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2/14/13

Cordage: Bankline

Photo courtesy Vigilant Gear.
I'm not sure if he's the person who brought it into the survivalist consciousness, but I first heard about bankline from Dave Canterbury.

Many of you probably have rolls of bankline floating around your retreats, but for those unfamiliar with the stuff, it's tarred line used for fishing - the tar helps prevent rot, and it's not meant for wee little fishies - it comes in test strengths like 160 lbs and 340 lbs.

It's not as strong as paracord, but it's also lighter and cheaper on a per foot basis, and there are many cordage jobs that just don't require 550 pounds of strength.

Because it's tarred, bank line holds up well to the elements and won't unravel when cut - there's no need to melt the ends as you do with paracord. It also ties knots quite well - the tackiness helps the knots hold - though untying those knots can be a little trickier than with other kinds of cordage.

One standout area for bankline is the ability to unravel the individual strands for finer tasks or tasks that don't require the given weight. Yes, you can do this with paracord, but the inner core strands of paracord can be difficult to work with. Individual bank line strands are quite a bit easier to work with and retain all the properties of the complete cordage.

Great for dummy cords, camp crafts, shelter building and a host of other uses - a 250 foot roll is an easy addition to a bag and should see plenty of use! It's become my go-to cordage to add to pocket kits, too.

I got my bankline from T-Blog sponsor, Vigilant Gear. Check 'em out!