Paratrooper "Let Down" Rope

These ropes are some of, if not thee, most accurate reproductions let down rope on the market. These ropes are custom woven for us by a company here in the United States with 100% natural cotton material to match the thickness and braid of the original ropes issued to paratroopers for Normandy.

Our ropes have been compared side by side to original examples in the Deadman's Corner Museum in Normandy and they are a 1:1 match including the braid, thickness, and cotton construction.  As you can see, the reproduction ropes being sold by most other companies (such as was used in the Band of Brothers miniseries) are not accurate reproductions of original ropes.  The ropes are twice as thick as originals and feature a completely different braid. 

The difference in the braid can obviously be seen on the outside of the rope but it is very apparent at the ends of the rope where the strands like to fray.  On original ropes and the ropes we offer at SID44 the strands fray out in individual strings (this is apparent in several original photos).  On the other hand, cheap repos fray out in puffy cotton balls, this is because repo ropes are made of an outer cotton tubing with cotton batting for the "guts."  Not only does this make the ropes less historically accurate it also makes them not as strong as our ropes.

The "1st pattern" ropes that were being used by paratroopers on D-Day and in previous operations were so thin that paratroopers who used them to descend from trees complained of how difficult they were to grip, even with gloves.  With this information the Army requisitioned rope that was almost twice as thick for future airborne operations, including Market Garden only a few months later. 

This rope is manufactured in the USA and has a break strength of 425 LBS.