Let me tell you something about this new imposter that just started selling the bracelets -- his are fastened using a "metal quicklink". You know what the problem is with that? If it gets caught on something, it could break your wrist...or worse yet, remove your hand from your arm. Think about it -- what are you going to do if it gets caught in some machinery anyway? Sit there messing with a stupid quicklink trying to unscrew it? If you have mine, all you have to do is pinch the sides and it will come loose, saving your wrist and hand. And mine won't come loose by itself either...love his implication that mine just come undone on their own. They do not.

Did you see the idiot selling the ones that says you get twenty feet of cord??? Do you know how WIDE that bracelet is??? It uses a KING COBRA stitch and ends up being an INCH AND A HALF WIDE!!!!! That size is inappropriate for children, young adults, women, and in fact all but the largest of men. Normal sized adult males will look ridiculous wearing their bracelet. Mine is correctly proportioned for all ages and sizes of folks, even large men...it doesn't look tiny on them but it also does not look huge on everyone else like the 1.5-inch-wide one would.

As of today, 13 JUN 2008, I am no longer shipping to Canada. You can thank the "person" that left me the neutral just now for that. His bracelet got bounced back here by CANADA POST (i.e. NOT the USPS!) and I resent it to him at my own expense! I apologized for the delay, even though it was not my fault and sent him a couple of extra freebies. So he leaves me a "neutral" which counts against me the same as a negative would and also left me "1"'s on all my stars. Thanks, buddy. Enjoy not being able to buy my braclets anymore. Go leave neutrals/negatives for someone else. You're blocked and I'm not shipping to Canada anymore.

I even told this idiot that I'd had problems with packages getting held up at Canadian customs several times in the past but he wanted one anyway even after explaining that it can sometimes take a couple of months for it to get there. In fact, these delays and unreliability of Canada Post is what forced me to have to ship international packages via registered first class and insured at full value.

Anyway, I don't need this. I'm just here trying to sell bracelets to buy needed supplies. I don't need to be castigated and berated by people like this, wishing ill will upon me and jeopardizing my reputation with the cowardly click of a mouse.

I do my best to do right by ALL the folks that buy these. I really, really do. Please read the comments left by the other kind folks that have bought my bracelets. I strive to provide the best service possible...I treat them as I would want to be treated. If something is my fault, I take responsibilty for it...and even if it's not (such as the case above with CANADA POST), I will apologize and include a couple of extras to try to ease the frustration a bit.

To those of you that understand this is not Wal-Mart...that things shipped INTERNATIONALLY take some time because of borders and distance...to those of you that understand that and that I am preparing for a deployment and have delays due to training sometimes, I really, really appreciate your patience. I know it would be easy for you to get angry and take out your frustration on me in derogatory feedback and giving me "1's" on my stars, but I am thankful that most all of you do not stoop to that level. Cowards do that. Normal people send me a note and then are understanding when I explain what the problem was. Golden Rule and all that.

Enough ranting...I will continue to do right by all the folks that buy my bracelets as I always have done but I will NEVER ship to Canada again. No offense to Canada...many of my good friends are from Canada, but I will not jeopardize my reputation on here for your postal (dis)service.

And on a different note...those of you with nothing better to do that harass me because you didn't think of the method I use to make the bracelet first, just keep sending the notes -- And I'll keep reporting you to ebay for harassment. Keep it up, You.

Note to buyers: PLEASE - if you want me to get your bracelets out, you have got to stop emailing me all the time asking where your stuff is, ok? I love you guys and you're awesome, but it's just me making these so every time you email and ask where your bracelet is, it takes time away from me being able to make your bracelet while I reply to your email to tell you I am working on them...or was, until you emailed. So, just sit tight and try to be patient. I will have your bracelets out as soon as I can. We are in the middle of a trainup right now, so I have less free time and what I do have, I'm constantly working on your bracelets. Thanks.

Before you read on, if you are interested in my bracelets, please check out my current listings on ebay. This is the only way I can sell them. If you're interested in multiple bracelets, please contact me so that I can place a special listing on ebay for you with appropriate pricing for multiples. Thanks!

FLASH MESSAGE: If you're going to just send me an email for the sole purposes of harassment, just save your time and effort and don't.  I report all those to ebay and you'll get a nastygram from them.  If you do it again after that, you'll get suspended.  I simply don't have time for the games, ok?  I'm too busy with important things than your inane emails.

Here is the latest imposter: He states:

"Up for bids is your chance to get a CUSTOM made paracord bracelet at a competitive price.......You get approximately eight plus feet of cord with an 8 inch bracelet........Black buckle [IMPORTED!!!] fasteners....very smooth action."

The reason this "individual"'s bracelets are cheaper than mine is he uses about half the cord I do, which takes about 1/6 the time and effort...AND he uses imported buckles. I ESPECIALLY love where he says, "Mine are very tight to give you as much as humanly possible." THAT is a flat-out LIE. My original method yields the most cord per inch without going to the much larger and bulkier overbraided version.

Today, I saw one certain seller claiming, "We've taken the original bracelet design to the next level." WRONG, YOU *******. I did that a long time ago and YOU COPIED ME. Everyone knows you're copying my design...just give it up.

And I just read THIS gem from another knock-off's listing: "We have been asked for multi-color and at this time are not doing them because we use either 8, 12, or 16 foot lengths in our bracelets and would rather provide you with one full length cord should you have to unravel and use one." -- Oddly enough, this SAME SELLER has this text in his listing where he is selling MULTI-COLORED BRACELETS! Well, go figure!

Ok, tell you what -- unless you are planning on RAPPELLING with your 550 cord, which you should NOT do, it doesn't matter if you have one single piece of cord or several shorter lengths. Knots work fine if you need to tie them together and in fact, it may actually be an ASSET to have a couple of shorter lengths in case you lose your knife or it breaks.

They are also lying to you about the amount of cord they use. I happen to know that a 9-inch bracelet made the way they're making it can NOT have 12 feet of cord in it as they're claiming. Sadly, you will not be able to find out the truth until you have an emergency one day and find you're a few feet short...and then you'll be cursing them. Please don't be deceived by their "marketing" techniques.

ANYONE can sell you a cheap, knock-off, fake bracelet for $3.00...that's because they're using IMPORTED, FAKE 550 cord made in China. That "place" he buys the cord from in "Vermont" sells imported 450 cord...he has since removed the reference to the store in Vermont and now just says I'm lying. If you want to check for yourself, send me a note and I'll give you the website and phone number of where he buys it so you can call and check for yourself. When you call, ask if it's 450 or 550 cord. If they say "450" (and they will because I've called before), it is imported CRAP and is NOT mil-spec cord. It costs about 1/20 what mil-spec 550 cord costs...and it will shrink! One buyer actually contacted me to let me know he'd bought one from one of the "others" and it SHRUNK ON HIS WRIST after getting wet!!! It was too tight after that, so he bought one from me.

450 cord is NOT mil-spec.  I also happen to know where this idiot buys his cord and they flat out TOLD me it was imported, so you can believe the lies he spews if you want to, but he's full of crap.  He also routinely sends me unsolicited hatemail through ebay on a regular basis.  He's a chump, a fake (claims he's active duty air force), and should be admonished for such unprofessional behavior.  He claims he's an E7 or something.  You would think an E7 would know what being an NCO means.  This is also why I do not believe his claims of being in the air force.

Another seller claims to be "...by a USAF veteran"  Here is a lie from his listing:

"You may select up to two different colors. I do not do three colors because that defeats many of the survival uses of this cord. You want to have strands long enough to use for survival purpose."

This is, in short, horsecrap.  Here is why:

1.  If you get his bracelet, you will get less cord than with mine.

2.  For a given size, two-color bracelet of his, the strands of each color are the same length on his vs. mine...well...actually, you'd get slightly more with mine because of the core.  In addition, you get the extra cord of the core with mine.  So what he's telling you is a bald-faced lie.  You get cord lengths of at least as long as (or longer) than his with mine...plus an additional length of cord for the core.

Those stupid, idiotic, gay-looking whistle buckles he's trying to get you to buy off on for his bracelets are made in CHINA.  Read any reports about dangerous chemicals in Chinese plastics lately??????????  NOW do you see why I only use US-manufactured materials in MY bracelets???

I'm adding to this part to let my buyers know to beware of people trying to mislead them about their military status.  All of these sellers -- every single one of them -- came along AFTER I did.  Most of them are making fakes of my design of the bracelet and they are all trying to get you to believe, surreptitiously, that they are somehow, in some way affiliated with the military.

I feel it necessary to address it at this time, on Veterans' Day, as the fakes have become much more abundant lately.  Here are some sellers' claims:

"...by an Airman serving in your USAF"
"...by a USAF veteran"
"...by former Marine Paratrooper"
"...by a former U.S. Marine"
"...Made by US Veteran" (<-----that's the most recent one...)

It's getting really old, people.  Stop lying to the buyers on ebay about your military status.  What you're doing is disgusting and vile.  You should be ashamed of yourselves, all of you.

To my buyers -- I know you are free to buy from whomever you want...I am currently defending your right to do that very thing (among other freedoms).  But please know that when you buy from these people, you are buying from fakes that couldn't come up with an original idea to save their life, so they had to copy mine.  And they're not military...they are falsely claiming that status simply because I tell you who I am and what I do in my own listing...they think it'll help their item sell to lie to you about their military status.  I was selling these here a LONG time before any of them showed up copying my design.

Oh, by the way...one of those sellers shows that they have "imperial red". That is an imported cord, so I would be suspect of their other cord as well. The imported stuff is crap and not military specification, contrary to what that guy says. It WILL shrink. Mine does not.

I recently received an unsolicited letter from a very satisfied buyer of my bracelets.  Imagine my surprise to find this letter in my email...

Dear jumpmaster99,

I would like to provide you a letter of reference:

To who it may concern I am a career Marine that has made the Infantry my life.  I have over 15 years Active Duty in the Marine Corps and I am a Combat Veteran. I have seen many people attempt to make these survival bracelets, JumpMaster99 has by far exceeded any of these bracelets I have ever owned. He is the real deal and so are his products. You will not be sorry, once you receive your bracelet you will immediately recognize the quality, craftsmanship, time and effort that goes into these bracelets. I will be recommending these survival bracelets to all my Marines.

GySgt. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
USMC

(I'm withholding this Marine's name so that he won't be harassed by the sellers of the fakes.)

It always makes me feel good to hear folks are happy with my work.  Folks are constantly sending me similar emails...it far more than makes up for the hatemails I receive from the sellers of the fakes that are continually posing as active servicemembers.