Making Paracord Falls

Paracord can be used to make falls in several different styles

Basic Fall

The basic fall is simply a piece of gutted paracord fed inside of itself to create a loop. The portion of the cord fed inside should be approximately 1/2 the length of the fall. This gives a slightly tapered profile to the fall by having 1/2 the fall doubled.

Use a piece of paracord approximately 1/2 again as long as your desired final length. For example, if you want a 2' fall, use a piece of paracord 3' long. Attach a permalock needle to one end, thread the paracord back into itself 1 foot back from the needle. If possible pull the needle out through the bottom of the 2' section and snip off the melted hard end. If the cord is too tight and you can not get the needle out the other end, you can take the needle back out through the side of the paracord, snip it, and then pull it back inside.

Weighted Fall

Similar to the basic fall, the weighted fall adds a length of beaded chain inside the fall to increase its weight.

For a 2' fall you will need an 8' length of ball chain and about 40" of paracord. Ball chain can be fed into one end of the paracord easily. Tie a piece of thread around to the end of a large needle. Tie the other end to the last ball of the chain. Feed the needle about 18" up into, and then out the side of the paracord. Snip the thread off tight to the paracord and allow it to slide back inside. The point where you brought the needle out of the paracord will be where the loop (center) is formed for your fall. Thread a permalock needle on the the shorter end of your paracord, then proceed like you're making a basic fall, by threading the paracord inside itself just above where the beads end. You don't want the beaded part of the paracord to be part of the loop for your fall, so give yourself about 1/2".

Twisted Taper Fall

Twisted taper falls use a partially gutted piece of paracord twisted and then fed inside itself