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Strike 3, NOT Type III, Milspec 550 Parachute Cord
This is my second order from Amazon trying to get Type III milspec Paracord and still no joy. While this orders quality was better then my first order, I still have not received what is being advertised for sale.
This order came from "Love It Enterprises, LLC" and was fulfilled by Amazon, so I'm not entirely sure who is responsible for what, but in reading previous reviews I had high hopes that Love it Enterprises would be a good supplier. This was not the case in my particular order.
Upon inspecting the item I received, I immediately noticed the cord felt thiner then what I am accustomed to handling as a former US Paratrooper. I also noticed the inner gut cores seemed unevenly twisted resulting in the outer nylon jacket having an uneven feel, reeking of poor quality control.
The irrefutable evidence that this is not Type III, 550 parachute cord are the gut inner cores. While there are 7 inner strands, the strands have only two twisted fiber pair and not three as they should be for Type III cord. Two twisted strands would indicate commercial cord and would also account why the diameter was smaller then what I'm accustomed to handling.
I don't know if it's deceptive marketing or if it's a lack of knowledge as to why so many sellers seem to offer products for sale other then what they actually are selling, but as a consumer I find it very frustrating.
Update 28 May 2014: I placed another order this time with OutdoorBunker and the item I received this time also was NOT milspec type III 550 Paracord, it was commercial type Paracord. Don't be fooled or misled by the cord just because it that has 7 inner strands. If those inner strands are made up of two twisted strands, that is commercial type Paracord with no standardized manufacturing specifications and probably only has a working load rating of around 350 lbs., but because commercial cord has no standardization, who knows really what the working load capacity is.
Type III milspec Paracord has a standard of 7 or more inner strands that are each made up of three twisted strands having a minimum working load rating of 550 lbs., which is why parachute cord is commonly referred to as 550 cord.
Suppliers need to STOP misrepresenting the products they are selling. If your selling "commercial type" Paracord, represent it as just that, leave out any words like "550", "milspec (military specification)", "Type III", "Type 3" or "parachute". Including those words in any commercial Paracord type offering is either a sign of ignorance or a nefarious misrepresentation preying on less informed end users.
May 2014 · Sports and Outdoors · verified purchase