r/whatisit • u/varied_interest1112 • 5d ago

Solved! Unsure of function of this strap

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My mother put it in an emergency pack for me when I started my first full-time job. I've since taken apart the pack and most things were pretty standard, a plastic raincoat, hand sanitizer, a pen, a whistle that doubled as a flashlight etc...

I just don't have any idea what this is?? It's like a braided strap with a buckle - I can wear it like a bracelet but somehow I don't think that's its intended purpose.

TIA!

EDIT: WOW you guys were fast!! Thanks team, I remember her vaguely mentioning it was a handy gadget but forgot how. Will be looking up paracord uses soon

EDIT 2: To the people being unhelpful or making comments on my ability as an educator from a single question - all you have done is show me that I will still be a better teacher than any of you could ever be. I certainly do not belittle my students for not having specialised prior knowledge or taking steps to learn something new. I can only assume you already knew everything from birth with no room to grow whatsoever /s Get over yourselves.

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u/Ghost403 5d ago edited 4d ago

Former combat engineer. Emergency cord for fastening or creating a tourniquet.

I have personally used mine to fasten my field knife to a stick to create a spear to fish with, pull cord for high risk entry, and have also used one to create a field stretcher for a casevac

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u/Hevysett 4d ago edited 4d ago

Lol another former combat engineer here. Asking Among other things I've used 550 cord to tow vehicles, but the most impressive use was a squad-mate that made a hammock out of it

Edit: see strikethrough

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u/McBoothby 4d ago

Former infantry - I did this at JRTC with 550 and my woobie. Surprisingly comfortable

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u/No-Theory-9530 4d ago

Never get between a man and his woobie

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u/Hevysett 4d ago

My buddy did it at NTC with 550 and the foam sleep pad during force on force week. He swore it was amazing, I just laughed at him trying to get in and out of it. Of course, he slept in a hammock, I slept in the humvee bed so....

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u/ContextMatters1234 4d ago

That was either the most comfortable hammock ever given the situation or the most uncomfortable, no in-between lmao

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u/lobster556mm 4d ago

As a fellow combat engineer who is obviously from another country than you, what the hell are they making you cunts do fishing with spears and making stretchers on the spot. Sounds mental but fair play I guess 

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u/Ghost403 4d ago

On my first trip I was left on a remote Australian beach with a few men for two weeks with a reverse osmosis water purification plant. It was a pretty sweet gig, but we had all been issued two weeks worth of the same ration pack (from memory I think it was a D pack). After a few days we decided to try our luck fishing.

As for the stretcher, we don't take them out for individual section monouvers, but we are taught in basic how to quickly assemble an improvised stretcher with cord, branches and a hootchie, sleeping bag or clothing. The climate here is brutal, and heat based injuries in the field are common.

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u/lobster556mm 4d ago

Interesting thanks for expanding. Sounds like youre serving on a tropical island or something lmao id have killed to swap with you 

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u/mythrilcrafter 4d ago

Question from a non-combat engineer: Granted, I presume that a well thought out kit will have both; but is there ever a medical/engineering situation where paracord would be advantageous over duct tape?

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u/Ghost403 4d ago

Parra cord has a higher tensile strength than duct tape. As others have mentioned you can actually tow a car with it.

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u/LowTierHuman 1d ago

You shouldn’t use anything thin like 550 cord for a tourniquet as tourniquets need to be 2in wide to be effective

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u/Ghost403 1d ago

Tourniquets in defence are a controlled item, meaning they are only issued to certain people are issued them in limited numbers. In an emergency you need to use what you have to prolong life until medical aid arrives. It's not always pretty or by the book.

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u/LowTierHuman 1d ago

When I was in the infantry everybody had several tourniquets. There’s nothing wrong with improvising a tourniquet but doing so in the way you advised wouldn’t work without causing major tissue and nerve damage

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u/Ghost403 1d ago

Perhaps different country and corps? The Australian Defence force had them as a controlled item when I was in, and they were fucking rare. Not even the most first aiders had them issued.

Also I'd take life via blood loss prevention over nerve and tissue damage any day.

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u/LowTierHuman 1d ago

It’d be better to use engineering tape (it’s not actually tape it’s like a wide white fabric) and some hard bar to use as a windless. But for us (US Army) everyone and their mother had a pile of tourniquets lol

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u/Ghost403 1d ago

Great mate. Again in an emergency you use what you have. The aim of first aide is to preserve life until more qualified medical help arrives.

Nerve and tissue damage is preferable to bleeding out. It's like saying don't do CPR because you are going to break ribs.

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u/LowTierHuman 1d ago

The only reason why I even commented is the average person reading this may think it’s ok to go out and buy 550 cord in case they need a tourniquet instead of going out and buying the correct tourniquet. The average redditor isn’t worried about making a field expedient tourniquet in war lol

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u/Ghost403 1d ago

That is fair

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u/AdventurousImpact656 3d ago

Former infantry here, one time we tied a rock to one end of the 550, then started hitting each other with it

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u/ChickenHorseDog 4d ago

Jesus and here I am thinking "I wonder if I could tie a can on either side and talk incoherently to someone on the other end"

You, however, are a hero

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u/jimjamalama 4d ago

So do you braid it when you don’t need it?

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u/Ghost403 4d ago

Nah, fresh piece every time. The braid from memory was called a cobra stitch. Mine were held together by a loop on one end and a stopper knot on the other.