How much paracord do I need for a bracelet? The key step most tools hide is the buckle: the buckle eats woven length, so woven length is wrist plus comfort minus buckle, not just wrist size. This page shows working strands, core and total separately, so you can see why other tools disagree. It runs entirely in your browser and saves or sends nothing.
Woven length = wrist + comfort − buckle. Working strand cut = woven length × weave factor × (1 + waste). Core strand cut = woven length × (1 + waste). Total = working strands + core strands. Weave factors used here, in inches of cord per inch of woven length per working strand: cobra 12, king cobra 18, fishtail 8. Each weave uses 2 working strands and 2 core strands in this model. Colour split applies to working cord only; core cord is listed separately.
With the defaults above: woven length = 7 + 0.5 − 1 = 6.50 in. Cobra working strand cut = 6.50 × 12 × 1.10 = 85.80 in (7.15 ft) per strand, working total 14.30 ft. Core total = 2 × 6.50 × 1.10 = 14.30 in (1.19 ft). Total cord = 15.49 ft (4.72 m). At a 50/50 split, each working colour needs 7.15 ft. The famous disagreement — an 8-inch cobra quoted at about 8–10 ft in some guides but about 19.3 ft in a tool counting 2 working strands plus core plus buffer — comes from whether a rule is quoted as a total or per strand, and whether buckle and buffer are counted. This page counts per strand, core and buffer separately.
Does cord diameter change the result? This model is for standard 550 cord weaves; thicker or thinner cord and a tighter or looser weave will use more or less cord, so cut a little extra on your first bracelet in a new weave. What if I use one colour? Set colour 1 to 100% and colour 2 becomes zero. Is this a purchase decision? No. It only estimates length from the numbers you enter. This page is not craft, safety or commercial advice.
This is a free, single-purpose calculator. All calculation happens in your browser. No account, no upload, no tracking by this page beyond any ads Google may serve after approval.