1000' Foot OD Olive Drab Green Parachute Cord Paracord Type III Military Specification 550

by The US Military Manufacturer

Product Features

• Color: Olive Drab
• 7 Strand Cordura Nylon | 550 Type III Parachute Cord (Paracord)
• Strength: 550 lbs
• Length: 1000 Feet
• MADE IN THE USA! US MILITARY SPECIFICATIONS!

Product Description

The product featured here is the 1000 foot spool of black parachute cord, direct from the manufacturer. This is the exact type of cord that is sold to the US Military for non-critical missions, where reliability is a must. The paracord advertised here is not a cheap imitation, it is the real thing! Because individual strands of 550 paracord can be easily removed and combined into your own configurations, this small rope can be put to a wide variety of survival uses. As a general purpose utility cord 550 can be used for: Ridge lines for Tarps Securing Equipment Shoelaces Hanging Food from Bears Vehicle Tie Downs Sewing Fabric Repairing Equipment Making a Fire Bow Fishing Line Paracord String for a Bow Making a Shelter Fish Gill Nets Fishing Line Animal Snares Clothes Lines Paracord Lanyards Anchor Line Binding Twine Animal Restraints Tooth Floss Splints Tourniquet Paracord Braiding Other Paracord Crafts From setting up a tarp to paracord braiding, no survival kit is complete without a long hank of paracord. This strong cordage is the survival experts friend.

Product Details

• Item Weight: 4.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B002JJSP5W
• Item model number: 305
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,057 in Sports & Outdoors (See Top 100 in Sports & Outdoors)
  • #4 in Sports & Outdoors > Outdoor Recreation > Climbing > Ropes, Cords & Webbing > Utility Cords

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

79 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good cord, just NOT Mil-C-5040, October 12, 2010

By 

J. Boka (Gaithersburg, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 1000' Foot OD Olive Drab Green Parachute Cord Paracord Type III Military Specification 550 (Misc.)

Be careful and consider this before you spend your money. The real 550 Type III Parachute Cord that is sold to the military must meet a military specification as documented in Mil-C-5040. While this ad does not claim this, they do claim to be "Military Specification", which means absolutely nothing.

According to the actual Mil-C-5040 government document 550 type III Paracord should be made up of between 7 and 9 strands and each strand shall be 3-ply. Although I have yet to see a true Mil-C-5040 cord that was anything but 7-strand/3-ply. The stuff being sold here is 7-strand/2-ply, this is easy for a trained eye to pick out the 2-strands from the third photo, as the 3-ply strands are a much tighter twist.

Also, Mil-C-5040 requires that one of the strands have uniquely colored identifier thread(s) to identify the manufacturer, this cord does not.

That is not to say this is not good paracord that meets the specification for 550lbs. strength. There is a lot of garbage being sold out there. This is likely a commercial variant of the Mil-C-5040 cord and probably made by the actual military supplier. The added cost of labeling it as Mil-C-5040 comes in the cost of meeting the government demands for inspection of each small lot. Why pay for that. It all comes down to you get what you pay for, I have yet to find true "Military Spec" Mil-C-5040 paracord for less than about $90-$100 per 1000 feet. BTW, the true Mil-C-5040 type III cord will hold up to about 750lbs. before breaking.

I have both the commercial and Mil-C-5040 variants of Type III 550 Paracord from each of the two top military suppliers and I would not hesitate to use any of them for most purposes. That said, the Mil-C-5040 versions are noticeably more robust. See my detailed review of the commercial vs. true Mil-Spec cords from the same military supplier on bladeforums.com (Search: 'MIL-C-5040H Type III').

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars strong and versatile, October 29, 2009

By 

Rusty Shackleford - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 1000' Foot OD Olive Drab Green Parachute Cord Paracord Type III Military Specification 550 (Misc.)

I've tested this spool to 300lbs, being myself and my gear. Since knotting can reduce a rope's strength by up to half, that is really as much as I expected from this stuff. Plus, it is light and not at all bulky.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good cord, but NOT mil spec as advertised, September 20, 2010

By 

R. Kaye - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 1000' Foot OD Olive Drab Green Parachute Cord Paracord Type III Military Specification 550 (Misc.)

All 7 strand paracord is terrific to use. However this is commercial paracord and NOT military spec paracord. MIL-C-5040 mil spec is 8 strand, with the 8th strand being a (in olive drab paracord the 8th strand is green/white) striped strand. note that both commercial 7strand and milspec 8strand are both rated to 550 pounds. if you have a length of each in your hand you can easily feel the difference, even without looking at it.

someone posted above that they are in the air force and 7 strand is what they use. they are either wrong, or a supplier provided cheaper commercial paracord to make a higher profit hoping no one would notice (sadly this happens far more likely than it should).