Introduction: How to Make Fishing Line Out of Your Paracord Gear

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What's the 10 feet of paracord going to do for me in a survival situation? Well what if you could turn that 10 feet into 80 ft., or even 200 feet. Well you can. Using the inner strands of your paracord and a simple knot this is achievable. 

A "Bend knot" is a type of knot that is used to join to loose cords, ropes, or strings together. Since my profile is all about using paracord, I use bend knots when I need to tie the inner strands of my 550 cord together to make longer lengths of cord. A 10 foot length of cord which comes from your bracelet can turn into 80 feet at 50 lb. test, and over 200 at 10 lb. test. Things like fishing, building shelters, sewing and much more become much easier.

Check out more knot and paracord tutorials here: www.paravival.com/how-tos


Step 1: Deploying Your Gear.

Unravel your paracord gear. Whether it's a bracelet, belt, lanyard or watch, unravel it so your paracord can be used. 

Step 2: Gutting Your Paracord to Reach the Inner Strands

  • Since both ends are melted shut we cannot pull the inner strands out. We need to cut the ends to gain access to the "guts".
  1. Start by cutting both ends as close to the end as you can. This will loosen the inner strand gaining you access to pull them out from the sheath.
  2. Here is a look at the two ends after you cut them.
  3. Starting with one end only, begin to pull the guts out. You may need to shimmy your hand down the cord to help the strands as they may jam up.
  4. Now you have plenty of cord to work with for other survival needs.

Step 3: Tying All Your Inner Strands Together.

  • Once we gut all the inner strands we are going to want to tie them together using a sheet bend knot.
  1. Here's a shot at all the cords of a baby cobra bracelet tied together. This cobra bracelet was roughly 10 feet of cord. That being said you end up with roughly 70 feet of line for deep water fishing once all of the 7 inner strands are tied together.
  2. If you simply want a hefty length of cord for later use, you can roll it up and keep it safe for other survival needs.

Step 4: How to Tie a Sheet Bend

  1. Cross the two loose ends of cord over one another. Take the longer end of the yellow cord and bring it up and behind the loose end and back down over the black loose end.
  2. This part shows you what it should look like and also shows you where to go next with the black loose end. Take your black loose end and bring it through the loop formed with the yellow cord.
  3. It should look like this when everything's in place.
  4. After tightened slightly it should look like this. Make sure both loose ends end up on the same side as eachother. Notice both loose ends are on the top in part 4 of the diagram.

Step 5: And Your Done.

When in a survival situation using your paracord gear to fish for food could be essential. Knowing how to turn your gear into fishing line is very helpful and I hope you enjoy my tutorial. Thanks again and check out my Facebook page for updates on more Paracord How-tos and much more. 

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