5 Reasons to Always Carry Paracord on Your Outdoor Adventures

5 Reasons to Always Carry Paracord on Your Outdoor Adventures

Written by Nick
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Published on May 18, 2017
Paracord Tree Feature

There are countless reasons to carry paracord on your outdoor adventures, whether it’s an afternoon hike or a weekend camping trip. This particular type of cordage is practical in nearly every situation, but particularly so for the outdoors. Here are just five reasons you should have a good supply on you when you head into the wilderness.

Paracord and rope
Photo from M.I.K.H.A.I.L/Shutter Stock

1. Securing Gear

Paracord is great for lashing hiking and camping gear to your backpack on a hike. You can attach a canteen to the outside of your bag for easy access, or braid a length of it and put a D-ring or carabiner on it to hold your knife and tools.

2. Catching Prey

You can unravel your paracord to assemble a spring trap in order to catch wild prey. There are a few types of traps that a hiker could use. The most popular method is tying a piece of paracord to a stick, make a noose, and set a trap loaded with bait that springs when prey attempts to retrieve the bait.

3. Camp Cooking

Once you’ve caught your dinner, you can use paracord to make a bow drill. Tie the cord around a stick, leaving an even amount on each side. Then pull the cord back and forth with the stick making contact with your flammable materials. Keep spinning until you have sparks.

4. First Aid

One of the most important reasons to carry paracord is first aid. If you get badly cut on a tree limb or a rock, you will need to tie the limb off until you’re able to get medical attention. Wrap some fabric around the cut, and then tie a piece of paracord around it to slow down the bleeding.

5. Emergency Shelter

If you’re in an emergency shelter situation, you can use paracord to lash tree limbs together to create an emergency shelter. Because paracord can be broken down into successively smaller threads, you actually have a lot more cordage than your actual length of paracord, so remember to use it to its full potential in survival situations.

Featured Image from Dave Sicilia/Unsplash

Nick

Nick