Monday, November 24, 2008

Paracord flashlight belt holder

This is a paracord DIY(Do It Yourself) version of a Maglite C/D cell type flashlight holder using the cobra stitch/Solomon bar/Portuguese sinnet knot.

I made this one a bit larger than the belt it's on, but you can make your own sized for whatever belt you might intend to use it on.

This one is made where it can be put on or removed from a belt without having to take the belt off. You could also make the loop static by tying a stopper knot(over hand/figure eight etc...) where it can't be pulled thru the knot and has to be slid on/off the belt.


And here it is with an overhand(stopper)knot tied at the base of the loop, so the holder has to slide on/off the belt when finished like this.

An alternate method for the loop could be to attach a rubber o-ring that's large enough to fit the flashlight body and not the flashlight head.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great work, as usual. I swear I was thinking of making a flashlight holder myself from paracord just 2 days ago.

The one I had in mind was pretty much the opposite of yours, weave around the flashlight, and then just use a single strap or two for the belt :-)

danielgreen said...

good jobonce again nice coolers too. well once gain good job

Unknown said...

Cool idea! I made the key keeper like this one and made a water bottle holder from this design. Very cool!

Unknown said...

I don't know if you saw but boingboing gadgets had a 20 ft. paracord "survival bracelets" for sale.

sounds like a good way for you to make some scratch!

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/12/10/survival-bracelets-w.html

Stormdrane said...

I used to make and sell them several years ago, but got burned out on doing that. Since that time, folks have come out of the woodwork offering them for sale. More power to 'em if it gets someone interested in learning knot work.

The design is older than dirt, so they're not new. I made a tutorial for adding a side release buckle because I could not find any info in books or online for making them that way and had to figure it out on my own. Not a difficult thing at that and I imagine it had been done before at some point and time, just not widely known before the spread of the internet.

The previous methods were done with knot and loop or sewn on buttons and loop. Others find ways to make them 'unique' by trying different methods of tying, adding beads, finishing, etc.

As far as them being a 'survival bracelet', well I wonder how someone who can't make their own simple paracord bracelet and buys one, is going to know how to make use of one in an emergency if they don't have the knot knowledge to make their own in the first place...

But again, if someone buys one, sees the simple construction, and it encourages them to try to make their own and learn something new, it can be worth the expense. :)

Anonymous said...

Wow! Your site has such great designs. I've mimcked several of the key fobs and the nalgene bottle holder (and trying to spread the craft among our Scout troop).

On this belt holder, is the loop the center of a single cord? That would mean you start the sennet chain several inches from the loop and work back toward it, right?

Thanks for posting your handiwork and keep up the great work! I can mimic but struggle coming up with cool designs like yours.

Stormdrane said...

Yes, it's a single strand of paracord. You first figure the amount you need for the flashlight loop, then the amount for the section to fit around a belt, then start knotting from there. :)

Anonymous said...

a great an simple idea, i just made one for my 3D cel mag and works just great, thanks for posting, keep going with this awsome blog!

x[gunman] said...

A co-worker of mine saw this on my belt and asked if I could make one with a smaller loop for his fly fishing rod. Worked great!

He has 2 pieces of velcro sewn together on his chest wader strap for the upper portion of the pole and this loop for the handle/reel portion so he can strap it across his chest to free up his hands. He's having me make about a dozen more for his fishing buddies. :)

Stormdrane said...

Nice innovation!

Abe said...

I stumbled of this site just the other day. WOW! I'd lvoe to learn more about making some of these things. I made a knitting spool from PVC and nails last night and played with some nylon cord. It's difficult to find information on how to finish some of these things. Is there a book or a DVD or a website where someone can learn to make things like lanyards, etc? I really want to make a watch band for my son - for example.

Stormdrane said...

Start to finish projects are scattered about, so there's no one book or place to learn from. I put a few tutorials on the instructables.com website(search for 'stormdrane' or 'paracord', for paracord bracelets/watchbands.

Other places to learn knots from are some of the books and links I have listed around my blog pages, and sites like khww.net.

Once you get the hang of some of the knots, you figure out how to start/finish them through a bit of trial and error.