How The Hunger Games relates to Paracord.
In the exciting novels and movies of The Hunger games, Katniss Everdeen finds herself in many tough situations. While watching the movie, I could not help but think about all of the times that paracord would have came in handy. Paracord could have been used to make a fishing net. Or a net that would trap and catch other tributes. When Katniss would sleep in the tree to protect herself, I thought about how paracord would have been useful to have, that way she would not have to sleep with one eye open. But then when she found Peeta and was no longer able to sleep in a tree, I thought about how great a paracord hammock would have been. When Peeta hurt his leg, Katniss made a tourniquet to help him, paracord would have come in handy once again. Now, maybe I just think about paracord a little too much, or maybe paracord would have been a great thing to have been allowed to bring into the arena. Paracord has many uses, not just in fictional novels and movies, but in real life situations. You never know if you'll need to sleep in a tree, make a tourniquet. Or fish without a pole. In other words,paracord will always come in handy and one person can simply never have too much paracord.
How did Paracord Planet become the best of the best? Find out.
As Paracord is starting to become a favorite hobby of many, I stopped myself and asked, “Why is Paracord Planet the best?” As an employee here, I might be biased, but facts are facts. Paracord Planet offers their customers over 180 colors to choose from and are always getting new ones. ( I would know, working in marketing means I get to help name the new ones!) From solid, camouflage, glow-in-the-dark, neon, and multicolor paracord, I can guarantee Paracord Planet will have something you like.
We also have some great social media contests. We love to hear feedback from customers, we want to know what you like and what you want. After a few suggestions from customers about Paracord grab bags that include buckles, we listened and made it happen.
Before I forget, another reason why we became the best of the best is that we have free shipping. But we didn't just leave it at that. Paracord Planet has free SAME DAY shipping if you order before 3:00pm est. Very few things are better than free same day shipping, folks.
That's enough bragging for one day, Happy Paracording!
The title really speaks for itself on this one. You are a rookie if you do not know what paracord is. Although since you are on this site and reading this blog, you clearly have a passion for all things paracord. But I know that there are so many people out there that do not know what paracord even is. I have come across this situation way too many times. Maybe I am hanging out with the wrong crowd, or maybe we need to get the word out about how awesome this 550 cord truly is. I like my friends, so I think that getting the word out would be better and easier than me trying to make new friends.
Have you encountered a lot of people ask what that bracelet is on your wrist? Or what that cord is on your key chain, dog collar, or where you got those super sweet paracord shoelaces? How did you explain to them the importance of this cord? I have been out with my co-workers for various events and when people ask where we work or what we do we explain to them that we work with paracord. That is the exact moment you can look at their face and see that the person has no idea what paracord is. Then of course we all glance at each other and finally someone steps up to explain the products. I cannot wait for the day where there needs to be no explanation and people will just understand, then of course they will be jealous of my job because I get to work with wonderful survival cord every day.
Moral of this story is that you should tell all your friends, family, even your enemies about how awesome paracord is and all the different paracord projects and survival situations it helps out in!
Use Paracord to make a belt. Paracord can be used to hold your pants up. Yes, your pants. Not many people can say that they made their own belt. With the right buckle, you make a fashion statement.
Use Paracord to hand a bear bag. Lions and Tigers and BEARS! Oh My! Paracord can help you keep your food safe from animals...or your friends.
Use Paracord as a clothing line. Everyone loves to save money. Instead of drying your clothes in the dryer... Use Paracord to string up a clothes line in your backyard and let the wind take care of the rest.
Use Paracord to get "unstuck." Living in North Dakota during the winter months can be tricky. I have gotten myself stuck a few times in driveways, parking lots and snow banks. Luckily I had some 550 Paracord in my emergency kit in my car. Instead of calling a tow-truck, I just called my friend with a truck and I got “unstuck” for free.
Use Paracord to get a date. I saw someone (cute) wearing a Paracord Bracelet in class and was able to strike up a conversation by asking him about it.
Use Paracord on the moon. “We went to the moon in 1965...” If you ever get the chance to go to the moon, make sure you bring some 550 Paracord. Paracord was actually used by astronauts to repair the Hubble Space Telescope in 1997, during the second space shuttle mission.
Use Paracord to stop yourself from losing your eyeglasses. Does a family member, friend (or even yourself) forget where they put their eyeglasses constantly? Well you can tie Paracord around the arms of the glasses and hang them around your neck. Now they always have their glasses on them and a nice Paracord accessory.
(we are not responsible for what situations you get yourself into with Paracord)
Today I made my first paracord bracelet. Now before I get too far, I must explain how “uncrafty” I am. When I was younger, my friends would always want to make the “beadie buddies”, mine would always end up with five legs or three eyes. I would also be the one in art class that would receive the “A” ...for effort. So in other words, I do not have a natural crafting ability. After working here as an intern for close to 5 months, it was time to give this whole “paracording” thing a try. I asked Facebook what color of Paracord I should make my first bracelet. I was hoping that “Pretty-in-Pink” would win, but someone wrote in their own choice into the Facebook poll and “Legos” won by a landslide.
These are the materials that I needed to my Cobra style bracelet:
Scissors
1/2" Buckle
Lighter
10ft hank of 550 paracord
Now it was up to the production manager, Tony, to teach me how it is done. I started off by burning my thumb on the lighter, but as I have learned from Facebook friends of Paracord planet, this is a common occurrence. I was a little confused on the start of the bracelet but soon got the hang of out it
I managed to successfully complete the bracelet and only whipped Tony in the face with Paracord once. So the moral of this story is that if I can make a Paracord bracelet and feel good about the finished product, you can too.
I would like to welcome Andy Amick, blogger and paracord enthusiast from Pale Spruce Blog. He definitely has some good stuff on his blog so check it out! He was willing to write this post for us on his walking stick, continue reading! Thanks again Andy!
--Jaci Duesterhoeft, Paracord Planet
A few months ago I noticed the stick my kids were using as a lightsaber had some interesting marks and grooves in it. Instead of letting the stick get broken during a battle against the Dark Side, I thought it would make a great hiking stick. For this stick with all of it's grooves, a turk's head knot made from paracord seemed like the perfect handle.
Making a hiking stick
I won't go into too much detail on making the stick. There are online tutorials that do a good job of going through the steps. The main steps are remove the bark, sand the stick smooth and then finish with tung oil or linseed oil.
Time for paracord
The handle for the stick is a two pass long turk's head knot. There is a small section of braiding that holds a watch band compass on the top. The stick is finished with a lanyard knot at then end of the wrist strap.
Looking at the turk's head, one may think it's a complicated “expert” knot, but anyone can tie it with some patience and focused attention. For a tutorial from one of the expert knot guys, please see Stormdrane's video of the long turk's head.
List of materials
Orange paracord – started with 25 feet of orange for the handle and used about 20 feet total
Blue paracord – 2 feet for the accent
Knife – any sharp knife will do
Lighter – to melt ends of paracord
Bottle cap – useful to flatten the melted ends of paracord
Paracord needle – a must have for a turk's head knot. The one I used is homemade from an aluminum screw post, but there are commercials ones available
Watch band compass
When doing a long turk's head handle, the one other item I would add is patience. Set the expectation that mistakes will be made and the knot may take a couple of tries to get correct.
Since this was my son's hiking stick, I let him choose the color scheme. I thought two colors on the turk's head knot would look cool, but that was not to be. He had decided that the turk's head was going to be solid orange, and he wanted some blue in the strap that goes around the wrist. It must have been the Broncos games we have been watching that gave him the idea for orange and blue.
Making the long turk's head
Watch the Stormdrane video several more times before you start to make the knot. Be very careful to get the over unders correct, and also make sure the turns overlap in the correct places. I have trouble with the turns so I use take and twist ties to keep the cord in the proper place. Without the twist ties, I would get one overlap wrong and then have to redo the knot again. I'm more than happy to use tape and twist ties if that ensures the knot will come out correctly.
When making the first pass, keep the knot as loose as possible without having the overlaps lose their position. At the end of pass one, it doesn't look all that cool, but pass two is where the knot really starts to take shape.
With the first pass is complete, pass two is simply a matter of following the over and unders from pass one. Pass two is where having the paracord needle comes in handy. Trying to go under two strands of paracord without the needle is way too frustrating.
The next step is tightening up the knot. But before that, a length of blue paracord had to be incorporated to get the Bronco colors working. With one end of the blue cord threaded onto a needle, pass it under about half of the long turks head. The blue parcord will be held in place once the turk's head is tightened up. Be sure to keep it aligned with the other ends of the cord to make the braiding easier.
The tightening of the knot is the really tedious part. You can't do it all at once, so work a little slack out at a time. It took 3 or 4 tightening passes for this turk's head. Use an ice pick, small screwdriver, or a heavy duty upholstery needle to help pull the paracord tight. Take your time, be extra patient, and the end result will be worth it.
To finish the stick, my son wanted a compass on the top. Hey, I let my 5 year old pick the colors for the stick, so why not let him navigate too! A watch band compass was a perfect fit for this. A simple braid was used to make the strap that would pass through the compass.
The final step for this project is making the wrist strap. This step only requires two lengths of cord so the third cord was cut and melted to the back side of the braided strap. The two remaining ends go under one of the bights on the turk's head and are finished with a lanyard knot to make the wrist strap.
Final Comments
The handle is plenty long for a 5 year old, but for an adult it may be a little short. To make an adult sized handle, add a few wraps to the turk's head knot or make a third pass of the knot.
This project took a fair amount of time to complete, but in the end it was worth it. My 5 year old now has a hiking stick he helped make and I'm sure he'll want to take more hikes to try out the stick and “navigate” with his compass. Oh, the stick still gets used as a lightsaber from time to time, but that's a tradeoff I'm willing to accept if it means more hikes for us.
Many of you loyal blog readers will already know who I am. The infamous butt of the joke, the victim of many a prank here at Paracord Planet, that’s right, Lisa! You’ve seen the chair prank, admittedly, that was a little funny, the paracord web, and the packing peanut prank. But today, yes, today, I got my revenge (you’re welcome to those of you who live for these pranks, I’m sure that I just unleashed a pranking beast with this one).
Now, unlike my coworkers, I am not terribly creative when it comes to things we make with paracord. I am, however, very creative in the kitchen. After the packing peanut prank last week, I decided it was time to get even. I took my time, planning each step carefully, and came to a conclusion that I would use my famous chocolate chip cookies to get back at them.
Here is the recipe I used:
1 ¼ cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup brown sugar
½ cup butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 egg
1 tbsp vinegar
1/3 cup salt
Mix the butter, salt and sugar together, then add the egg and the vinegar. In a separate bowl, combine the cocoa powder, the flour, and the baking soda (The cocoa powder is vital because salt doesn’t brown like sugar does, so it gives the cookies the right color). Add this to the butter mixture slowly, then once the batter forms, mix in the chips. Roll the dough into about 1” circles and press them out into a cookie shape. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.
I encourage you to use the recipe. The results were fantastic! Only one person was able to swallow the bite they took, and the garbage cans here are full of half chewed cookies. We heard comments like “Oh… I think I got a salt spot,” and the best was the yum quickly followed by being spit in the garbage.
Thanks for reading and look for more posts on the Paracord Planet Prank Wars!
Well it was that time of the week last Thursday, where our co-worker had a meeting. What do we like to do while she is at an hour long meeting? Paracord pranks! We do not need to spend much time on these, they come together in less than 20 minutes, so we feel obligated to do them. This paracord prank was a little more complex than the other ones have been, but the result was priceless.
We took a big step ladder from the warehouse. Then took a long length of paracord and tied a bowl to one end. The other end was thrown over the ceiling rafters, down the side of the wall, under two desks and then tied to a leg on Lisa's chair. We then filled the bowl up with packaging peanuts and put it up on a ledge on the wall behind her desk. This was set up so that when she comes back from her meeting and pulls out her chair the bowl would fall from the ledge and all the packaging peanuts would rain down on her.
I feel that this prank was inspired by the snow that we received last week.
We were very anxious for her to get back from her meeting. When the meeting was finally over she took a long fifteen minutes to sit down in her desk. She has gotten use to us pranking her and now fears going back to her desk after that meeting. So the suspense was really building up. It ended up working out perfectly. (Except for when we accidentally triggered it when we were putting it all together, so then we had to pick up all the packing peanuts and set the bowl back up. But hey, at least that showed us that it was going to work!)
There was a video taken of this all, so hopefully that should be coming shortly.
As I stated in my previous blog post Happy Fall! I talked about how I made a paracord coffee sleeve. Well I have finally made another one and took pictures along the way to create a mini tutorial. It is definitely getting to be the time of the year here in Fargo where hot drinks are becoming more of a necessity.
I started out with 21 feet of paracord, I had a bit of extra length, but I always like to have more paracord than too little. The amount of cord will depend on how long the sleeve is and how many times you weave it through.
I used a used Caribou coffee cup and sleeve to use as my pattern. Obviously anything will work here, I am just obsessed with Caribou coffee so this was on hand. I tucked the paracord under the cardboard coffee sleeve to help keep this in place.
Here is just another picture of the first step.
Then take the paracord and wrap it around the cup like it shows in the picture.
Then just start weaving the paracord over and under. I did it every 2 strands, but this is definitely to your preference. I would like to try it where it is just every other.
Keep weaving until you get back to where you started. Once you get back to the beginning I kept following my first weave so that it was repeated a few times. You again, are able to do it how many times you would like. To finish it just meet up the two free ends and burn them together.
Voila! You are done. There are so many different ways you could go about making a paracord coffee sleeve, the options are endless. Which is why I made the tutorial with just the main parts, it is open for your own creative interpretation. Now go get yourself a delicious cup of coffee and slip on that awesome paracord coffee sleeve that you just created. Go green with paracord!
So we have decided that paracord pranks are quite some fun. Since the cord is so durable it really opens up a lot of options on how it can be used. While one of our co-workers (yes, the same one we pulled the chair prank on) was in a meeting we went right to action and 15 minutes later came out with something rather beautiful. It is a wonderful web of beautiful #550 paracord from Paracord Planet. Some last minute touches were the paracord bracelets that were laying around and of course the Paracord Planet logo to leave our mark.
Do not worry, we asked Chris if he needed to get out for any reason before we started. He was trapped on the other side of the web for an hour.
We have decided to spice up the office atmosphere a little bit. By "spice" I mean pull pranks on people within the office while incorporating paracord. I think it will create some great videos, and some great paracord humor. Our coworker was in a meeting and someone (I will not say who) realized that it would be the perfect time to pull Operation Elevate Chair. We scurried to find some paracord that was long enough in the scrap box, then a pocket knife was tied to the end of it so the paracord could be thrown over the beams in the ceiling. It took a few tries, but if was finally figured out. The chair was quickly assembled to one end of the paracord. With the use of our awesome teamwork we worked together to lift the chair off the ground and securely tie the other end of the paracord to her desk. Then we waited in anticipation for the meeting to be over so we could see her reaction.
We at ParacordPlanet.com have been trying to find an economical way to make a rifle sling for some time. It’s a product that we keep getting requests for but so far we haven’t found a braiding pattern or weave that meet our standards. Today I experimented with a little known weaving pattern that I have seen periodically across the interwebs.
The weave is very basic and contains a great deal of paracord in a very neat pattern. To make it I connected two sling swivel studs on to a flat board. On those studs I mounted standard sling swivels to weave the paracord on to. In this case I used approximately 80 continuous feet of paracord. Please keep in mind that this is a prototype and if it comes to pass that we use this weaving pattern, it will probably be a little different. I didn’t write step by step instructions but the weave is pretty much self explanatory. Here are some pics of the process.
State of the art paracord technology. Chopsticks and a pen.
Attached to the board with rifle sling swivel studs.
You can kind of see how the pattern goes.
The excess is tied off with a simple square knot, to be finished later.
The almost finished prototype.
I say almost finished because after I took these pictures I wasn't quite satisfied with how it turned out so I went back with the excess paracord and wove it back through. Here is a close up of the final weave after the second weave:
The excess paracord was woven back through in the same pattern as the first time, giving it a more complete and solid look and feel.
There are still a few other weaving/braiding patterns that we are going to try out before we make a decision, but we really want your input.
Let us know what you think of this weave in the comments or even better, send us a message on facebook.
I have wanted to make this knot for a while now and I have finally gotten around to it. I was shopping at Macy’s and I was wandering through the Home department, the clearance section of course, and I saw napkin rings made out of cord using a decorative knot. I instantly thought how that would be such an easy thing to make on my own with paracord. I have been wanting to try this knot style for a while, so why not try it and blog about it?!
To begin, the name of this knot is the turk's head. I found a wonderful step-by-step tutorial on Animated Knots By Grog. I had to review each of the steps very closely at first. Once I understood, it was very simple to do.
I am very fascinated with the napkin rings. I feel that you would be able to do so many different things to them. You could stick a fake leaf through one of the strands on top for fall, or a small ornament or snowflake for winter. The possibilities with paracord are really endless, yet again.
The other reason why I have wanted to make this knot is because I have seen many bracelets like them in stores. It just seemed too simple to make, so I never bought one. Finally, the opportunity has arrived to be able to make my own bracelet. I made a road trip to Denver this past weekend to visit some family and go to the Denver Broncos football game against the Steelers, so I decided to flaunt some team spirit. I could tell that everyone at the game was extremely jealous of the bracelets.
So take some paracord, put your crafty pants on (yes, everyone should have a pair of crafty pants) and start making some sweet paracord napkin rings or bracelets. Then of course post them to the Paracord Planet Facebook wall so everyone can see them and tell you that they are awesome!
I am a first time blogger, but not first time paracord user or abuser. My favorite color is the brand new “Carolina blue”, but I am hoping to soon get a green and yellow color like my favorite football team, the Green Bay Packers.
I have been working with paracord for what feels like all my life, but I guess I officially started last November when it first started to catch hmmm how could say this on “fireball”? My weaving skills are still at a beginner’s status, but I've become an expert in wrapping paracord around a 2' x 4” and making 300, 100, 50, 25 and even 10 footers of paracord. Even thou my forearms are now “Explode”ing, from time to time I like to try new and exciting things out with it on my down time.
Being a huge sports nut that I am and a former hockey player in my prime, I decided to try using paracord as hockey laces. At first I was a little skeptical because of the glossy texture of the paracord, but after giving it a try it was everything I was looking for and more. The main problem us hockey players have with our laces is they sever from accidentally stepping on them when we are getting dressed. Then when you pull to get your skates tight, they break. This does not happen with paracord. The glossy outside layer helps prevent the blade from slicing through it, and the 550 lbs of breaking strength prevents even the most power person from snapping it. In addition it allows you to be a little bit more stylish on the ice. My high school colors were orange and black, and as you can tell from the photo, it looks pretty cool.
The nice part is you will also be saving some money in a sport that definitely takes a beating on your bank account. Your laces usually seem to break once or twice a year, depending on what style of laces you buy. Even though they are fairly cheap to replace, why not just buy a 100 footer of paracord instead? That will at least last you a few years, versus half a season. Or even better yet, if you are a high school facing budget cuts in your athletic department you can buy a 300 foot hank and you have your entire varsity team covered for the year at 1/4 the price it would take if you bought regular hockey laces from the local store.
Hope you had a wonderful Labor Day weekend, and were able to enjoy some nice summer weather.
Here are some observations I made yesterday that made me realize summer is over.
The pool at my apartment is closed for the year.
Heard a Christmas song on the radio. (I wish I was kidding about this one.)
Pumpkin flavored drinks.
Leaves are starting to change colors.
Anyways, as I stated in my last blog post, here is a little picture tutorial of the process I took to make the ParaPals. I found the tutorial on Instructables.com, which provides a very detailed explanation of the process. But I wanted to be able to supply you with a quick and easy reference to refer to when you make a whole clan of ParaPals. I feel that it supplies all the necessary information that you would need in one picture.
I urge you to make your own ParaPal. If you do make one, post it to our Facebook page and show off your amazing work!
If you visited our Pinterest boards from the last blog, you probably came across, “The Adventures of Paracord Pete & Friends”. Around the office we like to refer to them as “ParaPals” and they have become quite popular. Currently we have three, Paracord Pete is rocking the Urban Camo, Paracord Paulette is flaunting Light Stripes, and Paracord Pat is representing Acid Purple. Paracord Paulette was the first thing that I had ever made out of paracord. She hangs out with me at my desk at work, and really has a personality of her own. I am going to take this time to give you a proper introduction to Paracord Paulette.
Favorite Colors: Colonial Blue, Salmon, Light Stripes, and Turquoise
Favorite Product: Fishtail weave bracelets
Favorite Activities: Hanging out with all the ParaPals and the other desktop friends around the office
Hobbies: Photography, painting, pottery, and playing pong
Since you are reading this I am going to assume that you are a fellow lover of paracord. Well, these little ParaPals are a lovely addition to our desks here at Paracord Planet. We enjoy putting them into various situations and taking pictures, they are on the verge of a modeling career. We then post these pictures to our Pinterest boards, where they will make their big break. Here are some favorites so far.
Since I like to sew it is hard to resist from making them little clothes. That might be taking it a little too far, right? But for now, the cord is beautiful on its own.
Hopefully I built up the excitement enough for you to make your own! Check back next week for a tutorial so you are able to create your very own ParaPal.
You will begin to learn that I am not very tactical, I would not be good in any survival situation (with or without paracord from Paracord Planet) but I do pride myself on being efficient in the crafting department. This past weekend I was able to attend a craft retreat in Wisconsin with my sister and fifteen other women. It was a good time, meaning there was also wine involved. So I am just going to share something with you that I made at this retreat during a much needed break from scrapbooking.
Originally this necklace was made with ribbon, a little number I found on Pinterest. If you keep up with this blog you will soon see how true my love is for Pinterest.
When I was at work yesterday I determined that this would be a nice project for leftovers of paracord. I am just going to assume that people have extra washers hanging around, since I did, I feel that everyone should have extras. I quickly made up a necklace to share. It is really simple to do and I think that everyone should make one. Below are some pictures of the process.
Supplies:
4.5-5 feet of paracord (I used close to 5 feet)
Washers (any amount you want)
Lighter
Steps:
Take out center white strands. I tried it first with the white strands but it is just too thick and makes the washers lay funny.
Burn the ends of the paracord with the lighter so that the ends will not fray.
Thread the paracord through the bottom of the first washer leaving enough paracord at the end to tie it behind your neck. I tied a knot on the washer with the other end of paracord to just help keep it in place. (#1)
Thread the end of paracord through the second washer. (#2)
Thread paracord back through the top of the first washer. (#2)
Thread paracord up through the bottom of the second washer. (#4)
Keep repeating steps 4-6 until you have the amount of washers you want.
I then tie another knot after the last washer just to keep them from shifting.
Put necklace on and be proud of what you just made. People will be jealous.
In honor of my love for Pinterest, I would highly suggest that you check out Paracord Planet Pinterest Boards. I would recommend joining Pinterest, there are many wonderful things on there!
So what do you think of the necklace? You want one right? Do you have any projects that you would like me to attempt?
Hi, my name is Tiffany Norris and I have been training horses for many years. Horse tack are the tools in my business so I have alot of it and often need something different for a new horse.
A couple of years ago when I was having to take a day every month to clean and oil all of my tack, I started contemplating starting to make my own. I started using some nylon rope that I found at a local do it yourself store but I was not totally satisfied with how it lasted or how it looked. I tried different mediums until one day I ordered some paracord off the internet. I was not sure how it would last or hold up so I used it for a year before I would sell it to anyone that was asking about it. After a year, I decided that this was the best medium that I have ever used for horse tack!
My tack is used every day and is subjected to rain, sun, mud, heat, and cold and still looks brand new!! It is very easy to clean if it does get a little muddy or dirty by washing it off with a mild soap and hanging it out to dry. Slowly I have changed everything over to my braided paracord. My cross ties were continually breaking when new training horses would set back on them. I now have paracord cross ties and my hooks are a little bent but the cross ties have held and look great. Last month my leather saddle strings broke and so I now have paracord saddle strings. One of the advantages of having the paracord saddle strings is that in case of an emergency out on the trail, I have several feet of paracord to use to get me back home. I was braiding some tack one night and my boyfriends shoe string broke. I am sure that you can guess that I cut him off some paracord and told him to use this for shoe strings. He told me the other night that his paracord was still working out great as his shoe strings.
I started selling to friends and clients first as requests started coming in for reins, bridles, dog collars, over and under whips, tie downs, etc. I have now opened an online store at etsy.com and am selling through facebook and online auctions. You can contact me through my email at tiffanyno@aol.com.
I cannot say enough about how pleased I am with my paracord horse tack. I love the way it feels in my hands, how well it braids, how strong and durable it is, and how easy it is to clean. I have not even mentioned how many colors are available at Paracord Planet!! The color variety is just the icing on the cake for a GREAT BRAIDING MEDIUM for horse tack.
Ok, so the real first day of fall is not until September 22nd. But in my book the first sign of fall is pumpkin flavored coffee drinks. Major props to Caribou Coffee and getting their pumpkin drinks out, nothing starts off a day better than a delicious Pumpkin Chai. I have been looking forward to this all week, so last night in honor of the ‘start’ of this wonderful season I made a paracord coffee sleeve. Do not look too close because the errors are plentiful. But with no directions, no paracord needle, lack of paracord, and not an appropriate coffee cup to use as a mold, I think I did pretty decent. Right?
As much as I love fall, after fall comes winter. The radio stated this morning that it has been said that this is supposed to be a bad winter. Great, up here in Fargo, ND we were blessed with such a calm winter last year, which makes me worry about this one. BUT that will just allow me to stay inside and make more wonderful things out of paracord. I will need to post a tutorial for the coffee sleeve on a different day. I want to remake it a few times to get it right. I will take pictures of the process so that you all can make one for yourself, friends, family, co-workers, and strangers.
I have a list of projects that I would like to try, so stay tuned for more! Rumor has it that there are going to be a couple other people from the office that are going join this wonderful parablog. The possible uses of paracord are endless, which is why that I love it. So it will be great to get other people around the office blogging because we all have very different tastes so you will get many perspectives the endless possibilities.
Does anyone have a “To Make” list for paracord like I do? What kind of items are on it? Please share! I would love to see what kind of things people are interested in.
We get contacted by those who would like to do reviews or a guest blog post on ParacordPlanet.com products and the bottom line is:
Yes of course we take reviews and guest blog posts.
Reviews:
We would love for you to review our products on your personal blog, youtube account, or any other social media outlet you might utilize. If you're interested in writing a review on some of our products, contact us through our facebook page here: facebook.com/ParacordPlanet
Please send us a link to your media outlet, as well as a general idea of what you would like to review. If you qualify, you will be sent free samples of our products to use in your review however you see fit. The more thourough the review, the better. We know how good our products are, and we want you to know too!
Guest Blogging:
The guidelines to writing a guest post on our blog are as follows:
Your post must be unique content.
It must pertain to paracord, survival, or any other topic that may be related to our products.
It must be PG-13 in nature. This is a family oriented website and as such we will not post anything or link to anything that does not fit that standard.
It really is that simple. We don't want to make it complicated for you or for us. Writing guest blog posts make sense to both parties for many reasons but here are the two most obvious:
Extra exposure and an inbound link to your site and social media profiles.
Free content for us that we don't have to come up with.
A quick tip on making a paracord fishing lure. Keep a couple fish hooks in your survival pack and this could help save your life, or just a fun project with the kids.
Posted by Chris Sandvik on 4/11/2012
to Chris' Corner
Spring is here! It is the season of new beginnings. Plants and animals awaken from their winter hibernation. It is also time to start thinking about the camping and hiking season and creating a checklist of items you will need.
Of course you will need your tent or camper, sleeping bags, food and drink, clothing and a first aid kit. But how about some paracord? There are so many uses for paracord you wouldn’t want to leave home without it - camping or not.
When I was first introduced to paracord, I didn’t realize what could be done with it. I just saw it as another piece of cord. However, I discovered the many uses of it from my co-workers and from reading about it online.
When you are out in the wilderness, you may come across many survival situations were paracord will come in very handy. Here are some examples of the usefulness of paracord:
Paracord and Paracord Bracelets
Repairing things. You can remove the inner strands and have smaller cord for sewing repairs.
Use it for a tie down. Tie supplies to the top of your vehicle or to secure your tent.
Make a clothes line.
Great as a shoe lace replacement.
Secure your boat to the dock.
Use the inner cords for fishing line.
In case of injury, you can make a tourniquet to slow bleeding.
A popular way of carrying some paracord with you at all times is with a paracord bracelet or laneyard. Not only are they fashionable but they can be quickly unraveled when needed.
So be sure not to forget some paracord on your next outdoor adventure. Throw a 100’ in your tool box, tackle box or add it to your first aid kit.
Paracord is a very useful and popular cord today with tons of styles and colors. However, where did paracord come from? When was it first used?
I did a little research and found that paracord was developed to be used by the US military sometime around World War II. They would use it for many applications such as attaching equipment to harnesses, tying rucksacks to vehicle racks and for securing camouflage nets to trees or vehicles. However, it's most popular use was it use as suspension lines for parachutes for US paratroopers during World War II. Hmm, that must be why they call it Paracord!
Genuine 550 Seven Strand Paracord
The paratroopers found many uses for this cord while in the field because of it's light weight and high tensile strength or breaking point. Because of it's usefulness, paracord became available to civilians sometime after World War II.
There are many types of paracord in use today. However, type III 550 paracord is the preferred cord as it has seven inner strands for a combined minimum tensile strength of 550 lbs. The paracord that we carry here at ParacordPlanet is genuine 550 7 strand paracord.
The uses for paracord are endless. One popular use is to weave the paracord to make things such as bracelets, belts, dog collars, etc. Then if you need some cord in a survival situation, just unravel your bracelet or belt and have plenty of 550 cord available. You can even use the smaller inner strands for fishing line or even tooth floss!
There you have it. Seams Paracord has only been around since World War II. I am sure back then they didn't have all the cool colors and patterns that we have today!
Welcome to the Paracorner! Here we'll discuss all that is paracord. From the coolest new colors, to all kinds of different things you can make with your paracord, to even great survival tips. We'll have it all.
