Mid Power Shock Cord Recomendations

What are your recomendations for Midpower recovery harnesses/shock cords. The choices are fairly obvious for low power (kevlar and elastic) and high power (large diameter nylon, etc). What works best for you? I am an avid scratch builder and love the look of miltary rockets with lots of fins. Hence my nosecones on my mid power rockets are heavy to give the stability needed for all the forward wood. I have been using braided kevlar (I do not want these heavier nose cones to seperate from the rockets for safety reasons). However this design is more suseptable to zippering due the forces involved.

https://www.unclemikesrocketshack.com/Recovery_Devices/Cords/Cords.html

Try the 500# nylon strap for something wider than kevlar, and not much more expensive...

Also, for smaller mpr (E and some F) it is still okay to use the kevlar/elastic combo. (kevlar ending jsut shy of the forward end) Several of mine are built with this, and have lasted fine. just use heavy kevlar, and keep an eye on the elastic for burnspots

welcome to the forum, and I chuckled when I read your signature.

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Thin TK is my preference. 1/8" or 1/4" TK is VERY strong, and what I use on all my MPR and small HPR rockets (big ones get 1/2" TK).

I just ordered 20 feet of 1/8" tubular kevlar for my LOC Onyx. I'll probably put it all in. If you want to prevent zippering, try extending the cord so it's tight against the tube and apllying tape with it toches the tube to spread the load.

For my MPR scratch builds, I've been using TK in the body tube and some elastic cord I found in the REI climbing section for the shock cord. I have built 6 rockets and have over 30 flights, including many F clusters, with this set up and no failures yet and no signs of wear on the elastic.

for a midpower I like the 1/8" tubular kevlar inside the tube and on some of my rockets I use nylon bootlace(walmart..ect)also 1/8"..heck why not, it's braided nylon ,very strong and cheap, easy to find . and/or elastic. depending on the length of the braided nylon. I've never had a failure with it.and you can find it in quite a long length(2 to a pack)