What is/was your most creative/helpful use of 550 cord?

Col Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 15:29:30 -0400

Face it, 550 cord is our version of duct tape. You can do so much with it (besides making bracelets). My best use was cordoning off my section of the temper tent to make a private suite. What's your best use of 550 cord?

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 6 at 2014 3:39 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 15:39:49 -0400

I just made a clothesline this weekend for the sheets, and my better half made me a cake as a result.

550cord=cake

very helpful!

Response by SMSgt Tony Rita made Jul 7 at 2014 6:23 AM

SMSgt Tony Rita — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 06:23:17 -0400

Used pre-spun 8 strand braid of 550 cord to pull a Haitians truck out of an open sewer drain. Used to keep about 10 feet of the stuff on my tac vest. It came in handy a few times. Yea I know I could have used a tow strap or chains (none on the truck issued), heck the guy was wondering the same. The look on his face when my rental truck yanked out his was priceless... Plus I got to test it out, win win in my book.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 7 at 2014 11:48 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 11:48:46 -0400

Watching movies on Kindle downrange..

Response by SA Harold Hansmann made Jul 7 at 2014 2:40 PM

SA Harold Hansmann — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 14:40:14 -0400

I would love to get my hands on a big spool of 550 cord. I have hundreds of uses for it. Hunting, fishing, every day life uses.

Response by SGT James Abbott made Jul 7 at 2014 4:29 PM

SGT James Abbott — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 16:29:48 -0400

I would have to default to when the windshield wipers decided to stop working while down range so myself and my PFC tied 550 to each side of the wipers and "Private Powered" the wipers until we got back to the FOB's Motor pool. The mechanic asked "Cant mess with perfection" and tried to give it back as is. While funny, it did get fixed........ eventually.

Response by SPC Charles Brown made Jul 8 at 2014 7:41 PM

SPC Charles Brown — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 19:41:03 -0400

Tyeing my grandsons feet on the pedals of his bike to keep his feet from falling off of them. The only problem was I had to untie them when he got tired of riding. It also comes in handy for shoe laces. Not very original, but both were effective.

Response by Cpl Glynis Sakowicz made Jul 8 at 2014 7:45 PM

Cpl Glynis Sakowicz — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 19:45:34 -0400

OK, don't laugh, but here it is... I'm pretty sure your 550 cord is akin to our aviation 'tie-string' that is often used to secure wire bundles for aircraft.
Its a small, waxed nylon string that can be used in all sorts of things... and believe me, it has been.
Its been used by us, for pinata hanging, securing tent flaps, tieing down things in the back of a pickup during moves, making drying lines when the dryer broke, and in one memorable instance, using it to control the accelerator on my Jeep when the dang linkage broke during a trip... yes, picture it, annoyed mother driving while screaming children are TOUCHING each other in the back seat, using a piece of tie-cord fed thru the fire wall and dash as an accelerator, finally understanding why there were times when my mother would want to sit in a corner and just scream her head off.
On a further note, I got the linkage repaired the next day, but I still have nightmares about that trip!

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Jul 8 at 2014 7:50 PM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 19:50:34 -0400

Using the shell to make a field expedient strap for my sunglasses. Using the core strands to tie chicken wings and legs for roasting on the grill

Response by SN Sean Willson made Jul 9 at 2014 8:08 AM

SN Sean Willson — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 08:08:34 -0400

The Navy's go to string is three strand sisal twine. At least it was back in '88. I've used it for everything from tethering my knife to tie strings for the laundry bag. I even used it to tie up at the dock. Granted, it was just a ten foot john boat, but, hey.