and its companion product, parachute cord.

Parachute-Troopers needed functional, reliable, versatile and lightweight tools. Once on the ground, troopers often cut the paracord from their parachute and took it with them. They had been trained on ways that parachute cord or “paracord” could be used in both survival situations and for making improvised repairs.

Paracord was being used for everything from dummy cord to keep track of random equipment to really helpful Lifesafer, in addition to tying down pretty much anything. The inner strands of the cord, for example, could be removed to be used in sewing applications or as fishing line. Once the cord was split open the fibers were also frequently used to stitch torn garments and the gutted Paracord was used as boot or shoe laces.

Following Paracord’s WWII genesis, Paracord swiftly became popular in the civilian world among outdoorsman. But Paracord really did get popular in the US when the NASA brought it to the nation’s attention.

In 1997, during the Space Shuttle Discovery’s 22nd flight, Paracord was used in congruence with Teflon coated copper wire and Velcro to fix tears in the Hubble telescope’s insulation material.

Sadly I have not been able to find who came up with the idea of Paracord Bracelets, but people are creative and someone found that weaving the paracord into a bracelet was a great way to carry a large amount of cord that could be used later If needed. Survival experts as well as outdoor sports enthusiests began to carry the cord.

Today, there are many colors and types of Paracord and a lot of creative people creating their own knots and patterns.

Making Paracord Bracelets

I always found these Bracelets great, and thought about buying one. But I never did. But I found my love to making paracord bracelets myself about a month ago, when I was laying in bed with a very bad cold.

Coincidentally I found Websites like swiss-paracord.ch and BoredParacord with great tutorials, from Beginner to Pro.

After watching a few of the tutorials, I instantly asked my wife to bring some Paracord from a local Office-Supply Shop near us.

And you bet, she did. ;)

I tried a few weaves, and fell in love with this craft!
Now I´m paracording almost on a daily basis, and already have a "not so small" collection of selfmade Bracelets.