Survival bracelets

Have you heard of Survival Bracelets. I hadn't – until Susanna introduced me to them as part of her latest hobby.

Made from paracord, a material that can support up to 250 pounds of weight, the bracelets are meant to be styley and useful.

Colorful Paracord

The bracelets are essentially made using macrame knots with lengths of paracord and a plastic buckle or clasp. The premise is that in an emergency, you can unravel the bracelet and fuse the ends together (with a lighter) to create one long length of rope. And if you use real paracord, then that rope can hold up to 250 pounds of weight (even with the fused ends)! Susanna made some paracord bracelets for Mike and Aidan when she was down in June, and then she also made several using thinner cord because the color choices were better and the resulting bracelets were a little more feminine (though we're assuming their strength will not be as great).

Aidan's bracelet in his football colors  –  white isn't the best color for a boy.

I love my bracelet because it reminds me of the friendship bracelets that we made each other as kids at camp; the bonus is that I can take it on and off at my discretion, as opposed to waiting until it rots off like those friendship bracelets. Susanna also had some ideas about making belts with this stuff, which is another awesome idea. I wouldn't mind one of those... hint, hint.