How Do Paracord Bracelets Work?

Lisa Vargas

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Last Updated on November 6, 2020 by Lisa Vargas

Have you ever seen those fantastic thick, braided bracelets on some people’s hands? It instantly makes me think – military! They look pretty cool, right? You may have even heard that they are used as a survival tool, but the question we are going to answer today is, “How do paracord bracelets work in a survival situation?”

Paracord bracelets work by providing you with extra survival tools if you find yourself in a precarious situation. Paracord bracelets can be used for fishing, building traps, sewing, starting fires, and a lot more. Some paracord bracelets will even come with a built-in compass to help you with navigation.

What Is A Paracord Bracelet And How Does It Work?

Paracord bracelet is an excellent survival tool that comes either as a wristwatch band or a standalone bracelet.

They are winded in such a shape that requires very little space on your wrist. Whenever you need to use them, you can unwind them and use them to tackle different situations.

You can use it for the following purposes:

Fire starting
Shelter preparation
Hunting
Creating booby traps

How Does A Paracord Bracelet Help You Survive?

Just as I mentioned earlier, a paracord bracelet can help you survive many life-threatening situations.

Especially when you are out in the wilderness, you can make good use of this little tool.

All you need to do is to keep yourself calm and be a bit creative with it. Below are a few ways that you can use a paracord bracelet in a survival situation.

Use Paracord To Make Shelter

Shelter is the most important thing you need to keep in mind when you are in the wilderness. If you have some sort of small survival tent, then you don’t need to worry. But what happens if you don’t have one? Do you know that you can make a shelter by using the cordage from your bracelet?

For example, you can cut tree branches using a pocket chainsaw and then join them together using the inner cordage from your bracelet to make a make-shift shelter that will help you stay protected for the night. If you have an emergency blanket or tarp to drape over the shelter that would help with insulation.

I understand what you are probably thinking…… “this doesn’t sound like much of a shelter”, right? But it’s better than nothing. The smallest bits of comfort go a long way when it comes to morale and getting through to the next day.

Using Paracord For Fishing

Food is a basic need for every single organism on earth. You need to be a little more careful about your food if you are in a survival situation. I know dehydrated food packs can be good, but they aren’t enough to sustain you, and you will eventually need to do something.

You can use your paracord bracelet to make a good fishing line and catch fish for dinner or lunch. Don’t worry if you forgot to pack a fishing hook because you can create one from a soda can’s flip top. Just rub it a bit with solid rock to make it a bit sharp and pointy.

Small Game Trapping

Of course, there are a lot of ways to feed yourself in a survival situation. You don’t need to rely on fishing alone. You can trap birds and roast them for dinner to fill your caloric deficiency for the day. Trapping small animals may seem a bit hard, but you can create a good trap with a little creativity.

Your paracord bracelet can come in handy while creating a snare for catching birds and small animals like rabbits. Simply unwind your paracord and make a proper knot that can trap the prey as soon as they step into the knot. You can use small tree branches and some bushes to hide the cord.

Make A Projectile Weapon

In survival situations, carrying a weapon is crucial and can help keep you safe from potential threats. Apart from that, you can use the weapon for hunting small game as well. Of course nothing beats a small firearm for catching prey, but if you don’t have a handgun in your bugout bag, then you’ll have to make due with what you have.

One of the most popular weapons to make with paracord is a Shepherd’s Sling, which is essentially a sling shot made to throw rocks. I found a great video on how you can use paracord to make this sling below.

Starting A Fire With A Paracord Bracelet

You can’t get away without keeping yourself warm. Besides that, fire is necessary if you’re going to eat that rabbit you just killed with your sling shot made from paracord! The coolest part about these parcord bracelets is that many of them have a built-in firestarter so you can create sparks to ultimately start a fire.

You’ll want to have some a tinder bundle already set aside so that it can catch the spark. If you’re lucky and you’ve got some sort of small survival kit with you, having some char cloth helps to make the embers that are produced from the ferro rod last long enough to ignite the tinder bundle.

If you absolutely have no tinder available, you can use the inside three strands of the paracord bracelet as tinder for the fire. As you can tell, this all takes time and practice, so make sure you get a paracord bracelet ahead of time and practice with it.

Make A Tourniquet

You need to keep your mind prepared for anything whenever you are in a survival situation. If you get seriously injured while your out in the wilderness you’re going to have to find some way to stop the bleeding.

Luckily you can stop the blood flow with the help of a tourniquet made from your paracord. Yes. This is a crude method of doing it, but it could save a limb, or your life if you have no other alternative.

Mark Trails With Your Paracord

Trail marking can be a smart idea if you’re in an unfamiliar place. You can use the inner strings of the paracord bracelet to tie onto tree branches as you go.

Those strands on the inside of the bracelet are extremely small, so you’ll have to make sure you tie them somewhere where you can see them as easily as possible.

Repairing Backpacks With Your Paracord

If you were lucky enough to grab your bug out bag on the way out the door, you’ve got a lot of tools in there can help with a variety of situations. But what happens if your bug out bag zipper breaks, or the stitching comes undone? This is where the cordage on the inside proves its value as string for sewing back together any holes or stitching.

Why Is Paracord Used For Survival?

Paracord can be helpful for survival and tactical situations because of its outstanding qualities. You will always find special forces, fighter pilots, and soldiers wearing them as backup methods for help in various situations. These bracelets may not look strong at first glance, but they can help you survive the most challenging situations.

Another thing that makes it a great survival tool is its versatility. A simple cord can come in handy for tackling so various situations. It can help you getting food, shelter, or even starting a fire. You can also use it to make a projectile weapon for hunting and self-defense purposes.

Uses For Paracord

Apart from survival situations, paracord bracelets can be handy in daily life. Due to its rigid nature and versatility, it can be a useful tool for household repairs. It can help you upholster an old chair or a stool to give it a new and much better look.

In addition to this, you can also use the cord as a shoelace, and it will keep the shoe intact. Some people love to use them as a leash for pets. It makes a great leash because of its durable nature; it allows you to use it in any weather conditions.

Even if it gets wet, it won’t lose its quality and strength, which is one of its plus points. There are so many things you can do with a paracord bracelet. All you need is creativity and the knowledge of making good knots for different situations.

Important Paracord Knots

There are a few kinds of knots that you need to master for handling different kinds of situations. These knots will help you tackle almost any kind of survival situation with your paracord bracelet.

Here are some of the most frequently used cord knots

Handcuff knot – for survival situations
Catpaw’s knot – for hanging stuff from heights
Barrel knot – for fishing lines
Slip knot – for climbing
Turk’s head knot – for jewelry

Final Thoughts

Paracord bracelts are a fantastic tool to have with you at all times. If you’re putting together a list of items for everyday carry (EDC), this should definitely be on that list. And if you don’t feel like wearing it on your wrist every day, then make sure to have one in your bug out bag just in case. If there’s anything you would like to add to this post or any insight you have on this subject, please feel free to comment below.

Learn. grow. survive.