What can you do with a Paracord Bracelet?
The ubiquitous paracord survival bracelet. Everyone wears them, and they are for sale all over the place. But if you had to use one, what could you actually do with it?
Paracord bracelets run a gamut of price from $.99 all the way up to $30 or more. The capability of your bracelet is more or less dependent on what components were included when the bracelet was put together.
You can get a bare bones bracelet that is nothing more than a cheap plastic buckle (or some with even no buckle) with some 550 cord, or a custom woven bracelet that is a complete compact survival kit.
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Paracord Bracelet with Buckle
Much of the capability of your paracord bracelet will be determined in the type of buckle you choose.
There are tutorials out there for braiding bracelets without buckles that latch upon themselves, but you are giving up tools if you go that route.
Some of the more common tools available would include, ferro rod and striker, compass, whistle, and even a knife blade. Some buckles even include tiny multi-tools for all sorts of intricate wilderness work.
Used as a Cordage
Cordage is where it is at for a paracord bracelet. It is the main reason you have one is to carry a length of paracord with you everywhere you go.
So what can you do with this paracord?
Let me be clear, I am talking about standard 550 paracord here. On todays market there are all sorts of “paracords” out there some cheap knockoffs, and some advanced survival cord that includes fishing line, tinder, snare wire, and other things inside the cord. So depending on the cord used you either lessen or increase your capability.
Standard 550 cord is parachute cord that is rated at 550 pound strength.
A typical paracord bracelet has roughly one foot of paracord for every one inch of braided length. This is a very rough estimate but it will give you some idea to what you are dealing with, without taking your bracelet apart for measurement.
550 cord is a great thing to have in a survival situation since it can be broken down into components and increase the amount of cordage you have available by many times.
550 cord has an outside sheath around 7 inside strings of cordage. You can take out the inside cordage and still have a very useful length of small rope.
The seven inside cords can be used as they are or be untwisted into even finer cordage if the situation requires it.
As you can see you can carry a very useful amount of cordage on your wrist in a very compact package.
Start Fire
Depending on the features of your survival bracelet there are a few different ways you should be able to start a fire.
If your buckle has the ferro rod and striker you have a ready made sparker to light some tinder.
If it has a blade it will help you process down and small pieces of wood into smaller still kindling and feather sticks to help get your fire going.
If all you have is your cordage you can use it to make a bow for a friction fire. Paracord will last much longer than native cordage that seems to break just as you are getting coal.
Build Shelter
Your paracord bracelet should provide you with enough cordage to put together a shelter in an emergency.
Paracord makes a good lashing for putting together a decent frame. Even just the outer sheath of the 550 cord is strong enough for shelter building, leaving you with the inner strands for other necessary duties.
Hunt Food
Your paracord bracelet can provide you with plenty of food in the right conditions through hunting, fishing and trapping.
Your bracelet should provide you with enough cord to make a survival bow. You probably don’t need to use full strength cord for the string. If your bow is of a lighter poundage draw you can use just the outer sheath or whatever you determine the best number of inner strands together for your string.
Each of the 7 inner strands can be used for fishing, or if this is still too bulky you can untwist them further into a finer fishing line. Strands can then be tied together to achieve the length needed for fishing in your situation.
There are a couple ways to use your cordage for trapping. Snares are the easiest to make. The problem with a cordage snare as opposed to a wire snare is that even small animals tend to chew through and break cordage snares.
When learning to snare with cordage you will need to learn to use what are called spring poles or counter weights. These are attached to the snare and when and animal is caught they apply pressure to the snare, or even lift the animal off the ground, making it difficult for the animal to get to the snare to chew through it.
You can also use the finer cordage you build bird traps, basically a cage of sticks set up on a trigger that will fall and catch a bird underneath.
Build Your Own Paracord Bracelet
After you have had a paracord bracelet for a while the best thing might be to build your own. There are many tutorials online on how to go about it, and this way you will know exactly what you have available.
Practice How to use Paracord Bracelet
Many of the things you can do with a paracord bracelet take some degree of skill. You get this skill by practice.
My best advice when it comes to a survival bracelet is to buy two. Then take one apart and practice all the skills you can think of with the components, prepare it in your bug out bag so that if something happens and you need to use your paracord bracelet it won’t be a mystery to you.
As you can see there is plenty you can do with that little bracelet on your wrist. It is worth the time and trouble to learn what to do with it if your life someday might depend on those skills.
