PMI  3 mm Utility Cord - 50 ft.

$6.00

PMI 3 mm utility cord is handy for tent guylines, clotheslines, hanging food bags away from animals, and other non-climbing uses.

Color: Orange
Size: 50 FT
Quantity

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Features

  • Cord is 3 mm, or about 0.125 in., in diameter
  • Cord strength is approximately 400 lbs. (1.8 kN)
  • Package of 50 ft.

Made in USA.

View all PMI Cords

Technical Specs

Best Use

Camping

Strength

1.8 kilonewtons

Size

3 mm x 50 feet

Weight per Foot

2.24 grams

Reviews
140 reviews with an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Ratings Snapshot

Product Rating

86 out of 89 (97%) reviewers recommend this product

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Most Helpful Favorable Review

5 reviews with an average rating of 5.0 out of 5 stars
Used to string up a siltarp shelter
Bu5hwacker
11 years ago
Tied up great and stayed put. The surface helped it to stay tied up even with the high winds we experienced for 9 days at 7000ft and 1 severe thunderstorm. Great cord.
Bu5hwacker
Abbotsford, BC
39 people found this review helpful

Most Helpful Critical Review

5 reviews with an average rating of 3.0 out of 5 stars
It's not paracord!
SoCalBill
12 years ago
I typically use 550 cord but couldn't find any in REI when I needed some cord on the fly. I use cord for tying knots to secure ridge lines, tarps, tents, items in camp, etc. 550 Cord is much easier to work with. While this product is tough, it is very thin and easily tangles. I keep my daisy chained to minimize tangles. It's also rough on the hands if you aren't using gloves - ultra thin tough cord will burn your hands with heavy use. A good product at a reasonable price but if you have the time to order 550 cord, it's far superior.
SoCalBill
Thousand Oaks, CA
15 people found this review helpful

Customer Images

Anonymous
Charlotte NC
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars

Works as intended.

4 years ago

Worked great as a ridgeline while camping.

Age:35–44
Yes , I recommend this product
Helpful?
Bu5hwacker
Abbotsford, BC
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars

Used to string up a siltarp shelter

11 years ago

Tied up great and stayed put. The surface helped it to stay tied up even with the high winds we experienced for 9 days at 7000ft and 1 severe thunderstorm. Great cord.

Yes , I recommend this product
Helpful?
Turtlejon
Traveliving
Rated 4.0 out of 5 stars

Strong, holds fast

8 years ago

So I use many different types of cordage for my work and various hobbies. For setting up a tent or tarp, this is my favorite type of cordage. It is quite strong and holds knots very well. Other similar items, like paracord, don't release knots as well after it has gotten wet. I also find that some friction hitches, like taut-line hitch or prussiks, slip less than on paracord. Somehow I manage to use hundreds of feet of this during a year organizing and hanging gear in the trailer, lashing down stuff in the back of the truck, hanging tarps, etc. A very useful product!!

Yes , I recommend this product
Helpful?
GingerJoo
San Rafael, CA
Rated 4.0 out of 5 stars

Multiple Uses

14 years ago

I was working at a summer camp where we went on 3-4 day overnights in different locations around California. Using 8+ person tents, we had about 13 campers and 3 adults. One of the tents was missing main poles and stakes. We ran the utility cord through the pole holes that ran throughout the tent, used the rain-fly poles as cross members tied off between to two opposing trees. This took 20 minutes, 2 50' utility cords and a little adhesive tape on the joints. Extra line from tent to tree doubled as a clothes line. Bought these the day before on a whim, do not go anywhere without them.

Yes , I recommend this product
Helpful?
Mike K in OH
Mike K in OH
Rated 4.0 out of 5 stars

It's fine! It's rope!

9 years ago

I used this cord to set up a makeshift rain fly with a tarp--and my picture of our campsite got to the top of r/camping! Now I can die peacefully and happy, having accomplished an arbitrary goal I didn't know I had until after I achieved it! As for the cord itself--It's fine! It was an impulse buy near the register the day before a camping trip. You could always use some utility cord, right? I don't think it performs particularly better or worse than utility cord you could get anywhere else, but it works just fine.

Yes , I recommend this product
Helpful?
Timothy Hartle
Fairfax, VA
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars

Excellent Cord

11 years ago

I use this product for anything that requires strength, good looks or effective knotting with small diameter cord. The tight braid provides body and good feel for the cord's small 3mm diameter. The polyester sheath provides excellent protection from UV radiation and, together with the nylon core, a great breaking strength of 400 lbs. It melts well to prevent loose ends from fraying. The range of colors is useful. For the price, you can't go wrong.

Yes , I recommend this product
Helpful?
Rob the blob
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars

Great for backpacking

8 years ago

I bought this utility cord because I didn't want to cut my "nice" cord, but needed it to tie up my tarp. Hammocking in the rain is a nightmare if your equipment isn't reliable, but this utility cord is reliable. I got our first campsite and cut the cord into 5 different 10-ft pieces. Even though the blade was relatively dull, the cord barely frayed at all. It held up nicely in a heavy rain and was able to quickly pack it and go. Probably the best value of any utility cord I've come across.

Yes , I recommend this product
Helpful?
Eugene B Wary
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars

Holds knots well

6 years ago

PMI 3 mm (1/8") Utility Cord is a good, inexpensive kernmantle line that can replace the more common 4 mm paracord for many camping uses. This 3 mm cord has a tensile strength of 400 lbs compared to 550 lbs for the heavier paracord. PMI uses UV-resistant polyester fiber for the exposed mantle while placing stronger nylon in the load-bearing, single-stranded kern. The cord can be used for clothes lines, for hanging food bags in bear country, for tent guy-lines, and more. While even lighter cord would be sufficient for most backpacking tent and tarp guy-lines (since fabric would tear before the line breaks) this cord offers enough thickness for easy knot-tying. It holds a tautline hitch well, unlike some smaller diameter cords. It is available in several colors -- orange guy-lines are less likely to be tripped over. At this writing in 2019 REI's price is a bargain and is less than PMI itself offers. The weight on my scale is 100 grams (3.5 oz) for the 50 foot (15.25 meter) hank.

Yes , I recommend this product
Helpful?
Gear Eagle
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars

Quality Cord

2 years ago

Dependable cord. Burns well. Thick sheath for diameter. Low stretch. Have used this same type from REI for many years in many applications. It helps to heat an inch section prior to cut, to bond sheath and core together, then cut in center of this section, and burn ends sealed. If only ends are burned after raw cut, the sheath and core separate too easily under pressure.

Yes , I recommend this product
Helpful?
TomC
Albany, OR
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars

Sweet!

15 years ago

I've used utility cord for several decades, mostly as tent lines and tarp lines. My family teases me about this and sometimes gives me a 50-ft. package for my birthday. I just finished using my first package of the PMI 3-mm cord, which REI recently began to carry. This stuff is great! It is quite a jump in quality from the REI branded product that REI formerly sold, and is an outstanding value for the price. The color is an added bonus.

Yes , I recommend this product
Helpful?
1 - 10 of 140 Reviews

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