Sunday, January 22, 2012

Cobbled Solomon Bar Paracord Bracelet...

JD of TIAT put up another instructional video yesterday, for tying the Cobbled Solomon Bar, as a bracelet with knot and loop closure.  I gave it a try this morning with a single length of coyote brown paracord and a 5/8" contoured/curved side release buckle.

The video shows it tied with two paracord colors, 6.5 ft of each, and used a knot and loop closure.  I tied mine with a single strand, starting with 16 ft to be on the safe side, and attached it to a 5/8 inch curved/contoured side release buckle, as I would at the start of a regular Solomon bar/Portuguese sinnet/cobra stitch type bracelet.

I added an inch to my wrist size when I set up before I started tying, but in the end that made for a loose fit, so I would just tie it the same as my wrist size in the future.  You may get different results depending on how loose/tight you tie it yourself...

I tucked/trimmed the ends to finish, using about 11.5 ft of the 16 ft that I started with.  One working end was considerably shorter than the other at the finish, one 8 inch length and one 3 ft 10 inch length, so one working strand was used more than the other.  Overestimating what I'd need at the start let me finish without running out of cord, but uneven ending strand lengths may still be something to figure out in the future, starting somewhere off center when first attaching the paracord to the buckle, to eliminate wasted excess cord...

With a contoured/curved buckle, you decide which side you want facing out when you start tying, since each side looks different.  If you use a flat buckle, it won't matter since it will be reversible, like it is with the knot/loop version.

And a lanyard with navy blue and orange paracord with swivel clip, both sides shown...


4 comments:

ari said...

Hmm, I like this, how tight would you say you need to pull the strands to get that effect, because I am trying this and all my attempts don't become very sturdy?

tm0029 said...

Thanks Stormdrane for helping take this thing to the next level. I have an interesting new hobby that I really enjoy. With another couple hundred ft of cord and some cool gadgetry coming in from Supply Captain and County Com I couldn't be more excited. I hope you are doing well and continue with your blog. Thanks again for providing an amazing resource!

tm0029

Stormdrane said...

@ari, I just tried to tighten consistently as I tied, making the knots not too tight or too loose, but keep a uniform appearance from one end to the other.

Home on the Range said...

I like that one. I used one of your videos to make a bracelet for two of my favorite people, and one of my friends made me a couple as well. We all really like them.