What’s the Best Rope and String For Your EDC?

Rope and string come in many different sizes and materials. Different ropes are made for many different purposes, and for Everyday Carry it’s best to pick one that is small, strong and fills multiple uses.

Dental floss can be used for many different applications besides cleaning your teeth, but sometimes a dental emergency can be pretty bad as well. I can use floss as a thread for repairing clothing, stitching up bad cuts and even as a wire snare for birds and other small animals. It can also replace my fishing line for catching fish as well. Just make sure you carry the unflavored type as the flavored scent can scare off animals or irritate stitching.

To me, the best all-around rope or string is military grade 550 paracord. Authentic military paracord is rated to hold 550 pounds per square inch without breaking per strand! This is some heavy-duty stuff. It’s small, lightweight and easy to work with.

With paracord, the entire length of cordage is useful, and each cord contains 7 inner strands. Each inner strand is not much bigger than a piece of floss, but can hold 50 lbs of pressure without breaking.

This dramatically increases the amount of useful cord you have on hand (which can be in serious shortage when you actually need it).

In recent years the popularity of paracord survival bracelets has dramatically increased. Not only are they nice looking bracelets, but they can also be made to contain fishing kits and fire strikers! Most of these survival bracelets contain anywhere from 8 to 10 feet of paracord that you can unwind and use in a crisis.

If you go online you can even find people who replace watch bands with paracord bracelets and add small compasses. Paracord can be used to make other daily carry objects such as key chains and lanyards, as well as full size rifle slings and even belts. Imagine how many feet of paracord you could have in just one belt… 100 feet? Maybe 150 feet or more!

Another great little hiding place for paracord is your shoelaces. Most shoelaces wear out and snag easily anyways. By switching to paracord your laces will most likely outlast any shoe you own.

When you get paracord, make sure that you are getting real paracord. Many places are now selling knock-of “emergency bracelets, which are more fashionable than useful. Many of them will only have the outer sheath and not the inner strands.