Catahoula Tarred, Braided Nylon Twine

This review is for Catahoula Manufacturing #18 Tarred Braided Bank Line, 1/4 lb Spool AND Catahoula Manufacturing no. 36 Tarred Twisted Bank Line, 1 Pound Spool (Approx. 470 feet) Twisted Bank Line-TBL Kept hearing about this on YouTube and I figured I would give it a try. The quality of this line is top notch. The tarring is even and smooth, not too sticky but you know you have a tarred line. The tar has has not rubbed off so I am not worried about getting tar on items I am using this line on. I went with the #18 (~165 ft/lbs tensile strength) and 1/4 spool to try it out. Liked it so much that I went ahead and ordered the #36, ~350 ft/lb tensile strength, 470 ft, 1-pound spool. Love this stuff. It is stiff for sure when compared to standard untreated nylon line. I found that the tar creates friction that can make slip/sliding knots harder to move and/or tighten. When friction/pressure knots are used, this line will hold! Since it is braided line, it does not unravel when cut and this makes tying knots easier. Separating this line to get to the individual strands of nylon line would be more difficult with this braided line. They sell the same line strength in a twisted version which unravels easily compared to braided. It has the smell of tar but it is not irritating to me and I hate the smell of tar, gets me nauseous. I like 550 cord but it is hard to find actual 550 cord. Most are labeled as such but when you unravel the rope, it does not twist cleanly, the nylon outer sleeve is loose. This makes tying knots more difficult and I would think makes knots weaker. Also, the relative bulk of 550 cord makes the thinner TBL more attractive. For tying tarp/tent guy or ridge lines, you do not need 550 cord strength. The #18 is more than enough and you can carry 3-4 times the amount of line for the same weight. This does not completely replace 550 cord, but it is now my go to for securing things. This stuff is tough! It also resists abrasion. I used this (#36 actually) to hang my steel target (10" gong, AR500 steel) and it worked all day. no problems. So much for the heavy duty chains. I posted a pic of the basic nomenclature of the various bank lines. This info was derived from the catahoula website.

Great for bank line or making prusiks for a ridge line. There really isn’t an odor that I have noticed. It will make your hands a little dirty, no big deal to me. It can be difficult to tie fresh off the spool. It tends to be quite stiff. But it seems to be very strong and durable and it holds well when tightened.

Really durable, much better than Paracord, and much easier to deal with than stainless wire rope.

I'm a big fan of tarred nylon bank line for kits and outdoor work, though up until now I've only used twisted and never had a complaint. I saw the braided option and figured I'd give it a shot to see how it's different. It definitely seems substantially stronger, as one would expect. The only downside is that the cord is extremely stiff -- almost as stiff as copper wire actually. There's definitely advantage to that stiffness, but it is pretty annoying when tying knots, makes it pretty hard to get things tight, although the tar does help hold the knots once you get them tight. I did find that it's not too difficult to work some of the stiffness out of a length of cord by essentially playing with it for a few minutes, which makes it quite a bit easier for knots, although still a bit of challenge compared to twisted line. I think I'll probably stick with twisted line for most things except where that extra strength is needed.

This product is well-made, and reasonably priced. It resists stretching better than untreated nylon cordage, and the tar coating makes it pretty well waterproof while also preventing sun-rot from UV rays. Overall, it's excellent for all outdoor usage/applications.

tl;dr Toughest cordage for its size I've ever seen, better off cutting it with a pair of wire cutters than a knife or (cough) scissors. And like wire, it's stiff, and tends to stay where its put (though no quite the same as wire). Sticks to itself well, meaning even simple knots don't come loose without some work. Does not stretch or compress at all, and is dense (heavy for its size). This is basically the opposite of paracord in every way, which is a GOOD thing. I got this stuff specifically because it's not paracord. Up to this point, most of my cordage was paracord, and I found myself looking for something different. When I was a kid I lived on a farm and we didn't have paracord, but we had all manner of different twines and ropes and did just fine with it. I got into paracord when I was in the military and afterward, especially when it became popular with all the DIY and survivalist types (more ideas and options to buy, etc.), but I've never been completely satisfied that paracord can solve every cordage problem. Enter "bank line", or tarred twine, which comes in various weights as we as braided and non-braided (which is simply called "tarred twine", nothing on the label about being non-braided). The is a review of the braided stuff, I wrote one for the non-braided separately. I could rave about the awesome properties of this twine for pages, and list dings I can complain about, but you don't care about that. Just get you some. #36 seems about right for most applications (not huge but definitely enough heft for almost every job). I might order some of the very small stuff for fun but if I only had one roll of cordage left to survive with, this would be it. Am I going to throw out all my various paracord? Nope. It has some great uses that it's perfect for. But this stuff is the roll you toss in the toolbox or go-bag when you have no idea what to expect from the day. I used to do that with paracord but found it lacking in some situations. This bank line will never let you down.

Paracord is great, no doubt about it, but it is very expensive in comparison to bankline. Instead of buying a spool of microcord I chose to buy bank line, and not only is stronger and has a smaller diameter, but I received more than 2 times the amount of cordage. The cordage itself is super grippy and all knots bite hard, specially friction knots like prusik are very hard to adjust. I decided to buy *braided* thread over *twisted* since it doesn't fray when cut. Unlike paracord I don't need to seal the end anymore, I just cut the cord I need and start working on the knots, no need to carry a lighter/torch anymore. The only complain I have is that paracord is very colorful, while tarred bankline will always be black.

Love this mariners cord, very strong and resists weather very well . I also love paracord but I use this more.

Seems great quality. Real #36 tarred braided bank line. Feels like a pleasure to work with. Because it’s braided it doesn’t untwine at all witch is a good thing in most use cases. I got well over 38 meters or 127 feet out of the #36 roll. With is more than the advertised 118 feet.

Je mets 4 parce que ce n’est pas le produit que je cherchais. Je me suis planté lors de la commande. Je voulais la twistée et j’ai commandé la tressée. Du coup un peu trop rigide pour mes besoins et activités.

I made a bunch of pre prepped lines to fly my tarps with it. Haven’t got out with it yet but the line seems to be very high quality and hold knots well. Product was as expected

This is perfect for bush crafting as it bites into itself and whatever knot you tie is going to stay tied! Pretty strong tensile strength too which makes it versatile. Great stuff.

Great quality will buy again