If you’re doing some outdoor adventuring (or just looking to cop some of that outdoor adventurer style), you’re going to want one of the best paracord bracelets to go with your hiking pack, socks and boots. Made from military-grade nylon, paracord bracelets offer hikers, adventurers and travelers an easy way to keep a compact survival emergency kit right on their wrists.
We love a good men’s bracelet here at SPY, but paracord bracelets make for especially great fashion accessories. Urban trendsetters have made these EDC accessories something of a cross between streetwear and fashion statement.
Keep scrolling to see our favorite paracord bracelets for sale right now, plust everything you need to know about this EDC essential.
Why Are Paracord Bracelets So Useful?
The usefulness of a great paracord bracelet comes from the tightly wound rope. In an emergency, you can actually break the bracelet and use the rope to help make a shelter, a tourniquet, a rope for a sled, a trap or a fishing line, attach a knife to a stick, string a bow, hang food in the air away from animals or pretty much do any survival task that may require a sturdy rope. Seriously, the list goes on and on.
Some of the best paracord bracelets go even farther than just the rope and include other survival tools in the bracelet, such as compasses, fishing hooks, fire starters, emergency knives and whistles and more.
For all the other times when you’re hopefully not having a survival emergency, you can use your paracord bracelet for fashion reasons or simply as an upgraded, comparably sturdy, more spacious carabiner to hang things from packs, tents and trees.
Ultimately, whether you just have a plain paracord rope bracelet or one with more bells and whistles, the fact you can easily carry an essential survival tool just by slipping it over your wrist makes paracord bracelets an extremely useful and convenient tool to bring outdoors.
Most paracord bracelets are similarly designed and they more or less follow the same blueprint. They typically use a simple hook and rope setup or a buckle to close the bracelet around your wrist. The paracord rope itself ranges from thick to thin, depending on how much weight you may need the rope to accommodate, and good paracord bracelets will often use paracord certified to a certain weight, e.g. a 550-pound paracord rope, which could support weight up to 550 pounds.
That’s pretty much all you need to know to pick out a great paracord bracelet, so check out our top picks for the best paracord bracelets below.
1. A2S Protection Paracord Bracelet
BEST OVERALL
This two-pack of paracord bracelets by A2S Protection is a great middle-of-the-line option, as it offers a few tools such as a flint and fire starter, whistle, compass and emergency scraper knife, but remains simple and compact.
Just be aware you might not be able to get on to a flight with any paracord bracelet that has any kind of knife in it.
Also, any paracord bracelet with a flint and fire starter could mess with the compass due to the iron in the starter. Just make sure to unbuckle the bracelet before reading the compass to be certain you’re getting accurate readings.
Buy: A2S Protection Paracord Bracelet $6.99
2. The Friendly Swede Paracord Bracelet
BEST DESIGN
Classic and minimal, this army green paracord bracelet from The Friendly Swede is ideal for casual hikers, as it’s simply made of rope and a shackle.
Buy: The Friendly Swede Paracord Bracelet $11.99
3. Diroca Paracord Bracelet With Fire Starter
BEST FOR SURVIVAL
The Diroca Paracord Bracelet is for the serious adventurer, boasting a 19-in-1 survival kit. It features a compass, fire starter, knife and whistle, as well as a flint, fishing gear, an alcohol pad and more inside a plastic tube inside the bracelet. Seriously, if you’re looking for the best paracord bracelets, then you can’t do better than this do-it-all hiking accessory.
Buy: Diroca Paracord Bracelet $11.97
4. The Friendly Swede Extra Beefy Bracelet
MOST DURABLE
If you’re into the chunky look, need extra rope or just have large wrists, the extra beefy version of The Friendly Swede paracord bracelet is a great choice.
Buy: The Friendly Swede Extra Beefy Bracelet $13.99
5. Outdoor Edge ParaClaw Paracord Survival Bracelet
BEST FEATURES
Lots of bells and whistles are great, but sometimes it’s better to include just one great feature in addition to the paracord rope itself. That’s what Outdoor Edge did with its ParaClaw Paracord Survival Bracelet. In addition to the heavy-duty 550-pound paracord rope, you get a 1-inch, razor sharp, stainless steel hawkbill utility knife too.
If you’re less concerned about getting lost in the wilderness and more concerned about forgetting your pocket knife when you go camping, this paracord bracelet will guarantee you’re never without a knife for your basic outdoor needs. To safely put this on, just sheath the blade on the one end, then use the T-bar on the other end of the sheath to hook on to the other end of the bracelet. If you need to use the knife to defend yourself, you can quickly unsheath it and use the bracelet as the handle. Overall, if some of these other paracord bracelets are great for true wilderness emergency situations, this one is one of the best paracord bracelets for everyday-carry.
Buy: Outdoor Edge ParaClaw Paracord Survival Bracelet $19.95
6. Atomic Bear Paracord Bracelet
ADJUSTABLE FIT
While some paracord bracelets are worn more for style, the Atomic Bear Paracord Bracelet is meant for action. Each bracelet of this two-pack has five essential tools, including a compass, a flint for starting a fire, an emergency whistle, an emergency knife and, of course, 12 feet of military-grade paracord. The bracelet is also adjustable, so it’ll fit most wrist sizes no problem. If you’re worried about not having basic survival essentials when hiking or camping, this is the best paracord bracelet with a compass for your EDC.
Buy: Atomic Bear Paracord Bracelet $12.99
7. Moolia Paracord Apple Watch Band
BEST FOR APPLE WATCHES
This Apple Watch band is made from durable, military-grade 550 parachute paracord, and is a stylish way to equip your smart watch for the outdoors. It easily fits wrists sized between 6.5″ – 8″ and has an adjustable shackle on the back made of stainless steel. It’s compatible with most Apple Watch models including Series 1-6, SE and Nike+ Sport, and comes in five colors.
Buy: Moolia Paracord Apple Watch Band $18.99
8. Engineered Black Rope Paracord Bracelet
QUALITY PICK
If you’re looking for something a little simpler, check out the Engineered Black Rope Paracord Bracelet. The bracelets are made by one guy who just loves adventure and the outdoors and wanted to make quality paracord bracelets.
This bracelet is easy to slip on and tighten and the snake knot weave with 550-pound paracord is simpler and more modern-looking than the traditional paracord bracelet weave. For the more fashion-oriented, this is definitely one of the most stylish and best paracord bracelets we found.
9. X-Plore Emergency Paracord Bracelets
ALSO CONSIDER
This paracord bracelet set from X-Plore Gear comes with two bracelets in each pack, and comes with a 3-in-1 survival kit built into the bracelet. Each bracelet has a flint fire starter, a whistle, a knife/scraper and a compass to guide you. The bracelet sports a smart, compact, efficient design and is easy to snap on and off. This bracelet also comes in a wide range of colors, and can be used many ways in the outdoors from setting a trap to navigating your way through the backcountry.
Buy: X-Plore Gear Paracord Bracelet 2-Pack $7.99
10. Engineered Red, White, and Blue Paracord Bracelet
MOST PATRIOTIC
Nothing is quite so American as adventuring in the great outdoors, so show your pride with the Engineered Red, White, and Blue Paracord Bracelet. It uses the same 550-pound nylon paracord as the rest of Engineered’s bracelets and it looks like a traditional paracord bracelet, only more patriotic.
11. Frog Sac Paracord Bracelets
GREAT VALUE
Until you have a bona fide emergency, your paracord bracelet is just going to be a nice accessory that makes you feel good. When you do ultimately have to use it (fingers crossed not any time soon), you’ll have to break the bracelet to use the rope. That’s why if you’re an active hiker or adventurer, you might just want this 12-pack of Frog Sac Paracord Bracelets so you never have to worry about restocking. You could also throw one paracord bracelet in every place you might need one, like in your favorite camping pack or the glove box of the car you take to get to sites.
Though these paracord bracelets are bargain-priced, they’re not just decorative. They all use 550-pound paracord rope, so you’ll actually be able to use them if you need them.
But even if you don’t plan on using them any time soon, you can just use the 12 different color varieties to change up your style every day. There’s no shame in wanting a few different color options.
The only thing to be aware of is these bracelets are big and won’t stay comfortable on smaller wrists or kids’ wrists. That aside, for the value alone, these are some of the best paracord bracelets out there.
Buy: Frog Sac Paracord Bracelets $14.95
12. Wind Passion Nautical Paracord Bracelet
MOST STYLISH
This stylish, sleek paracord bracelet it’s as heavy-duty or survival-oriented as some of the other options, but it’s made of high-quality nautical rope and comes with a stainless steel metal clasp that’ll polish your look. These bracelets are double-wrapped and handmade in Europe, and perfect for folks who are active but don’t need a bracelet survival kit. The clasp is magnetic and waterproof, and the bracelet comes in 14 different colors.
Buy: Wind Passion Lightweight Nautical Paracord Bracelet $19.67
13. Paracord Planet Paracord 550 Kit
BEST KIT
Why buy someone else’s paracord bracelet when you can just make your own?
This Paracord Planet Paracord 550 Kit helps you do just that by giving you five colors of 550-pound paracord rope, 10 buckles and five key rings. Each rope is 20-feet long, so you’re getting 100 feet of paracord for the price of one good bracelet, not to mention the helpful survival knowledge of how to weave and make a paracord bracelet of your own. Plus if you learn different weaves besides the traditional weave or the trilobite weave and/or purchase your own buckles, you can make a truly unique paracord bracelet that suits your needs and style. And if you don’t actually want to weave your own bracelet, you can always just throw the raw paracord into your pack. It’s basically weatherproof, so it’ll last for whatever you need it for.
Just be aware that some users reported receiving basically a lump of unseparated paracords, so you might have to do a little untangling on your end.
Buy: Paracord Planet Paracord 550 Kit $15.29