Gorilla Tape Cordage

Gorilla Tape Cordage:

As I prepare to put my Pocket 10 C's Kit (LINK) to a 72 hour survival challenge in which I expect it to provide everything for survival in the eastern woodlands I have begun to test a few of the materials contained in the kit to get their capabilities out of the way to hopefully shorten the length that the pocket survival kit test run will end up being. Last week I made a Gorilla Tape Container (LINK) and this week I plan to test the same material as another one of the 5 C's Cordage. If successful I will have 3 of the 10 C's all wrapped around one of my old business cards at the ready. 

I ended up testing two different means of using the tape as cordage: a 3 piece braid and a simple rip the tape in two and fold it over on its self. Of the two the braided is without a doubt stronger (by a long shot, as we had two healthy guys pulling at each end and couldn't get it to break but only stretch!) but the other cordage provides a much easier material to work with and has a breaking strength close to a bad twine (stuff you see me use for demonstration purposes a good bit). While I wouldn't want to rappel with this stuff I would trust the braided cordage for building a shelter or a raised bed and the lesser cordage for doing anything that isn't going to bear a weight of 50-75 lbs (although the tripod I made with it did hold me for the 15 or so seconds I hung from it). So with all that in mind lets get to how I made the cordage and some pictures of the testing.

 Braided Gorilla Tape Cordage: 

1) When making both types of cordage I rip the gorilla tape down the center to maximize the amount of cordage you get out of your roll of tape.

2) Fold the tape over on its self trying to match up the edges the best you can, granted its extremely sticky and difficult to do but its worth taking a few extra seconds to do right so you don't have the extra hassle of the cordage sticking to something you don't want it to.

3) For the braided cordage I leave a 1" portion where I don't fold it onto its self  and use that portion to hook the 3 strands together.

 

4) The three strands hooked together using the flap method. I then wrapped this three times with a full sized piece of tape and trimmed the ends to make the connection more secure.

5) Then comes a standard 3 piece weave. right over left, left over right. Be sure to keep good 90 degree angles to ensure the highest strength of your cordage.

6) Tie a knot in the end of your wrap and once again wrap it three times with full sized tape and trim the ends.

 

7) Finished product for the braided gorilla tape cordage.

Simple Gorilla Tape Cordage:

1) As is step one in the above cordage you cut the tape in half and then fold onto it's self but this time leave about 3" of space at the end to splice your sections of cordage together. 

2) Place section 1 into section 2 and fold over securely giving you one consistent length of cordage. I didn't tape around the joint as I view this as a very light load cordage and didn't think the extra tape was worth the opportunity cost of having more tape down the road.

Testing Gorilla Tape As Cordage- Practical Applications:

1) My main test for this cordage is going to be a tripod as that is what I will rely on the lighter load cordage to do along with light weight lashing on a shelter that is not as weight bearing. I will save you the steps of lashing a tripod they can be found here (LINK). I started this lash with a simple knot and simply did the same type of lash as listed in the link.

2) Final look at the lash. My opinion is that the simple gorilla tape cordage is one of the easiest to lash a tripod with due to its extremely thin nature it can slide between the crack. At the onset I was really trying to ratchet down on the tape to keep the tripod extremely tight and the tensile strength simply wouldn't handle that type of lashing. It will make a tight tripod but not one I would trust for long term use as a chair/hammock (LINK) but it would be fine for cooking food/boiling water and even for use as a DIY Tripod Water Filter (LINK).

3) Sky view of the tripod once setup. I did do my normal test of hanging from the center of the tripod for 15 seconds and it did hold (I'm right around 6'1" 275lbs) so it was sturdy but not the best feeling tripod I've built.

 4) I used the braided cordage to hook the pot hanger (LINK) to the tripod simply because I ran out of the simple cordage and also because I wanted to test the braided cordage other than a simple tug of war. The cordage held my bush pot (LINK) full of water without so much as stretching the cordage. One major point to note is that you should always try to tie a tension-less knot if possible as once this cordage get weight on it knots are very difficult to get out.

5) Just a sky view of the same to show its actually hanging from the Gorilla Tape lashed tripod.

Overall I would say that the Gorilla tape cordage is a go for light weight lashing and the braided cordage is good for heavy lashing but not quite climbing quality rating. I have no doubt that Gorilla tape will easily serve as both cordage and a container within my 10 C's Kit (LINK) and I look forward to putting them to the test in my upcoming 72 hour survival test.

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