I guess the term paracord has been used for enough things that all it means is - nylon rope up to 550 cord. I'd like to note that those 100 foot rolls of rope at the hardware store for ten bucks are only rated for a few hundred pounds and should not be employed for anything but tying the canoe to the truck.

As far as bear bagging, I found that a cordage with a woven shell and straight inner fibers works best as its strong, light, about 1/8" diameter, and doesn't stick to tree bark. If need be you can wrap it around a branch to pull harder.

I've never lowered a pack backpacking. But I have hauled packs up and skinny cord doesn't cut it, or rather it does cut...

Anyway paracord is just another of those gotta have items that are pretty much worthless, or rather highly specialised and therefore of limited general worth. Sometimes I only take about 6 feet of it - just enough to tie my food bag off the ground in camp. Like Lori, I have long pieces of cord tied to my tent loops to tie it out.

I think about 80 feet of 4mm or 5mm kermantle "climbing access cord" would be nice, along with 4 carabiners and one double length spectra sling. This combination has allowed me to get into some very awkward situations.
Jim

ok well you could build a neat bed by stretching paracord between rocks, and you can snare food with it.