THings you have used 550 cord for.

[lorneparker1]

Everyone packs it. I pack 100 feet.

What have you used it for and was there was a time you were super happy you had it?

Lorne

 

[Ozz08]

I use it every trip to hang my food and trash. I also used it when I killed a black bear on day 2 of a 6 day trip. I couldn't fit all of my gear plus meat in or on my eberlestock blue widow (I'm a one trip out kind of guy) so I used paracord to make shoulder slings for our tent and a couple other items. Also used it to help secure a bunch of stuff to the outside of the pack

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

Back in 1987 we were hunting the Yukon and killed a really nice mountain caribou. We loaded the animal on a horse and trailed the horse out. As we crossed a rock slide, the horse slipped and a sharp rock cut the main artery just above the hoof. The wound bled profusely. We offloaded the caribou and took a strand out of the 550 cord. Using a sharp leather awl, and the toothpick (as a "needle") out of a Swiss army knife, we proceeded to stitch up the wound. It held to get the horse back to camp.

 

[Brandon Pattison]

In 96 my buddy was on leave from the Marines, he did an extra year. We did a winter canoe trip. The night prior we found ourselves bellied up to the bar sucking down pints of Guinness. We left two sleeping bags at home. This was unapparent until it was time for rack ops. We built a leanto with the 550 cord. There was no frost but there was about a foot of snow on the ground and it fell all day from a lake-effect storm. We were in a swamp and about every other step you would sink to your balls. We were cold and wet and cut down a 12-14" white cedar with a hatchet for our shelter. Keeping a fire going was a chore. We did have two crappy sleeping bags. Ten years later the 550 cord was still around the trees we secured our leanto to. Pretty amazing.

 

[Aron Snyder]

Boot Laces

Tide by battery down in my jeep

Hang game bags...every time I kill something

Rigged my shoulder strap together after a marmot chewed it in half

Trip wire around the perimeter

Daisy chained a belt for my pants

Tree stand line to pull up my bow

Guy Lines for my tarp

Towed out an RB-15 with it in Panama

Rigged my "High-Speed" M-4 shoulder harness together with 550 every time

Tied my hunting partners front quarter panel on after he hit a deer on the way to the trail head

Tied a horse we found to tree in hopes the owner would find him on the trail (not sure how long that lasted)



It's useful stuff!!!

 

[Titaniumman]

Almost as good as duct tape!

 

[dotman]

Yup you can use this stuff for anything you can think of. Also if you are solo and the animal is in a weird position you can tie off the legs so you can get to it better and also keep it from rolling further down a hill.

 

[dreamingbig]

Repaired my eberlestock x2 shoulder strap in the middle of a 9 day trip. It held the rest of the trip (4 more days). Use it to make meat poles and for help in breaking down the animal. Useful for strapping quarters to a pack frame. I won't make a trip without it!
t

 

[Nick Muche]

I tied up my driveshaft once with it on the way to go hunting.

 

[Matt Cashell]

Tied up a broken trailer connection.

Made a backpack out of a bone-in elk quarter.

Thermarest closure.

Cothesline.

Tent guyouts.

Possibilities are endless...

 

[dreamingbig]

Made a backpack out of a bone-in elk quarter

OUCH! How far did you have to pack that?

 

[Matt Cashell]

OUCH! How far did you have to pack that?

Only about three miles. It worked, but I can't say it was very comfortable.

 

[Daniel Bybee]

Had to use it to make a sling and a splint for a buddy who had seen better days. Daniel

 

[Backpack Hunter]

Slings, splints, clotheslines, rescue material, ridgeline of a tent, hanging meat, tying limbs of animals out of the way, backpack repairs, guideline to cross a river, rope bridge, shoe laces, towing, and probably a few other things I can't think of right now.

 

[thru-hunter]

Long before I had ever heard of an Otis bore snake I toppled off a rock in the mountains and landed in tundra muck. My old tang safety ruger 77 being the heaviest thing on me led the way to the ground and plugged the barrel. I gutted a piece of 550 and used one of the inner strings to pull sections of the outer cord through to clean the bore. Worked pretty slick. I fashioned a button out of it once in the field to fix my sitka mountain pants back when they used a button on a piece of webbing for the fly. All the other normal stuff here as well, lines for tarps, fishing line etc.

 

[Dave Rahm]

Everything! For those of us that have spent time in the military, 550 cord and duct tape go with us everywhere...and I mean everywhere. We one time lashed an axle together so we could keep driving. Just like MacGyver would do it.

 

[Brandon Pattison]

We dummy-corded our canteens, weapons and NVGs. We tied our compasses onto our Zodiacs. Our dog tags were on each boot (in case your leg was blown off). You name it!