A locking evolution...

The Swiss Army pocket knife shown with the lanyard is the Wenger Evo EDC Knife (Evolution S13) that I received from County Comm.  This model is unusual for a SAK of this size, with having a locking 2.5 inch main blade using a push button release mechanism.  Anyone that's ever had a slip joint type pocket knife blade accidentally close up on 'em while cutting will appreciate the added security of a locking blade.

A recent YouTube video from JD of TyingItAllTogether(TIAT) mentions what he's been up to lately, along with the gift of a link to instructions for the Back-to-Back Bar, a selection from his next book,  'Paracord Fusion Ties (Vol.I)' which is due out this summer.


I followed the tutorial to learn the knotting pattern, a variation of the cobra stitch/Solomon bar/Portuguese sinnet, but added a snap hook and started off with 10 feet each of olive drab and black paracord.  The finished length of the completed lanyard with attachment is one foot, where the loop core was about 10 inches from where the knot work was started.

The bar is about a 1/2 inch thick when viewed from the side, still flexible, but probably overly substantial for most folks, to be made and worn as a paracord bracelet.

I also finished with a lanyard knot/diamond knot/boatswain's whistle knot, tied by pairing off the four working strands at the loop attachment end.  With a clip on one end and loop on the other, the lanyard can have a belt run through the loop end with an item at the clip end, or clipped to a belt loop and having an item attached on the loop end.

I ended up using about seven feet of black paracord and around nine feet of the olive drab in the finished lanyard.

I used a leftover four foot length of paracord to tie a 'Spring sinnet', another tie from JD(TIAT), used as a pocket knife fob for the Wenger S13.  I started with a loop and lanyard knot then tied the sinnet, tucking the end back up into the knot with hemostats to finish.

And I made a spool knit neck lanyard with about 36 feet of olive drab 'Type I' paracord/accessory/dummy cord, with a glow-in-the-dark Gaucho knot, and another smaller three pass Gaucho tied with white 0.9mm cord on the black powder coated snap hook.

Hooked on hats...

These hat hook/tie clasps have been around a long time and I've kept one a baseball cap off/on over they years, but as for being worn for 'good luck', I can't say they've helped me catch any fish.

They fit snugly on a baseball cap bill, but the brim on my boonie hat is a bit thinner, so this one needed something to tighten it's grip to better secure it.   Bending the hook any further isn't an option, having already tried that with some pliers, so I added a two bight Turk's head knot with some 0.9mm cord to dress it up a little and keep it in place.

The gold plated Eagle Claw hat hooks are probably the most popular, but I preferred a more subdued gunmetal finish for the ones I currently use.  They can also be found in other colors, like red, white, blue, orange, pink, and I've even seen a camouflaged version(ebay).

I was going to try doing my initials in Morse code on the hook, using thin and wide Turk's head knots/Spanish ring knots, but my initials would comprise a bunch of 'dots' and only one 'dash', so that'll probably be something for another project... I saw that idea mentioned on the IGKT forums, and member 'peejay' showed an example done on a cane, on the KHWW forums.

Paracord lacing needles...

My friend Manny recently shared this project with me.  He found some threaded aluminum posts(also known as Chicago screws, barrel nuts, binding posts, and sex screws) and extensions, at a Lowe's hardware store, that can be modified to work as lacing needles for paracord knot work. Manny used a drill and a bench grinder to shape the tip on the ones he purchased.

I bought a couple of the 2" long sized posts($1.08ea) and the 1" extensions($.80ea), in case a longer lacing needle is needed.  It's a little bit larger in diameter than the Jumbo Perma-Lok lacing needle that I usually use with paracord, but still a good size for working on Turk's head knots, weaving/woven paracord projects, and such...

The posts already have internal screw threads, compared with the DIY lacing needle projects requiring you to drill/tap your own threads or do without.  The threads allow the needles to grip and hold onto paracord as you work, so to modify the posts you just have to remove the top section of the post and grind/sand it down to a shaped point for use.

I used tin snips to clip off the flat top section(hacksaw also works), a bastard file to take off the sharp edges, and then used my Dremel tool with stone disk and sanding drum attachments to shape the tip.

I smoothed  out most of the rough edges with a diamond file, but using a fine grit sandpaper would probably get it polished up smooth if desired.  You don't want to leave any rough spots to catch and snag on your paracord when working with the needles.

Did some googling and found an instructable for making these too.  More info and links in the Comments section of this blog post...  ;)