Survival Uses for a Parachute Cord

Parachute cord, also commonly known as 550 cord, is one of the most useful items a camper or hiker can carry with him. Extremely strong and lightweight, it takes more than 200 feet to weigh 1 pound. Woven into bracelets or belts, a camper can carry many feet of it, ready at a moment's notice. Parachute cord is rot-resistant, doesn't shrink and cuts easily. If a camper becomes lost or is caught in a bad situation having enough cord may make the difference between surviving or not. The best cord available meets the standards of Mil-C-5040 Type 3.

  1. Shelter

    • A lack of shelter can be deadly if the weather quickly turns cold or rainy. Losing body heat leads to hypothermia and fast exhaustion. Parachute cord can be used to tie branches together to make a crude but effective shelter. Tree limbs that are low-hanging can be roped and pulled down to the ground level to make a shelter around a tree trunk. If it is necessary to climb a tree for protection against wild animals the cord can be used to strap yourself into the tree to prevent falling out.

    Food Gathering

    • Every camper should learn to set a small animal snare before setting out into the woods. With the right-sized branch and a length of cord you can make a simple snare that will take a rabbit, squirrel, or even a raccoon for supper. Fishing hooks take no resources to carry and one attached to a parachute cord allows you to catch fish from a stream or pond.

    Transportation

    • Carrying an injured person is impossible for just one person. A parachute cord allows you to build a simple travois, a contraption that can be used to carry a sick or injured person to safety. Use the cord to two branches, about 8 foot in length, with smaller branches lashed horizontally between them. The device allows a person to carry much more than he can on his own. An adaptation to a sled allows winter-time movement.

    Miscellaneous

    • Parachute cord can be used as a clothes line to dry your gear or to secure your equipment. Use it after hunting large game, such as deer, to hoist the animals on a tree limb for gutting and cleaning, or to restrain a dog or other animal. Pulling the inner strands from the cord gives you emergency shoe laces, stitches for wounds and even dental floss.