Not All Paracord is Created Equal

In recent years the parachute cord industry has exploded, there are more producers than ever before and they are bringing new colors and patterns to the market than ever before.  What was once just a military utility item available in Olive Drab, Black, and White has now become something of a fashion statement.  Now parachute cord is available by the spool and in colors like “Neon Green” and “Overkill” but is this new paracord all it’s cracked up to be? 

The reality of the situation is that paracord is a name that can be put on any rope or cordage and unless you are getting your supply from a trusted company you could be getting fooled.  Rescue Bands only buys from US suppliers of 550 paracord and all of our cord is tensile tested to ensure that it is up to par with what we expect and advertise.  Some cord however comes out of places like China or India (What?  Companies buy items from China and India for a lower price regardless of quality?  Crazy huh?).  There are no repercussions for mislabeling spools of cord to sell off as 550 parachute cord when your across the ocean and a few governments away from the consumer. 

The only real way to tell is to have the cord tensile tested by a machine that specializes in tensile testing.  This isn't really something that most consumers have access to.  The best solution to someone looking to buy a parachute cord product is to make sure whoever is selling you your survival band/strap/bracelet is getting their product from a reliable source that has done the proper testing.