It’s Talk Like A Pirate Day. Arrrrr. That’s little enough excuse for today’s digression about Lego string, specifically: the thicker cord used to rig pirate ships, like the Black Seas Barracuda or the Skull’s Eye Schooner.

Lego isn’t just about acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. There’s a few string and canvas elements, particularly in the Pirates line used for rigging and sails. Lately, a Barracuda was procured by yours truly, and the main mast string was completely wrong: the previous owner had replaced it with something too short, and as a consequence the jibsail wasn’t attached correctly. This was just. Completely. Unacceptable. Reading Patrick O’Brien’s novels has turned me into a rigging nerd, and if I was going to devote brain space to knowing what a brig-rigged sloop was (more or less what the larger Lego pirate ships are), I sure as heck wasn’t going to have a jib sheeted to the wind on my toy ships. Hence, a string finding expedition commenced, which started out at the local JoAnn’s fabric and Michaels’ craft store; and ended up with obsessive google searching for “nylon braided twine”. Results for the two of you who actually care:

• A: Real Lego Pirate string for rigging, as supplied with the Skull’s Eye Schooner, set 6286. Actually, I suppose this could be something else, since I got that set secondhand as well, but the rest of the set was almost new, so I doubt the previous owner changed the cord.
• B: “Needloft” craft cord, made by Uniek, Inc. Nylon blend, comes in a 10 yard hank. It’s about the right stiffness, but way too thick, although if you were to actually build to appropriate minifig scale, it could well be appropriate – consider it using for a hawser. Found at the local JoAnn fabric store for a couple of dollars or so.
• C: Braided nylon jewelry cord. Made by Pepperell Crafts, although I think it’s discontinued. It’s not bad, but it’s more flat than round, and it’s too wide (1.5 mm wide). I picked up a 25 yard spool online for $2.99 from Dick Blick Art Materials.
• D: Braided nylon cord, 1mm thick. So far, the closest contender. It has a white core and braided black mantle, almost like a kernmantle rope in fact, but the white is only obvious if you cut it, and disappears if you singe the ends. Has about the same stiffness as A), and almost the same diameter. The braiding is a lot finer though. Bought online for 15 cents a foot from Polymer Clay Express (it’s listed under jewelry cord).
• E: Lego string with studs, BrickLink catalog x127c11. Seems to be more tightly braided than A), and about the same stiffness – if you hold it by one stud, the weight of the other stud isn’t enough to pull the cord vertical.
• F: Lego thick string, BrickLink catalog x77c. This particular sample was 38 studs/30cm long, so it probably came from set 7993. I’ve also bought a 100 cm version, I have no idea where that came from. (100 cm isn’t enough to rig the main masts of the big pirate ships.) About the same braid as E, possibly slightly stiffer: it tends to stay kinked when bent. Will melt when exposed to flame, so it’s some synthetic, probably nylon.
• G: Lego thin string, x77a. The usual cotton string used on drawbridges, winches, and the like. It’s an Official Lego Part, and comes in pretty long lengths, but is fairly flimsy particularly when supporting canvas.