# Is Rothco Paracord Any Good?



## NightKnight (Dec 16, 2009)

Has anyone used Rothco paracord in the past? I plan on wrapping my hunting knife handle, and making a couple lanyards and maybe even make a bracelet.

I would like to get the best quality Paracord that I can, and this Rothco stuff seems to get pretty good reviews. I would like to see if any of you guys have used it.
http://www.amazon.co...ASIN=B000S5ODO6


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## spanky (May 29, 2011)

Looks like it is 550,So should be ok.550 is the amoumt of stress related poundage the cord can endure.


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## dallasdeadeye (May 22, 2011)

Yeah it's good. I've used some for bracelets.


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## harpersgrace (Jan 28, 2010)

Have made a couple of traditional slings out of it seems to be of good quality..


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## TacticalHuntingSurvivalist (Jun 11, 2011)

It is good if you ask me but I preffer Fox Outdoors Paracord I don't know why I think Fox Outdoors para-cord just has a nicer look when you singe the ends but go ahead and buy Rothco its pretty good stuff!


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## jskeen (Feb 7, 2011)

Rothco doesn't have the greatest rep of the various and assorted suppliers of military gear. However that's not necessarily a direct hit against the quality of their paracord. But you gotta remember that there is paracord, and then there is real paracord. Now the difference between the two is vigorously debated around many a VFW bar and online chatroom but some unquestionably true facts can be verified. The biggest one is that 99% of the paracord that is available online or elsewhere to us civilian types is not MILSPEC paracord. It may be just as good, or even better but it's very unlikely to actually be milspec cord. The reason for this is that part of the military specifications for the cord they buy is that it be small lot inspected by hand. This is an expensive process that does NOTHING to make the cord any better, safer, stronger ect. It just means that for every roll that comes out of the plant, somebody sits down and inspects it 9 ways to Sunday. The same machine the very next day may run from the same supply spools another 100000 yards of cord for the civilian market and the only difference is that they don't inspect every roll. Normally that's not the case because of the second item, but it could be. The second thing that the military specifies in it's purchases of paracord is that the cord MUST be identifiable to manufacturer in field useage. Meaning the cord itself, not the roll or the wrapper or whatever. This is accomplished by having one of the inner component cords made with a specific color coded pattern of threads wound into it. Obviously, this is more expensive than using 7 identical white cords, so the manufacturers only do it if necessary. This is simple fact,

Now the opinion, myth and outright lies that have been spun around this are multitude. Bottom line is that unless you pay 3 or 4 (or more) times the price specifically for it, you are not getting milspec paracord. Does that mean that what you buy from rothco or whoever is of lesser quality? Who knows, and if they do, are the telling? The answer is probably not, but without hiring a (VERY) expensive testing lab to do a whole raft of destructive tests and microscopic analyses, you just can't tell. The military purchases a fairly small portion of all the nylon, 7 core, woven 550 pound test cable that is made, but the fact that they do buy some tends to keep the quality higher than otherwise for all of it, because it's not economical to buy different grades of subcomponents for civilian use and try to keep it separate from the stuff you got for the real military orders you might have or hope to get. So it's less likely that you are going to get total crap quality cord if it is made by a milspec supplier and purchased from a quantity and quality reseller. Not impossible, but less likely.

In most cases, is what you get going to stand up to years of usage as a bracelet, slingshot lanyard, knife handle wrap, or whatever? Sure. It's all pretty strong stuff. Is it likely that your life is going to depend on using that bracelet you've been wearing to rappel down a cliff? Not at all. IF that 1 in a million chance happens to come up for you, Is it going to make a difference if you used civilian or milspec paracord? Not likely, cause after all the huge price markup on the military stuff is not because they use better components or spend more time on it, it's just for qc and identification.

YMMV of course


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## NightKnight (Dec 16, 2009)

Good info James. Thanks!


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## spanky (May 29, 2011)

mention the word millitary on any item and the price is usually higher.
There was a prog on telly a while ago stating the price and quality of body armour for the regular soldier.Sky high price not the best quality.Yet the SAS use body armour purchased from a supplier of their choice that was far cheaper and better quality.
Millitary does not mean top quality.


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## Tom in Kingman AZ (Jul 31, 2011)

I used to bet my life on the "real deal" so I was glad that they held it to high standards. As for 550, I make a bunch of different stuff out of it and have never had trouble. My survival kits contain 6+ feet of it along with a Stainless Steel multi tool. The 550 is in case that you need to tie something so as to get home or some such. If building an emergency shelter Dental Floss will do a great job AND you just leave it when you move on. The 550 will have 7 strands inside. You can cut a piece about 1 foot long. Remove one strand and check it for strength. This will give you a good idea of the worth of the cord. If you can't break one then probably nothing you will do can break 7 plus the covering.


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