The 10 Best Survival Paracord Bracelets
Special Honors
Superesse Bug Out Bracelet When you consider the huge range of features and items, it’s nearly impossible to beat the Superesse Bug Out Bracelet, which explains why it’s far and away more expensive than most. Inside each, you’ll find duct tape, water purification tabs, a surgical razor, and much, much more. superessestraps.com
My Dog Tag Custom The My Dog Tag Custom gives you 1 foot of paracord per inch of strap, topped off with a dog tag that’s braided right in, making it great as a fashion choice or for emergency identification purposes. Plus, the clasp offers a compass, fire starter, and whistle. mydogtag.com
Editor's Notes
September 14, 2019:
Even though we like the iRainy Survival, EZ Turbo 20-in-1, and RnS Star, we’ve opted to remove them at this time due to problems with availability. But our top picks, which come from respected survival companies, are still easy to find, including the Titan SurvivorCord and The Friendly Swede Trilobite. We’d like to note that these models, along with most that use a similar fastening system, are slightly tough to put on one-handed, so you may need patience and/or a buddy. But they offer strong construction, security, and survival benefits, so for many, it’s worth it to overlook this small drawback.
As for options that are more feature-heavy, we’ve kept the X-Plore Gear, even though the compass is not the best. This is true of many multi-function models, though, making it advisable to carry a reliable version, such as a lensatic compass, if you’ll be heading out into the wilderness. Fire starters, on the other hand, are generally dependable in survival bracelets; we like the Paracord Planet Fire-Starter, even though you might need to practice using it.
The Many Uses Of Paracord
But how can a bit of parachute cord help you survive in the wilderness?
If you’re unfamiliar with paracord, you’re missing out on an incredible survival tool, one with a whole host of ingenious uses. To start, though, we should let you know what paracord is. The item derives its name from its original use, which was to suspend a parachute above a skydiver. Given the intensity of that activity, you should get a sense of how strong these cords are. They get that strength from an incredibly high number of intricately interwoven nylon fibers that also add a degree of elasticity to the material. But how can a bit of parachute cord help you survive in the wilderness?
Well, paracord is incredibly strong, but it can also be taken apart with a good knife and relative ease, so if you need a durable line in a pinch, you’ve got one. You can use its individual strands as fishing line, for example, to help keep you fed while you make your way to safety. If there aren’t any fishable bodies of water around, you can also use your paracord to fashion a stone slingshot of sorts to bring down smaller game like squirrels and rabbits. Once you’ve caught that game, its smell is liable to attract some unwanted attention from other wildlife, and the last thing you want is to have your hard-earned meal snatched by a wily fox or to tempt a bear into your camp. To prevent this, you can use your paracord to hang your game safely out of reach from most creatures, and safely away from your campsite.
If you should find yourself with a particularly grisly wound in the wild, you can use your paracord as a tourniquet, and the thin strands on the interior of a run of paracord are also strong enough and thin enough to serve as sutures. Ideally, you’ll swap them out as soon as you can, however, as there’s little way to ensure their cleanliness. If your injury is more of a sprain or a break, you can use your paracord to help create a splint or a sling to stabilize the site and minimize pain and the chance for increased damage.
Of course, this is all just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the usefulness of a good piece of paracord. And by strapping some of this material to your wrist, you ensure that you’ll always have it on you, even if you get separated from your backpack.
Choosing Your Survival Bracelet
Now that you have a sense about how useful a paracord bracelet can be, it comes time to figure out which one is right for you. At first glance, these items may seem rather similar to one another, but many harbor extra hidden features that you’ll want to scrutinize before making your selection.
The first thing you’ll notice on many paracord bracelets is that they come with a compass attached to them. The usefulness of this tool cannot be overstated, even if all you know to do with one is make sure you’re headed in a single direction and not going around in circles. It’s smart to stay put when you’re lost, but if you can, walking in a straight line can be your quickest way to safety. That said, if you already own a good compass, and you’re confident that it’ll be on your person in all situations, you might get away without one on your bracelet.
The usefulness of this tool cannot be overstated, even if all you know to do with one is make sure you’re headed in a single direction and not going around in circles.
Of course, you’re buying the paracord for the cord itself, so you would do well to make sure you’re getting a high-quality cord and plenty of it. Look for cords designated with the number 550, which is the specification for the paracord preferred by the military. Also, try to get as much cord as you can packed into that space. When fully unraveled, some bracelets can reach well over a dozen feet in length, and more of this particular material is never a bad thing.
The next most important thing to consider is how a given bracelet closes. Most utilize either plastic clips or metal shackles. While the clips can sometimes provide extra storage for small survival tools, the shackles are generally preferred for their ability to hold a tremendous amount of weight, reducing the number and intricacy of the knots you’d have to tie in certain emergencies.
Among those potential extra tools you’ll find hidden in a paracord bracelet, you’ll often find a small knife, a flint and steel for starting fires, and occasionally other small tools. Evaluate your needs for each of these on an individual basis. If you already wear a flint and steel around your neck, and keep a good knife on your belt, you might be able to simplify your bracelet.
There is the chance that you spend little to no time in situations that would call for any paracord, however, and that you’re just interested in these as a fashion choice. Well, that’s okay, too, as few fashion choices can prove this valuable in an emergency. So, go ahead and pick with your eye first, if you must, and you’ll still have a great tool on your wrist.
Other Wilderness Survival Accessories
If you like to head out into the great outdoors without too much gear weighing you down, but you also want to make sure you’ll get out of there alive, there are some great, low-profile survival tools out there that can serve you well in the wild.
One of the most effective of these is a survival card. These brilliant little multi-tools are the size and shape of most credit cards, and are thin enough to comfortably fit in your wallet. They can provide you with fishing hooks (great with a line of paracord), knives, and a slew of other neat little tools that are useful in a pinch.
You can significantly lighten your load by reducing the amount of water you carry, as well, so long as you have a reliable filtration device, like a filter straw or something similar on hand. Just make sure you’ll have access to a natural body of water wherever you’re headed.