Paracord grab handle wrap

I used a 26 foot strand, of green 550 paracord, to wrap the nylon webbing grab handles of my Spec-Ops Pack-Rat drop-in organizer, using the cobra stitch/Solomon bar/Portuguese sinnet.

The Pack-Rat, is a smaller sized organizer which measures 10.25"x8.25"x1.625" and can be used to keep various gadgets, gear, and gizmos organized and easier to find inside a larger bag or pack or carried on it's own.

The pack has a length of nylon webbing sewn into three separate grab handles around the sides and top. The webbing is anchored by bar tacks at the ends of the webbing and at the corners where the D-rings are attached for the optional use of a shoulder strap.

At first, I pushed the knots closer together each time I'd tied a few, but it looked a bit bunched up that way and I preferred the look of them spaced just as they were tied, so I started over.

The knots are just firm enough around the nylon webbing to grip it and barely bow it, but not collapse it. Grips will vary on different handles, so you'll have to see what works on yours with a little trial and error.

After doing one side and reaching the corner, I just continued the working ends of the cord alongside the D-ring section and then knotted over the top handle webbing. Reaching the next D-ring, I did the same with the paracord down the last section.

When I reached the end of the side, I pulled both working ends of the paracord up under the bottomside of the handle, under all of the knots of that side with my hemostats, then trimmed and melted the ends to be tucked back underneath and out of sight.








If needed, the cord can be easily untied for some other use, but I currently keep 150 feet of paracord, in a couple of unopened packages, inside the Pack-Rat as part of the contents.

Also inside are flashlights, multitools, knives, duct tape, screwdrivers, first aid kit, pens/paper, sewing kit, pry bar, lighter/matches, spare batteries, super glue, etc... so forth and so on, to the point that it weighs about 5 pounds and is stuffed to 5 inches thick.

Adding paracord knot work to bag/pack/luggage handles is just a simpler modern version of what's been done by others for a long time. If you spend some time googling/reading/exploring knot work and handles, you'll find current and older examples made by sailors or craftsmen, used with things like ditty bags and sea chest handles(beckets). I've seen some photos, drawings, and diagrams from as far back as the 1800's, and if only the natural materials that these older items were made of could survive longer, I imagine there would be more to see and we're left to wonder what's been lost to time.

A little security...

I have replaced the zipper pulls that came on the Pack-Rat with paracord lanyard knots. I've added the following three photos showing how to secure dual zippered bags/packs/luggage from accidentally opening during transit. It also works to make it more difficult for a deviant individual to easily/unnoticeably gain access to exposed zipper compartments if you were in a crowded situation like a busy market or riding a packed bus or train.

The loop part of the pull should just be large enough to push/pull the opposite lanyard knot through the loop, and then the second through the other. Just pull a bit on each end and you almost have a 'square knot' that's not going to easily come undone.

Last year a member of EDC Forums had asked for ideas for a 'security' knot to secure their zippers and I submitted a similar suggestion using smaller cord with a single lanyard knot/loop through a pouch's existing zipper tab holes which were too small for 550 paracord.