Paracord Length Calculator

Every paracord project has the same failure, and it happens about an inch from the end: the cord runs out. The amounts are not guesses, though — each standard weave eats cord at a rate the paracord world has measured for years. A cobra weave takes about a foot of cord for every inch of finished work. A king cobra, being a second weave over the first, takes about twenty inches per inch. A monkey fist eats cord by the size of the ball inside it. Pick your project below, enter the finished size, and this calculator gives you the cut length — total and per piece — with a 10% waste buffer already added and the total rounded up to the nearest half foot. Err long: you can trim cord, you cannot stretch it.

Measure your project

The rules behind the numbers, so you can sanity-check them against any paracord source you trust. The cobra family — the plain bracelet, the lanyard, the handle wrap, and the collar — is all the same stitch: a stack of square knots around a two-strand core, and it consumes 12 inches of cord per finished inch, split evenly between the two working ends. That is why a one-color bracelet is cut as a single piece and folded in half, and why a two-color bracelet needs half the total in each color. The king cobra doubles the work, not quite the cord: about 20 inches per inch. The monkey fist follows the published size charts for 550 cord — a 1-inch core takes about 5 feet, a 1½-inch core about 9½ feet, and a golf ball (1.68 inches) about 11 feet 10 inches, because the cord has to wrap the ball in three directions, pass after pass.

A worked example

An 8-inch cobra bracelet — the size an average wrist plus a buckle lands at — needs 8 feet of working cord. The calculator adds its 10% buffer and rounds up: cut 9 feet. One color, that is a single 9-foot piece folded at the middle. Two colors, cut 4½ feet of each and join them at the fold. The same wrist in a king cobra needs about 13⅓ feet of working cord, so you would cut 15 feet. And the golf-ball monkey fist that rides on half the keychains in America: the chart says 11 feet 10 inches, the buffer says cut 13½ feet — which is why the fist always feels like it eats more cord than the bracelet did.

How to use it

1. Measure the finished thing, not your wrist or the dog. For a bracelet, wrap a cord or tape around the wrist, add about an inch for the buckle and the thickness of the weave, and enter that number. For a collar, measure the collar the dog wears now, laid flat.
2. Pick the project that matches the weave, not just the object. A collar in king cobra is a king cobra, whatever it closes around. A wrap done as a simple spiral uses less cord than the cobra wrap — when in doubt, use the cobra figure and enjoy the leftovers.
3. Cut what it says, then melt your ends before you start, so nothing frays mid-weave. If you are joining two colors, make the melt joint first and bury it at the fold or under the first knots.
4. Weave a test inch if the project has to land exact. Tight weavers use a little more cord, loose weavers a little less. One test inch tells you your personal rate; the buffer covers most of the difference either way.

Questions people ask

Why did I run short when I followed the rule exactly? Tension. The published rates assume an average snug weave; haul every knot down hard and you will use five to ten percent more, which is what the buffer is for. Running short with the buffer in place usually means the finished piece came out longer than the number you entered — measure the piece, not the plan.

Does using two colors change the total? No — the weave is the same, so the total is the same. It only changes the shopping: half the cut length in each color instead of one piece. The same goes for the core strands; the two-strand core is part of the working cord in these patterns, not an extra piece.

What does the “550” in 550 paracord mean? Its rated breaking strength: 550 pounds, from the seven inner strands inside the woven sheath. It is also why a bracelet is a tool and not just a bracelet — unraveled, it is real cordage, and the inner strands pull out separately for thread-weight jobs like fishing line, snare wire substitutes, and gear repair.

How much cord for a full belt? Run the collar math at belt length. A cobra belt finished at 38 inches takes about 38 feet of working cord — cut 42 with the buffer — and a king cobra belt takes roughly 70. That is why belts are a 50- or 100-foot hank purchase, and why most people weave the belt around themselves as they go.

Can I join two pieces in the middle of a project? You can melt-join cord before you start, and a good melted joint hides at a fold or under early knots. Joining mid-weave leaves a stiff, fat spot that shows and catches. Plan your cuts so the join lands where nobody will see it — or better, so you never need one.

Working out how much cordage to carry rather than weave? Our Tarp Size & Cordage Calculator turns people and pitch into ridgeline and guyline lengths, and the Packs & Bags section covers where cordage earns its weight in a kit.

Where the lanyards land

A lanyard is the first paracord project most fixed blades get — a wrist loop through the lanyard hole that keeps the knife in hand over water, snow, and boat decks. The three blades from our comparison that wear one best:

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