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.

37 comments:

Phestr said...

I notice you have an awful lot of knives. Do you collect them, or aquire them to have things to tie knots on? I'm kinda running out of things to do knotwork on myself.

Stormdrane said...

@Joe, I used to collect a variety of knives, but I actually have fewer now than I did several years ago.

If I don't have a knife to add some knot work to, A split ring for a key chain usually works. ;)

Anonymous said...

i was wondering where you get most of your gear and paracord. is there a specific website?

Stormdrane said...

@Anonymous, I get gear and paracord from many various sources, online and brick/mortar locations. Some are linked in blog posts and others in my blog's links list.

Unknown said...

Wanted to share some of the knot work I did recently on my Esee Izula. I frequently read your blog, and enjoy seeing new creative uses with knots.

http://s1132.photobucket.com/albums/m576/respecht1621/ESEE%20IZULA%20360%20Strider/

Stormdrane said...

@Robert, Nice job on the Izula handle wrap. And I like that you left the ring end of the handle open, to still allow a finger to fit through it. ;)

Strap said...

I just recently started tying knots again. Haven't done it since I was a boy scout. I'm glad I found this blog to give me a few ideas. Thanks.

Bilal Aslam said...

Hi Stormdrane,

I was unable to find any contact info on your blog so i'll ask my question here.

Do you have ideas of what I could do with paracord guts? Any tutorials would be nice, i only got into knot work about 2 weeks ago.

Stormdrane said...

@Bilal, You might try a half hitching project with the left over inner strands from the paracord. Perhaps something like the previous blog post with the wine bottle cork. The tutorial for that project shows how to add in more cord when you run out.

Making a net would also be a good project for the inner strands. I believe there may be something for that on YouTube, searching for paracord net making, etc...

Anonymous said...

I have tried to tie this knot multiply times and can not get it tried tons of websites its been like a week can u post some pics or a vid

Stormdrane said...

@Anonymous, If having trouble tying around a flat sheath, you can try tying the knot first around a cylinder shaped object, slightly larger than your sheath, then slide the knot over the sheath, flatten it out, then work the slack out and tighten it up on the sheath.

Tying around a flat object like a sheath just requires more attention to keeping the turks head knot crossings lined up. It may help to think/visualize the front, back and sides of the sheath as if it were a cylinder when tying the knot.

Phestr said...

I recently got into blogging, and love your site, so I added yours to my listing. Would you mind doing the same? Take a look at http://angrydwarfrants.blogspot.com/ and let me know. Thanx!

Owl said...

Awhile ago i made this bracelet i wanted to share with people, a double wide, single strand weave bracelet. your recent belt (5 strand flat sinnet) reminded me of it so i decided to tke a pic.


http://ravensnestcreations.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Hi! We're having trouble finding 1mm round braided nylon. Can you suggest some sources? Thank you!

Stormdrane said...

@Anonymous, I haven't sourced any 1mm round braided nylon, the closest sized I've seen are the 0.9mm and 1.2mm, that can be found at fixmyblinds.com and from mowfugger on ebay, with limited color selection.

You might try calling R&W Rope Warehouse to see if they have something that may work for you. All of those links are in my blog's links list.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful work Storm! Might I ask where you got your torch lighter?

Stormdrane said...

@capnklump, I use a Z-plus torch lighter insert, that fits into a Zippo lighter body. I've bought them from ebay sellers, whichever has a good rating and low price, usually under $15 shipped. You just have to supply your own Zippo lighter body for it to fit in.

I've worn out three of them since 2004. With the number of times the click switch gets used doing knot work, they eventually stop working, due to some inner part eventually breaking.

I've tried many other cheaper model torch lighters, and none have held up as well or lasted for as long, so I'm satisfied with the Z-plus. I use premium Zippo brand butane fuel with them, avoiding cheaper brands like Ronco.

I've seen other folks on forums recommend various lighter models, but considering what many of them cost, I've still spent less in total on all the lighters I've bought, than just the cost one of some of the 'high end' types. YMMV

Anonymous said...

Hey Dave,
I just added links to the Backpacker's Forum, and you're on every page now.
http://tahoetowhitney.org/

You are also listed on the links page on the Trail Guide.
http://tahoetowhitney.com/News_Science/Backpacking_Links.html

I hope you're staying warm and dry!

Alex

Absarokajoe said...

I recently found your site and have spent hours on it learning new things. I am a scoutmaster here for over 15 years and teach quite a bit of outdoor survival. I also have a tanning business the custom tans animal skins for hunters and sportsmen. it is possible to put my link on your page.
thanks joe

Anonymous said...

Hey Stormdrane, What knots did you tie on your sharpener? Look great! Keep up the good work - Bishop

Stormdrane said...

The knots on the sharpener are snake knots, some spaced out, some close together.

Anonymous said...

Hey Dave,

This post was especially relevant to my interests... I might have to try this with my Izula 2. I'm lookin forward to my next knot fix - hope all has been well.

Shannon said...

I've seen B over at HOTR link to you a couple of times, but finally clicked over to see your knotwork...absolutely beautiful. This is something that my son has been wanting to learn, so I'll definitely be having him come by and check it out. Thank you for sharing so much of your knowledge!

Anonymous said...

David;

There is a "anonymous" here in your comments section asking for 1mm round nylon cord. If my memory doesn't fail me. I think Tandy Leather Factory has it. It has leather lace and braided cord in 1mm and 2mm sizes. Tell him to look under Lacing and Stitching in their web catalog. Also, to look at the Waxed Braided Cord. I think that is the round nylon. I could be wrong. It's such a long time since I seen a promotional flyer I received here at home.

Peace,
Manny.

Kyle C said...

I cant wait for your next post

Home on the Range said...

My pictures aren't as good as yours but I think you'll like the topic of the post. Thanks for the inspiration.

http://mausersandmuffins.blogspot.com/2011/04/tying-it-all-together.html

Ross A said...

I'm looking to make two golf ball-sized floating monkey's fists to use as key chains for a friend who got a new boat (two engines). Each will only have one key on it. I'm looking to do one with red rope and one with green rope for port/stbd. Do you think I need floating rope or will a cork or some other buoyant center material suffice? I'm having trouble finding the right size/color floating rope online. Thanks in advance - for your help and for having such a great website!

Stormdrane said...

@Ross, Floating rope would definitely help with buoyancy of a key chain monkey's fist, but finding the cord/line to tie it with would be the hard part. I haven't sourced any, but you might try somewhere like Walmart.

A golf ball sized cork may work well enough for a single key, without using floating cord, but it could come down to the size of the key...

TheAntiHeroHimself said...

What's the name of the smaller neck knife you posted? The one you where gonna use with the sharpener, I like it a lot!

Stormdrane said...

@TheAntiHeroHimself, The knife shown with the sharpener isn't a neck knife, it's a Victorinox Tinker with camo scales. ;)

Anonymous said...

Where are you stormdrane?

Anonymous said...

I am trying to make a knife sheath out of paracord. I'm not trying to do a wrap, as I have no sheath to wrap around. Any ideas or suggestions? I am stumped.
(I've been making paracord bracelets for about two years now)

Stormdrane said...

@Anonymous, You're really going to need something other than the paracord for the knife to fit into for a sheath, since the blade will simply cut the paracord going into and out of the sheath.

You might could soak a paracord sheath in resin to harden with the paracord, but that's not something I've experimented with.

So, you could probably make some kind of minimal blade covering with leather, wood, plastic, or kydex and then finish the sheath with paracord over that...

Dave said...

After making some crosses, I've been asked about making a Star of David...have you tried to make any? I haven't found a tutorial yet to look from. Thanks, Dave

Stormdrane said...

@Dave, I haven't tied a cross of David, but have been asked about tying them before. I've seen pineapple knots tied(6 bight), where the pattern shows up on the end.

There's a reference from the Yahoo! Knot Tyers that mentions a book, "Decorative Woven Flat Knots by Skip Pennock", that has a couple of Star of David examples in it, although it's an old reference(2003), you might look around the IGKT.net website to see if they still offer the book.

Don In Alabama said...

I just bought this knife so I could do the wrap like here, but the little scabbard is made totally different. It comes to a point now and I can't keep the turk's head on the end.

Stormdrane said...

@Don in Alabama, Maybe you could add a piece of plastic or two(old gift cards/credit cards) to the sheath, creating a rectangular shape over the pointed end, going over it with duct tape to secure it, then do the knot work over that... Dunno if it'll work or not but might be worth a try.