When camping outdoors, you want to make sure you have everything you need. Paracord is often one of those things and knowing the various paracord bracelet uses available to you can help keep you safe from harm while you are out in the bush. Paracord bracelets are not only great fashion pieces to flash around but are life saving tools you can be confident in.
Most difficulties you come up on in the wild may give you a challenge to get over; but with the bracelets in your possession, you have a greater chance of overcoming the odds.
Paracord Bracelet Uses
Great hunting tool
The paracord that you use to make the bracelets is strong and dependable. A great benefit to you while you are living in the bush is that the paracord can be used to make traps for small animals that you can eat, like rabbits and in some cases even deer.
Make sure to buy black paracord for this type of job and if by chance you should have only colored ones, you can cover it with some mud to camouflage it.
In addition, since paracord is a strong material, you can use it to haul large kills like a deer or moose to your campsite. Furthermore, you can use the cord to help you skin your kill if the need should ever arise.
Great tool for fishing
Most campers have to depend on catching fish as part of their food resource while camping in the wild. If you should run out of fishing line, you can easily use your paracord’s inner fibers to double up as a fish line.
You can also use the cord to keep your catch together by running the same rope through the fish gills. What better way to take a large catch of fish back to your campsite than by swinging them on a single rope.
Good for cutting down trees
Some paracord bracelets are made with a small saw embedded in them. If you are building a campsite or cooking area and need to get wood or tree limbs, you can dismantle your bracelet and remove the hidden steel saw from it. With the saw, you can fell a tree to set up camp or a cooking area so you can feel at home away from home. For detailed instructions on how to make paracord bracelets, check out our earlier piece.
You can follow the video instructions URL posted above to know how best to use paracord to cut down trees.
It is a good fit for keeping your tent stable
If you are spending a night or more out in the bush, you definitely will need a tent to sleep under. This is especially true when you are doing winter camping.
Your paracord comes in handy as a support for your tent. By placing a paracord at each of the four ends and tying both ends together to separate trees close by, your tent will be made more stable and you can protect yourself from the cold or from some inquisitive animals that visit your camp during the night.
Can make bow and arrow
By making a few adjustments, your paracord bracelet can be used to make a bow and arrow to hunt food animals. Not only can you use your bracelet for hunting purposes, but to protect yourself from attacks from large animals such as lions and bears.
Materials you will need to make a dependable bow and arrow weapon are:
- A sharp knife
- Your paracord bracelet
- Feathers
- Tree shoots to make the arrows
- Sapling
With the above materials included in your archery equipment, you stand a better chance of surviving in the wild.
Recommended Reading: We’ve written a whole article on how to survive a bear attack that you might be interested in.
Gear mending tool
For some campers, gear mending becomes a normal routine for them. To put your gear back together after a tear, you can use your paracord to get the job done.
Your Sternum strap buckle and your tent are only a few things that might need mending. All you have to do when either of the two gets ripped apart is to just use some of your paracord core and carry out the process of stitching up your gear.
Use as a tourniquet
You can sometimes pick up a wound while being out in the bushes and walking among jagged rocks. You may fall and hit your wrist or leg on a sharp stone thus causing an open wound. To stop the bleeding, your paracord bracelet can come in handy.
By tightly strapping your wrist or leg with the paracord, you can stop the bleeding. When you reach your first aid kit, you can pull the paracord off and apply first aid to the wound.
Use as a splint
Although rare, some bush campers actually break a leg while hiking. Your paracord bracelet can be put to good use if this should happen to you. By getting good splinting materials like tree branches, rigid bark strips and so on to act as your splint support, your pararcord is a perfect help to bind as well as keep the splint together.
Since paracord is strong, it is a perfect binding material for your splint. Your survival strap can carry about 15 to 20 ft of paracord that can help to provide splint support for your broken leg.
For a boot lace and suspenders
Unless you carry extra shoe laces, you might find the laces you are presently using in your shoes damaged, burnt or broken to the point of no repair. This is where your paracord bracelet can be unraveled and take the place of your laces.
Apart from using the cord as a shoe lace, it can also be used as a suspender that goes well with your britches. In addition, you can also use it to cover for a belt if your pants should become loose while you are moving around in the bushes.
Use as a shackle lock
At times some inquisitive critters in the bushes might want to make their way into your cooler, backpack or food storage bag. You can use your paracord bracelet to keep them out. By using it to form a shackle and attaching it to your lock, your provisions are safe from troublesome animals and they will never steal your food so that you starve.
Make a clothes line
While in the bushes or wild, if your clothes should become wet you can turn your paracord into a clothes line. By stretching and attaching a long paracord to two opposite trees, you can have your clothes line in no time. Just hang your clothes on your make-shift line and in a little while the sun will dry them.
Wearing wet clothes can give you pneumonia so you want to make sure your clothes are always dry.
Make a strong rope
Often, when camping out, you may meet with various challenges. If, by chance, you should need a rope to overcome any of those challenges, you can turn to your paracord bracelet for support. With your cord, you can do plenty where a rope may be needed.
You can use your paracord rope to rock climb and do many other outdoor activities. Once you get your bearings, by using the cord as a support system, you can scale any mountain in style.
Build a hammock
While outdoors in the bush, you might want to take a little nap. Your paracord is just the right thing to build you a strong hammock that can support your weight.
Nothing beats relaxing outdoors in your paracord constructed hammock in the cool of the day with the wind blowing gently against your face.
Make different arts and crafts
Whether you are spending time in the bush or staying indoors, you can beat boredom by using your paracord to construct many different arts and crafts. In fact, if you like, you can start selling the items you made and thus make some money off your craft hubby.
Make a trip wire
Often the foods you carry or cook on your camping trip attract mischievous animals and lure them to your campsite while you are resting for the night. Therefore, with your paracord, you can create a trip wire that warns you of pestering animals coming on your campsite.
Not only will your trip wire warn you of small troublesome animals, but it can act as a deterrent against large and dangerous animals invading your camp while you are asleep. What better way to protect you and your food from animals than getting warning in the nick of time.
Gets a fire started
Spending an extended time out in the bushes requires you to cook and eat to stay healthy. If you are without lighting resources such as matches or cigarette lighter, you can use one of the bracelet’s strands to help create friction by rubbing two woods together.
Follow the instructions below to get a fire going using woods and paracord strands:
- Make a bow about the length of your arm. To get your bow, tie the paracord to both ends of the stick.
- You are going to need a fireboard, a flat looking piece of wood that has a V shape looking notch carved into it, a choice piece of wood that can cover for your spindle and a stone to act as the socket.
- With some tinder in the notch, put the string of the bow around the spindle’s center and then put one of the ends of the spindle into the notch.
- At the other end, use the socket to hold the splinter in place and then begin to move the other end in a forward and backward motion just like you are sawing a log to first create the friction you need. Once friction begins to occur, the heat will follow next.
Mark your trail
If you are camping in an area that you do not really know, you might have a problem finding your way back to camp after taking a long hike or going hunting. To cut down the chances of you getting lost, your paracord bracelet can help you find your way around.
The cord can act as a trail marker so that you will not get lost. By tying a length of about 12inches of paracord around trees you pass on the trail and putting some green leaves in between the cord as well as the tree, your chances of getting lost are limited.
If you rather, you can place bells on the cords so they can make a sound when the wind blows. The sound will be heard by you and safely direct you back to camp.
Use to floss your teeth
Apart from being a good hygiene to pick up, regular flossing can help save your life. If your gum becomes inflamed, you may be looking at a future heart attack that might kill you. Therefore, while out in the bush, you need to ensure that you continue flossing your teeth just as when you are at home.
If your flossing material should run out, the inner threads in your paracord bracelet can play a great role in saving your life. The tiny cords in your survival bracelet can work wonders for you as a flossing agent.
Keep everyone together on a trail so no one gets lost
Another awesome task your paracord can perform is to keep people together so that the chances of getting lost are minimal. By tying everyone together with the paracord when hiking, everyone will easily stay together and arrive at their destination safely.
The Bottom Line
Your paracord bracelet can be used in so many different ways and without it you leave yourself vulnerable when you are outdoors camping in the bush or wild.
Outdoor camping is not for the faint at heart, but for the adventurous and your paracord survival kit should be present to help you in challenging moments. You never know what challenging problems you might meet up on when you are away from home. What do you like to use paracord for?
Do check out our must-read article on the types of outdoor ropes to help you on your next trip.
Featured Image Source: “Paracord Bracelets” by GA-Kayaker is licensed under CC BY 2.0
