  It is shown that brane world gravity produces an attractive force between
cosmic strings, in contrast to conventional Einstein gravity. This force is
sufficient for stable bound states of Type II strings (which normally repel
each other) to form. There is a small separation between the strings, giving
them a rope-like structure. At astronomical scales these `cosmic ropes'
resemble higher winding number strings, and so all brane world cosmic strings
are effectively Type I.
