Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Just wanted to correct something I saw floating around on the reviews. It is true that if paracord is going to be sold to the military (aka MIL-C-5040) it has to have an identifying colored thread, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it is of any higher quality, but just that it is labeled for military sale and likely has a more stringent quality control threshold. The requirements for MIL-C-5040 (or at least the ones important to this discussion) are that it uses a total of seven, 630 denier (denier is essentially a measure of the mass of yarn per meter), 3 ply strands for it's core, and that it contain the identifying colored strand. (it's also limited to a few basic colors: black, brown etc. One of the easiest ways to tell that this isn't MIL-C-5040 is that it comes in hot pink). Commercial cord is not REQUIRED to meet these measures, but often times does. In the case of this specific paracord, the internal strands are two ply not three, and thus not up to MIL-C-5040 standards. That is not to say that this is not extremely tough cord. I personally had this cord under a 400lbs static stress load recently and didn't see any damage or deformity from it, but I wouldn't actually rely on it for a life-saving application. "Commercial Cord" is not a dirty word. There are manufacturers of commercial cord who are going to have higher standards than the requirements for MIL-C-5040 cord. Military manufacturers are trying to keep things cheap, and thus shoot for the minimum (stringent though they may be) requirements laid out by the government. Often times, outdoor enthusiasts are willing to up the price considerably to get something even tougher. I use a commercial paracord for a specific rock climbing application and while I would completely trust MIL-C-5040, the commercial cord is of far higher quality. THE BOTTOM LINE: is that this cord, while not MIL-C-5040, is great. This stuff only uses two ply internal threads, but is strong, well made, and looks good. I'd trust it for anything short of a life saving application. I've used this stuff already for a monkey fist project, a woven dog leash and a few other odds and ends and am already ordering more. As far as ANY paracord projects I'll be working on, or general tie-down needs, this stuff is awesome. Buy with confidence. If anyone has any corrections or other info they'd like to add, I'm sure it would be of great help to shoppers.