Wear anything made of 550 cord? Does yours shrink? (I mean the 550 cord, dummy)

[skydiver30960 0]

So, since I got married I have worn my wedding ring around my neck on a piece of gutted black 550 cord. Most of the things I do make it safer to wear it there instead of on my hand, plus I never was realy comfortable wearing jewelry (I don't even like to wear a watch).

I've done so for about four years now. I'm in the habit of changing out the cord every so often; not because it gets funky but because I worry it'll start getting funky if I don't. When I moved to Arizona I left my 550 cord stash back in VA and scored myself a replacement bunch from the local army surplus store. And ever since, I've noticed the 550 cord SHRINKS, and I mean a LOT. I'll make a new lanyard with plenty of room to spare, and it'll get smaller and smaller over a few weeks until I can barely get it over my head any more. And hold off on the wisecracks about my fat head.

Ever had a similar problem? I don't recall this happening in Virginia. Is it the heat in AZ? Chemical reaction with all the sunscreen I've been using? Exposure to that great AZ sun? Or did I just get crappy 550 cord from the army surplus?

The wife is coming into town for a job interview next week and she's going to bring the "good stuff" (and the 550 cord, ha!) with her and I'll see if that fixes the situation. In the meantime I was just wondering if anyone here had any input...


Elvisio "refer to Foamy's Kavorkian scarf" Rodriguez

[airtwardo 7]

I use it for lots of stuff, never noticed any significant 'shrinkage'.



Think about something FWIW...you don't wear jewelry because of your active lifestyle but you have a garrote around your throat that will kill you before it breaks.

That's why necklaces have that little soft ring holding the chain to the clasp...it's an emergency quick release.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[BrokenR1 0]

Quote

Ever had a similar problem? I don't recall this happening in Virginia. Is it the heat in AZ? Chemical reaction with all the sunscreen I've been using? Exposure to that great AZ sun? Or did I just get crappy 550 cord from the army surplus?

I'm guessing you got the cheap stuff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/550_cord

What I did with mine when I wore my dogtags was empty out the sheathing and run the chain inside of it. I moved the clasp to just inside one end of the sheathing and put the two ends together and melted them together and to the chain so the wouldn't open. That was the most comfortable, looked better, and it would still break if it needed to.

I've gotten bored out here so I made a couple bracelets and a belt out of it recently too. Followed these instructions... http://www.paracordbraiding.com/survival.htm

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[LouDiamond 1]

Sounds like you don't have 550 cord but something that looks like it. As Twardo said, even if you gut the 550, you're looking at a tensile strength of 250 lbs, who knows what it is with your unknown cord but its a safe guess it would still probably serve as your noose if you got hung up by it. The dog tag chain inside the gutted 550 sheath is commonly done in the military and as stated, it still allows for it to break away at a safe level of force.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
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[skydiver30960 0]

Yeah, cheap 550 cord was my prime suspect.

As far as the noose thing goes, it's food for thought. For whatever reason, I just get wigged out by the feel of metal jewelry against my skin. The chain-inside-paracord idea is a good one, except that I wear the loop around my neck pretty tight to my neck. I know that's totally paradoxical with my issues with jewelry, but I never said I made sense to anyone! So, I've been using the setup with two separate knots that slide along the cord so that it can be big enough to get around my neck but then tighten down to the point I'm comfortable with.

I'll go back to the drawing board and see what I can come up with.

EDIT TO ADD FOLLOWUP: If anyone knows of any sites or big stores (i.e. Michaels) where I'd be able to find a selection of plastic necklace clasps, I'd love to hear it! -Thx

Elvisio "paradox personified" Rodriguez

[airtwardo 7]

I'll go back to the drawing board and see what I can come up with.

I have a custom 'dog-tag' I wear when traveling internationally...so they can identify the body.

I don't usually wear anything around my neck, drives me nuts too, but I make allowances when boppin' around the planet... here's what I do:


Take an appropriate length of modern steering line and finger-trap a small loop on each end, I zigzagged the finger-trap with red seal thread just to keep the skydiving theme and it's looks cool...slip the ring on the line and then tie the two loops together with a piece of E thread.

It's not going anywhere and will come off if yanked hard enough.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~