Rope, Twine and String, Why Preppers Need It

rope, twine and string

Being a bit older than many of you, I sometimes try to think back to my childhood and try to remember things that have been replaced by our modern society.  One thing that came to my mind this morning is ropes and string.  Now most of you probably have some 550 cord and some ropes for tie downs.  But how many of you stock rope, twine and string.

When I was a child, rope, twine and string were in every home, if you wanted to mail a package, you wrapped it in brown paper and tied up it with string.  Tape was nowhere near as common and not very good. String and twine was used for things like a plumb line, tying back plants, emergency shoe laces and for tying plants up in the garden.

I can remember my grandmother would save all the odd bits of cord so that they could be reused.  Most houses had a string ball on which you saved recycle pieces of strings.  Jute twine was used in the garden and for all types of temporary fixes; I have even seen it used for a temporary car repair. String and twine will prove to be very useful and are recyclable unlike most of our modern day throwaway products.

Rope work with block and tackle were used to lift many things that today are lifted by mechanical means such as folk lifts. Tripods with block and tackle were common on the farms for lifting everything from rocks to motors.  If you are planning to function off grid without modern power tools, you need to learn a bit about the use of a block and tackle and have them in your preps.

See also  Improvised Knife Sharpeners

All About Knots, The Care and Maintenance of Ropes

Rope, twine and string are easy to get now.  If you are around constructions sites, you can often get rope for nothing.  Store all you can it will be very valuable when the grid is down.  I will write a post on the use of block and tackle in the near future.

Howard

 

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2 thoughts on “Rope, Twine and String, Why Preppers Need It”

  1. Illini Warrior

    Best deal around for general purpose cordage is baler twine … used in agricultural circles for bounding up hay bales … modern version is plastic – sisal (natural) is still available at a premium price … 20,000 feet priced on average at $30/roll

  2. GoneWithTheWind

    Years ago I worked in electronics and we wired electric wires together for neatness using cable lacing, a thin cord, traditionally made of waxed linen. This stuff is strong weighs next to nothing and very compact. You could carry 1000 yards of it in a pocket.

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