ParaVival Paracord Bracelet Review

The good folk at ParaVival Gear kindly sent me Baby Black Cobra Survival Bracelet to review. This bracelet is made from 550 paracord - an excellent and versatile material that should be part of every survival kit.

I must admit that I received this item over a week ago, but have been wearing it instead of reviewing it, because sadly, reviewing it involves destroying it.

So let's begin

The bracelet features a side release buckle that is curved so it sits nicely on your wrist. There are other options, including a metal D-shackle which is a survival item in itself, so worth considering, although I don't know how comfortable it would be. Before they sent me the bracelet, I measured my wrist according to their instructions. It feels a little bit on the snug side, but my wrist does have a habit of changing size for some reason After wearing it for a week, it is quite comfortable and I forgot I had it on most of the time. As I said, I am reluctant to destroy it, but destroy it I shall.

Unravelling

On the inside of the bracelet there are two ends tucked under the final wrap. Pull these out to to begin. Unwrapping it takes a minute or so, yielding 2.25 metres (7'4") of cord, and the buckle. A couple of metres of cord is better than none, but you can take it even further. Inside the sheath is 7 inner yarns, giving a total of over 15 metres (almost 50ft) of strong twine. This twine can be used in traps, for fishing, rough sewing, part of a fire bow, ties for a shelter (to attach thatching battens for example). The uses are endless. The thin yarns will want to fray and unwind immediately, so put a flame to them to prevent this. It's best to move the flame in from the side rather than from below.

This still leaves you with the outer sheath to use as cord. Below I will list the strengths of each part of the cord.

The outer sheath is braided from 32 strands. It is technically possible to unbraid all these strands to give you even more string to play with, but you would have to be a masochist.

But wait, there's more!

Yes, these inner yarns can be separated further into 3 even smaller strands. Before you rush into this however, separating the strands over the entire length is extremely tedious. The strands want to twist back together immediately.

The easiest way to separate all the strands is to give the job to someone else. It will keep them busy for a while.

If you do need to use these strands, separate them immediately before you use them, rather than trying to store them for later, because you will end up with a birdsnest rather easily.

As you can see with the result of the separation of the strands, I ended up with a small amount of wastage due to the tangle that was created.

These strands would be suitable for such uses as sutures, fly fishing, fine sewing, and they work great as dental floss.

Breaking Strength of the Individual Components

Kg	Lb	Component
135	300	Outer sheath (1x)
16	35	Inner yarn (7x)
5.3	11.5	Inner yarn strand (21x)

In conclusion

It's pretty easy to get used to wearing something like this every day, and might just be that one thing you need one day.

Now all I have to do is put it back together...