Parachute cord also known as paracord is a lightweight nylon kernmantle rope originally used in the suspension lines of US parachutes during World War II. Since then, the material technology has been both up and down graded for countless applications.
Once in the field, paratroopers found this cord useful for many other tasks. It is now used as a general purpose utility cord by both military personnel and civilians. This versatile cord was even used by astronauts during STS-82, the second Space Shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
The braided sheath has a high number of interwoven strands for its size, giving it a relatively smooth texture. The all-nylon construction makes paracord fairly elastic; depending on the application this can be either an asset or a liability.
It can be used as general purposes bindings, emergency replacement lacing and can even be woven into straps for more complex applications (or just bracelets).
This comes in a single 30m long cord (6 core) in a bundle; TMC paracord is available in different color patterns.