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Paracord types (MIL-C-5040 Type I to IV, 95 / 325 / 550 cord): diameter, inner strands and breaking strength

What is the diameter and strength of 550, 325 and 95 paracord, and what are the MIL-C-5040 types? · Standard part · basis: Paracord Planet size table (commercial cords), Wikipedia, Titan Survival and Paracord Planet blog for the MIL-C-5040 types; numbers only

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Exact dimensions. True size, with no tolerance added.

sizes: 20 in table

Notes

Two different things share the names: MIL-C-5040 is the U.S. military specification for parachute cord (Type I, IA, II, IIA, III, IV), defined by minimum breaking strength and the number of core yarns; commercial 'paracord' (95, 275, 325, 425, 550, 750, 850 cord) is named for its breaking strength in pounds and is sold by many makers. MIL-C-5040H was inactivated in 1997 (Wikipedia); Parachute Industry Association standards continue it.
The MIL-C-5040 rows (type, minimum strength, core yarns, sheath) are from Wikipedia, which agrees with Titan Survival's spec table and the Paracord Planet blog on the strengths: Type I 95 lb, IA 100, II 400, IIA 225, III 550, IV 750. The spec does not set an overall diameter; the only diameters in those sources are Wikipedia's 'about 4 mm (5/32 in)' for military Type III and 'about 3 mm (1/8 in)' for commercial Type III (commercial cord typically has two fibres per core yarn where military has three).
Diameter, inner strands and breaking strength of the commercial cords are from Paracord Planet's size table (one shop, its own products): 95 cord 0.07 in / 1.75 mm with 1 inner strand; 325 cord 0.12 in / 3 mm with 3 strands; 550 cord 0.16 in / 4 mm with 7 strands. Paracord Planet labels 325 and 425 'Type II' and 275 'Type II', which is a loose use: Type II's spec minimum is 400 lb, so a 325 cord (325 lb) does not meet Type II as Wikipedia prints it; the two are both shown. Strands: Paracord Planet counts 'inner strands'; the specification counts core yarns (Type III: 7 to 9), so 7 is within the range. Cord of the same name from other makers can differ in diameter and strand count.
'Paracord 550' is thus a strength class, not a size: a 550 cord from another maker can be 3 mm (Wikipedia) or 4 mm. Use the table for the maker you buy from.
No STEP/STL: cord is a plain cylinder of no fixed length. Rope: double-braid-rope-polyester-nylon-diameters; shock cord: bungee-shock-cord-diameters-and-hooks.

Paracord types (MIL-C-5040 Type I to IV, 95 / 325 / 550 cord)… size chart

cord	type class (Paracord Planet)	diameter (in)	diameter (mm)	inner strands / core yarns	breaking strength
Nano (commercial name, Paracord Planet)	—	0.03	0.75	0	36 lb
Micro (commercial name, Paracord Planet)	—	0.05	1.18	0	100 lb
Micro 90 (commercial name, Paracord Planet)	—	0.05	1.2	0	100 lb
95 (commercial name, Paracord Planet)	type I	0.07	1.75	1	95 lb
275 (commercial name, Paracord Planet)	type II	0.09	2.38	5	275 lb
325 (commercial name, Paracord Planet)	type II	0.12	3	3	325 lb
425 (commercial name, Paracord Planet)	type II	0.12	3	3	425 lb
550 (commercial name, Paracord Planet)	type III	0.16	4	7	550 lb
650 Coreless (commercial name, Paracord Planet)	type II	0.20	5	0	300 lb
750 (commercial name, Paracord Planet)	type IV	0.16	4	11	750 lb
850 (commercial name, Paracord Planet)	type IV	0.18	4.5	8	850 lb
Battle (commercial name, Paracord Planet)	type IV	0.22	5.6	7	2,650 lb
1/4 in Para-Max (commercial name, Paracord Planet)	type IV	0.25	6.35	3	1,200 lb
5/16 in Para-Max (commercial name, Paracord Planet)	type IV	0.31	7.94	3	3,000 lb
MIL-C-5040 Type I	—	not set by the spec	not set by the spec	1 core yarns	95 lb minimum (sheath 16/1)
MIL-C-5040 Type IA	—	not set by the spec	not set by the spec	none core yarns	100 lb minimum (sheath 16/1)
MIL-C-5040 Type II	—	not set by the spec	not set by the spec	4 to 7 core yarns	400 lb minimum (sheath 32/1 or 36/1)
MIL-C-5040 Type IIA	—	not set by the spec	not set by the spec	none core yarns	225 lb minimum (sheath 32/1 or 36/1)
MIL-C-5040 Type III	—	not set by the spec	not set by the spec	7 to 9 core yarns	550 lb minimum (sheath 32/1 or 36/1)
MIL-C-5040 Type IV	—	not set by the spec	not set by the spec	11 core yarns	750 lb minimum (sheath 32/1, 36/1 or 44/1)

Where the files are

Other publishers' files are linked, not hosted. "verify" = check the license at the link before commercial use.

Paracord Planet	Paracord sizes: type, class, breaking strength, inner strands, diameter (in / mm) for Nano to 5/16 in Para-Max	web	Publisher's page; dimensions are facts
Paracord Planet	Paracord strength, sizes and types: MIL-C-5040 types I, IA, II, IIA, III, IV minimum breaking strength	web	Publisher's page; dimensions are facts
Wikipedia	Parachute cord: MIL-C-5040 types I to IV (strength, core yarns, sheath), MIL-C-5040H inactivated 1997, Type III diameter about 4 mm (military) / 3 mm (commercial)	web	Publisher's page; dimensions are facts
Titan Survival	Types of paracord: MIL-C-5040-H types I, IA, II, IIA, III, IV with core strands and breaking strength	web	Publisher's page; dimensions are facts
McMaster-Carr	Nylon rope (free STEP/IGES per part, for your own design use; no redistribution)	STEP, IGES, PDF	McMaster-Carr site terms: personal design use, no redistribution verify

Xem scan

File coming

No downloadable true-size file yet: the published figures do not fix the whole shape, and Xem never guesses a number. A measured scan is planned; request it and it moves up.

Let your AI pull this. Add https://xemstudio.com/mcp to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client (free, no account, one minute) and it can look up exact sizes, mating fits and free STEP/STL from every chat.

Set it up →

Plain text: sheet.txt · JSON: /api/geometry?object=paracord-types-mil-c-5040

Schematic, not to scale.