Escape Zip Tie Restraints with Paracord Shoelaces

Many home invaders and kidnappers use heavy-duty zip ties to keep victims restrained. If you replace your existing shoelaces with paracord you can use the paracord to form a friction saw that will cut through the zip ties.

We've covered how to break zip ties by using your wrists like a hammer but if you don't have the strength for that method or enough freedom of movement you should keep this alternate method in your bag of tricks; remove one of your paracord shoelaces, tie a bowline knot around one of your shoes, run the other end through the zip tie and tie another bowline on the other end. Now you can scissor your feet back and forth and the durable paracord will cut through zip tie in a few seconds. Both of these methods come from tactial weblog ITS Tactical—our favorite source for lockpicking, physical self defense, and other good things to know when in a bad situation.

This requires using paracord as shoelaces, but this is a good idea anyway as paracord is stronger and a lot more versatile than most shoelaces. You can remove the inner cord to make the laces flat.

We hope you're never in a position that you'll need to use this knowledge, but it pays to be prepared.