Sunday, February 27, 2011

Neck Knife Sheath Wrap...

This is a smaller version of a previous project, this time wrapping a small neck knife sheath with paracord. I used a 2 bight turks head knot(9 lead 2 bight with 3 passes).

I used a 10 foot length of foliage green paracord, and after making the knot, worked the slack back to the starting end, so that I could use the remaining few inches of cord to make a retention loop over the knife guard. I just worked it over the guard, then tucked it down under the tightened up knot to finish.

The knife can still be removed one handed, using a thumb or finger to slide the loop out of the way to pull the knife out of the sheath. The sheath holds the knife well enough on it's own, but since it's worn upside down, the loop of cord just makes it a little more secure.

If the paracord is needed for other tasks, it's easily untied and removed from the sheath.

Here's another neck knife sheath with a 4 bight turks head knot(17 lead 4 bight 2 passes), and used around 16 feet of paracord. This neck knife is a The Syphon.

And a Swissbianco M-Sharp knife sharpener, with some knotted paracord for added grip when sharpening a knife. Knife shown is a Victorniox Tinker with camo scales, that I've had for about 20 years.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Miniature Wine Cork Fender...

I followed a tutorial by AndrĂ© van der Salm, on KHWW.net, for tying the miniature wine cork fender. Anyone not familiar with what fenders are and their function, they protect boats/ships from banging into docks and each other.  *Tutorial file may be found in current Mateloteurs Facebook group.

My knot tying friend, Manny, sent me the wine bottle cork, that was just like the one in the tutorial. I had a couple of corks from the local hardware store, but they were more tapered shaped. I'd figured on putting off tying a small key chain sized fender until I acquired a proper shaped wine bottle cork.

I used 0.9mm nylon braided string, which was slightly smaller than what is used in the tutorial. The half hitched pattern I tied is also open, where the spaces ended up the same size as the small Perma-lok needle I used. The attachment loop was done a little different too, in making a three strand braid about 5 inches long, then pulled through the cork, and the base was melted as shown in the instructions.

I wasn't sure how much of the smaller string I needed to use, so I worked with a 24 foot length, instead of the 18 ft mentioned in the instructions. I ended up only using about 16 ft for the finished hitching, and around 3 ft for attachment loop.

I also received a package in the mail yesterday, with a Victorinox Silver Alox Minichamp, and a Timberline Knives production model of the SwissKey Tool by SwissBianco, both shown on the keyring.

Although the cork fender does float, any more than a small key or two and whatever is attached is going to sink like a rock, so I wouldn't recommend testing bouancy in deep or moving water, lol...

I did try using one of the tapered corks, working with black 0.9mm string, and I prefer the wine bottle shaped corks even though they're a little larger and require a bit more time/work. About 14 feet of string used to cover the tapered cork and a couple more for the braided attachment loop.

There's a nice example of a globe knot over a wine cork, by Curt(Wooly Whiskers), on the PK forums.

If you want something capable of actually floating a loaded keyring/keychain, try the Waterbuoy Miniature Flotation Device.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Double wall knots...

A few double wall knots for lanyard use, tied with 1.4mm nylon cord.

This is knot #779 in 'The Ashley Book of Knots', and diagrams are also shown in Peter Owen's 'The Book of Decorative Knots'.

The diagrams from Peter Owen's book can be seen in a Google book preview linked here, and a few process photos of the knot are posted in the Hammock Forums.

Here's a tripled wall knot, tied with paracord:

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Anchor shackle turks head knots...

I bought a few(3/16" & 1/4") stainless steel screw pin anchor shackles(bow shackle/clevis) at Home Depot, to use with a few key chain carry items: Leatherman Squirt S4, Howler Whistle, ITP A3 EOS LED flashlight. I tied a long two bight turks head knot(21 lead 2 bight) on it with some black and white 0.9mm nylon string.

I had tried ringbolt hitching first, but the stainless steel seemed too slippery for the cord, in keeping the hitching lined up and staying in place, so I untied that and tried again with the turks head knot. With the covering knot work, the shackles resemble miniature beckets, which are the decorative knotted handles on a sailor's sea chest...