Knife handle cord wrap

I used 2.4mm cord in an orange/peach kind of color with a strand of black 2mm cord in the center of this long 3 bight Turk's Head knot, as a cord handle wrap for a boot knife.

Some knot work on a few Zebra F-301 Compact pens. I keep one of these on my key chain, so I always have a pen handy. I remove the pocket clips and add split rings to the top where there's an attachment point for them.

The white with the spiraling half-hitches was made with 0.9mm cord with a couple of 5 lead 4 bight Turk's Head knots. The others have 1.4mm cord in a long 3 bight Turk's Head knot.












And a couple more long 3 bight Turk's Head knots on Zebra F-701 and F-402 pens.

A simple paracord sling

Here's my first attempt at a simple model using paracord. The sling is about 4 ft long from loop to knot, the pouch is about 5 inches long and done in a weave with three warps. It looks a bit uneven since I made the weave loose, so it would conform somewhat to what I put in it. It's shown with a 3/4 inch ball bearing.

Here's another photo, this one showing how I made the three warps in the center of the 6 foot length of paracord, which I used for the main holding/release cord. I just made a short loop about halfway down the cord, tied an over hand knot around the standing end, the working end comes down the center of the loop, another overhand knot is tied with the working end going away from the loop. I didn't measure the cord I used for the weave, but figure to use about a foot of paracord per inch of weave plus some extra to be safe.



I ran the starting end of the weft(weaving cord) thru one of the overhand knots to keep it out of the way. when I finished, I tucked the paracord ends down the center of the weave on each end.


You can find lots of information abouts slings and slinging, at Slinging.org.

Weaving with three warps...

A paracord bracelet done by weaving with three warps. This could also be done as a watchband, pet collar, or hatband. The basic weaving method is shown in Stuart Grainger's 'Creative Ropecraft'.

Online examples of variations with this pattern, that may be tied differently but look similar when finished, can be seen done as a paracord lanyard/fob by Colby, a tutorial by MinorCuts, another as the Ladder Rack knot, and again as a Paracord D-guard, and another example here.

More examples and variations can be found in books like, 200 Braids, The Encyclopedia of Knots and Fancy Ropework(out of print, but you might find a one on ebay), and Ashley's Book of Knots.

I was sent this photo of a woven sling pouch, I think from this forum, and that reminded me of the Slinging.org link that I've had on my links list for awhile. There are a couple of nice examples of woven sling pouches over there, like this one in paracord and another with a bit more weaving. I have a simple rope sling I bought a few years ago, but still haven't made my own yet... another project to consider.

Father's Day Lanyard...

Here's a lanyard that I made my dad for Father's Day.

I've seen some really nice ones online, like these and some others here, which are very impressive.  I made a simpler version, so I wouldn't get in over my head and tangled up. It still took me a few hours to finish it.

For the completed lanyard, I used a 3-peg knitting spool, Solomon Bar/Portuguese sinnet, weaving with two warps/racking seizing, snake knot, and three different Turk's Head knots.

Attached is a Rough Rider rigging knife, which is not bad at all for what it cost, although the 'locking' marlinspike doesn't stay locked as it should, so be aware of that if you actually intend to use it with knot work instead of as a 'letter opener'.

I've seen and handled different models of rigging knives and some have locking spikes, others do not, so you have to take care to make sure it doesn't close up on your hand when working with them to tighten/loosen knots.  Schrade, Camillus, Buck, and Case, are just a few that have made the same type knife in the past in the states, and older used models are hard to find and cost considerably more.

I've had several folks ask me about the 'weaving with two warps/racking seizing' section, so I've added a couple of photos showing the process loose and tightened.

Chinese Cloverleaf Knot

I followed the diagrams for this knot in Geoffrey Budworth's 'The Complete Book of Decorative Knots'. I tied it with a single strand of 550 paracord.

From the above Amazon link, you can look under the photo of the book for the 'Search inside this book' link and see how to tie this knot from the books instructions. Just click on the arrows on the edge of the book photo on the linked page to flip thru the pages. Thanks to Ben for mentioning that in the comments.
















...and done on a 550 paracord knife fob/lanyard with a sliding 3 lead 4 bight Turk's Head knot.

Star Knot

I followed this tutorial to tie a Star Knot. The instructions and photos are easy to follow, but I think my using 1.4mm cord made it more difficult for me than it should have been.

Since I don't have self-threading needles, I just used a pair of hemostats to work the cord around and through the knot as needed.

Sliding knot fob/lanyard

A simple lanyard sometimes found on fixed blades and machetes that I've seen, is a single strand of paracord thru the lanyard hole with an o-ring, nut, or washer slid on, and single stopper/overhand type knots on each end of the strands.

This allows the o-ring/nut/washer to be slid all the way up to the knife handle so the two strands hang free while the blade is sheathed and the loop is less likely to catch on something as you walk/hike/travel along.

When it comes time to use the knife, the 0-ring/nut/washer is slid down to the stopper knots and now you have a wrist loop/lanyard for retention.

I've just done the same type thing here as a fob/lanyard for a Victorinox Ranger, but with a four strand braid, pairing the strand ends off to make lanyard knots, slid a wooden bead onto the braided section, and added a 5 lead 4 bight Turk's Head knot over the bead for the 'sliding knot'. Any Boy Scout or Cub Scout that has tied a woggle for their neckerchief may think of this as a smaller version, and Western style bolo ties are also similar.