Preppers: Are You Stockpiling Cord?
Kevin Felts 03.14.17
Preppers, let’s take a few minutes and talk about stockpiling cord. For the sake of discussion, let’s focus on cord that is 3/16 inches in diameter and less.
Chances are if a prepper is stockpiling cord, it is 550 cord. 550 is good stuff and everyone should have some on hand. However, it is not like you can go somewhere in a small town and buy a spool of it. Also, we do not always need something with a rating of 550 pounds. Sometimes we just need a piece of small Cord to do a little something with.
The vast majority of cord I use around around the farm is trotline string. It is sold in a wide range of breaking strength options and various colors, such as black, green, and white. The green trotline string I stockpile has a rating of 330 pounds and is three twisted strands.
Unlike 550 cord, trotline string is a small version of twisted rope. Because of this, you can do just about anything with trotline string that you can do with rope, such as make an eye. Being much smaller than rope it is going to be a little more difficult to work with.
Trotline string is also designed to be in the environment for long periods of time. I have seen trotlines so old, the hooks were rusted off, but the line was still good.
In a crap hit the fan situation, preppers should be able to find trotline string along rivers and where people go crabbing. Crabbing is when people catch crabs off the bank. A lot of times the cord is tied to a log, bait attached and thrown into the water. When the fun is over, a lot of people leave the trotline string behind.
I keep a spool of cord in the storage compartment of my truck. You never know when you may need to tie something down.
Several years ago my two youngest children and I went on a hammock camping trip. To my surprise, the hammocks did not come with any rope to hang them from a tree. We took a spool of trotline string and braided some rope to hang the hammocks. We had a wonderful time and the trip was a great learning experience.
