Our Story
Out of a real Alaskan survival story, our products were born.
Alaska Paracord Designs was founded in 2013 by Grayson Davey when he was 12 years old. Grayson was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. He is an avid outdoorsman who loves to hunt, fish, and explore Alaska's back country.
The photo above was taken at the Tal River Lodge with our family's Cessna 180.
In 2012, our friend Dave, a hunting guide and outdoorsman, was care taking the lodge that our family co-owned on the Talachulitna River in southcentral Alaska. His 11 year old daughter, who was the same age as Grayson, came to visit for a couple weeks that summer.
It was a warm and sunny late-August day. They decided to take one of the lodge boats down to the Skwentna Road House, about 11 miles away, for a burger. It was a beautiful day and a boat ride sounded like fun. They were only going to be gone a short while, so they didn’t tell anyone they were going or leave a note. The boat’s motor stopped on their way to Skwentna. They couldn’t get it started or get the anchor to catch before a sweeper (submerged log) caught the console and flipped the boat.
Both were able to swim safely to an island, but they lost all their gear and some of the clothes they were wearing; including the contents of Dave's pockets which included matches and a Leatherman. Of course, it began to rain and the temperatures fell into the high 40's. They spent three nights out alone in the cold and rainy weather. They saw a plane fly almost over them, and an airboat come up the river by them, but they were not seen.
On the third day, a former caretaker from the lodge who lives upriver rescued them. He took them to another lodge where they could get assistance, warm up and called for a pickup. Trent (Grayson’s dad) flew out and picked them up and brought them back to Anchorage for a visit to the hospital. They were hypothermic and covered in bug bites, but alive.
All the way back in the plane, Dave kept saying "If only I could have made a fire".
This experience affected Grayson and his Dad very much. How could this happen? Dave had all the right gear with him but he still fell prey to Darwin's Law. This could happen to anyone, no matter how prepared they were.
Grayson's Dad was a military fighter pilot and had extensive survival training. Together, they came up with some prototypes of the bracelet. It had to have the best firesteel, which doesn't care if it is cold or wet, a scraper/blade that could cut the paracord, and something waterproof for tinder.
What We Offer:
Survival experts will tell you that in a survival situation, all that you are likely to have available to you is what you have on your body at the time of the event. The Alaska Survival Bracelet was designed to stay on your body and to be there for you should you ever need it. Especially for water-based adventures, the Alaska Survival Bracelet is key to having something that will stay on your body as you swim to shore, allow you to make a fire, and survive till rescue comes.
The keychain versions were built from our customer's input who wanted a different form that they didn't have to wear but would have close by. The Fire Bug and Fish'n Flame were designed to be a keychain for your vehicle, snowmachine, 4-wheeler or airplane. You can also hook it onto your backpack, life jacket or stuff in your pocket.
Every item we offer, is hand-made right here in Alaska, one at a time, FOR YOU. Each item is carefully designed and crafted with the utmost care for quality, durability, and performance. We use the highest quality materials we can buy. And when we discovered we couldn't buy certain components, we had them made for us. The paracord is USA Mil-Spec 550 cord. The firesteel and ceramic knife/scrapers are custom-machined for us by a military supplier (yes, there is a difference). These do cost a little more than the mass-produced items that may be similar but we wanted to make products that you could trust to save your life if you ever need them.
If you need to use it, we will replace it, free of charge for your story.