Rothco Olive Drab 2100 Foot Rope

The cord seems great for the braiding applications that I bought for which is the goid news. It is very soft and a bit thinner than your typical commercial 550 paracord. The inner strands aren't as defined as other cords, but I remove those for my needs and don't need them. It's a light duty cord but several steps up from twine. In my opinion anyone who thinks typical commercial 550 paracord will actually have a 550lb breaking strength is not being realistic. Kernmantle climbing rope is a better choice for high load applications like that. This is just light weight cordage for attaching things to a pack, lashing small structures, crafts or holding things like lanterns and food bags off the ground. However the spool that sent is broken and it did turn into a huge bird's nest of cordage as a result when trying to pull cord off it. I guess that's why it's so cheap, due to the damaged spools. I would buy more, but having one tangled mess to deal with is enough. If you need several short lengths up to 600cm or so and have patience with untangling the cord, it is okay. If that's not you, then another option would be easier to work with.

Note that 2100 ft spool item is NOT paracord and its breaking strength is a lot weaker than 550lb! This Rothco #298 rope (see their web site) uses outer sheath from a normal paracord, but inside there are 10 individual threads, not 7x3 system normal paracord uses. This is still a great utility rope for lesser tasks, and the price is really good!

I did NOT feel that the 2100 ft spool was paracord as what I used while in the service. This Rothco #298 rope is advertised as Nylon Braided Utility Cord and their site does not specify tensile strength of the product. In addition, the roll consisted of 2 lengths joined by scotch tape. We were using it to tether a weather balloon but had to transfer the length to another device when we fortunately discovered the "splice."

Good!