We examine the dynamics of coronal loops containing non-trivial magnetic field line braiding, in the context of Parker’s braiding mechanism for coronal heating. We discuss the existence of braided force-free equilibria, and demonstrate that these equilibria must contain current layers whose thickness becomes increasingly small for increasing field complexity. In practical terms, the implication is that if one considers a line-tied coronal loop that is driven by photospheric motions, then the eventual onset of reconnection and energy release is inevitable. Once the initial reconnection event is triggered a turbulent relaxation ensues. We briefly mention the expected observational signatures of energy release in such a braided coronal loop.