Mandala Knot...

A knot tying friend, Robert, had recently shared a link on Google+ for a Chinese website knot tutorial, for which the name translated to 'Mandala Knot', showing a couple of variations, with the simpler one used here.

I tied an example with a length of black paracord for a Kershaw Emerson CQC-4K pocket knife edc lanyard/fob, with a loop section just large enough for my little finger to fit through for retention, so as to not drop the knife when using it.

The knot has a pleasing pattern of tight curving loops to a center point on both sides of a somewhat thick disc shape after careful shaping and tightening of the knot.

Also tied were a couple of two-strand stopper knots, before and after the Mandala Knot, so I ended up using about two feet of paracord in the finished lanyard/fob.

You may use more or less cord depending on the loop size and spacing of the knots, so start off with more cord than you think you'll use so you don't come up short when tying. ;)

 

 

The Chinese site shows a couple of variations of the knot, after the true lovers knot (ABoK #3782) shown at the start, and I went with the simpler one for the video and the examples with the pocket knife lanyard/fob.  Here's a photo with the neon orange and neon green paracord with both variations, where you may or might not notice the slight difference, with the look of an extra turn or bight for each color on the one on the left compared with the one on the right...


I'm an Amazon affiliate, so 'Thank You!' to those that shop there through my blog's links, since I receive a small commission from sales through those links posted in my blog.

If you need an edc backpack, check out the limited edition VENOM and VENOM RED mochi drawstring backpacks with Stormdrane logo, which I receive a percentage of sales from, each having a stitched paracord handle that I worked with Mochibrand on for the design.

And a Mandala knot tied with some 3/8" twisted nylon rope.  My Zippo alongside for size reference.

Paracord Fusion Ties Backpack Edition

I recently received a new copy of Paracord Fusion Ties - Backpack Edition straight from the knotty genius himself, J.D. Lenzen.  The foreword for this volume was written by Jim "Coop" Cooper.

The new book is a compact compilation of selected paracord projects from three of his previous full size books, Paracord Fusion Ties - Volume 1, Paracord Fusion Ties - Volume 2, and Paracord Project Inspirations.

The smaller footprint of the book allows it to be easily taken along, in an edc pouch or backpack, to use a reference tool for tying any of the clearly pictured instructionals within.

One of the 'how to' selections is a 'Round Crown Sinnet (Key Fob)', which is one of the first decorative type knots I learned to tie years ago, and still find myself tying from time to time.

I made this navy blue and neon orange paracord round crown sinnet pocket knife fob, doing just a few modifications from JD's tutorial, by making a longer starting loop for attachment, inserting a 1/8" x 2" long firesteel in the center of the sinnet as I tied, and finishing with a crown and wall knot that can be untied to retrieve the firesteel should it be needed in a camping, emergency, survival, zombie apocalypse type situation.








The paracord project inside my backpack is one I'd started on several months ago for LordDraconical, the Nerf vampire.  It's been finished for a while, but I still need to deliver it.  I'll share more about it in a future blog post. ;)

I'm an Amazon affiliate, so 'Thank You!' to those that shop there through my links, since I receive a small commission from sales through those links posted in my blog.

If you need an edc backpack, check out the limited edition VENOM and VENOM RED mochi drawstring backpacks with Stormdrane logo, which I receive a percentage of sales from, each having a stitched paracord handle that I worked with Mochibrand on for the design.

I tied a couple more round and square crown sinnet keychain fobs with navy blue and neon orange paracord while watching the Auburn football game on Saturday evening (team not looking to good so far this year, but 'War Eagle!' anyway).  These were made for my Ma & Pa, as they recently celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary on September 16th. They're both graduates of Auburn University.

Added a couple of cross lanyard beads that I'd bought at Hobby Lobby either last year or the year before and had forgotten about them as they were mixed in with a pile of all kinds of other gadgets, gear, and gizmos in a gadget drawer.

I tied gaucho knots as whipping under the beads with white 0.9mm string, although the beads weren't likely to move/slide since it was a bit of a chore to fit(push/pull) the four ends strands (ungutted paracord) throught the bead holes on them.  I gave those keychain lanyard/fobs to Ma and Pa (both Auburn University graduates).

Someone at my folks church had given them a cross charm bracelet, tied with 1mm sized cord with the Solomon bar/cobra stitch/Portuguese sinnet with an adjustable closure and they'd given me that when they got home from church.  I took the adjustment section off and tied a paracord bracelet over/around that bracelet with the cross charm centered in the pattern and with a spare metal side release buckle I'd had leftover from older projects.  Gave the finished navy blue and orange paracord bracelet with white stitching to Ma as an early b-day present, War Eagle!

I used the 'Manny Method' to join navy blue and orange cord and tied the cobra stitch/Solomon bar pattern over that smaller corded bracelet with the cross centered, and then went back and stitched white 0.9mm cord along the side edges. I'll give this to Ma for an early birthday present for her (Sept 27).  I'd just guessed at a size, measured about 7.5 inches long with the metal buckle ends, and it luckily fit her wrist.  Also added a short paracord fob onto an old Gerber AR pocket knife I've had for a long time, with a reflective orange gaucho knot over a wooden lanyard bead.  I like the knife, but it's just one I rarely carry and keep in the gadget drawer collection.

Gaucho'd Shard

I recently ordered a couple of Gerber Shards which arrived in the mail today, and have already tied a red and black gaucho knot on one of them with 0.9mm cord.  The red looked a little faded after working and tightening the knot, so I touched it up with a red Sharpie marker to deepen the color.

Here'a a link to a blog post from a few years ago with some past knot work done on a few Gerber Shards.  I kept one and it gets rotated with the edc keychain setup and some of my other prybar type tools, like the Leatherman Brewzer.

I've given several to friends and family for Christmas and birthday gifts as they are mostly inexpensive as multitools go, durable, and a handy piece of kit to have around.


And another Shard shown with a gaucho knot tied with some 1.8mm orange reflective line that I'd bought on ebay a while back and hadn't used on any projects yet.  The cord has a reflective tracer thread running through the outer sheath of the cord. Type I paracord might also be used for a wrap on the Shard, but I find the finished knot a bit thicker than I prefer, but some folks might not mind it.

If you need an edc backpack, check out the limited edition VENOM and VENOM RED mochi drawstring backpacks with Stormdrane logo, which I receive a percentage of sales from, each having a stitched paracord handle that I worked with Mochibrand on for the design.

Gaucho'd Zippo

It's been a while since I tied any knot work around a Zippo lighter, and I have a couple of new in the box street chrome models in the gadget drawer, so I pulled one out and proceeded to wrap the top lid and bottom sections.

I used about 10 feet (started with an 11 foot length) or so of 1.4mm nylon cord to tie a doubled gaucho knot from a 7 lead 6 bight Turk's head base knot.

After tying and tightening, I used around 5 feet (started with 6 feet) of the 1.4mm cord and tied a single pass gaucho from another base 7x6 TH.  So there's two examples of the same gaucho knot, just one a single pass and the other doubled.

I may go back and give it a coat of brush on krazy glue to finish.  The knots seem tight enough to stay in place, but I didn't wrap any extreme tape strips around the lighter first, which would help further secure them from sliding off.  I could probably inch worm and force them off as it sits, but think it'll stay put under normal handling...



I've started on the other Zippo as well, so far just tying a loosely doubled 9 lead 8 bight Turk's head knot.  Still deciding whether to just run another color between the two passes of solution dyed black 1.4mm Handy Hundred cord, or maybe work in a pineapple interweave, checkered herringbone, or a Hansen knot.

That's a small Perma Lok Lacing Needle that I'm using with the cord to tie the knot, very helpful when threading the cord over/under through Turk's Head knots.




And an example of a gaucho knot tied with 3/32" leather lace around my slim camo Zippo, one I bought in the late 80's or early '90's, I think, maybe at Ft. Gillem, been so long I can't recall. It's hard to read, but the date code on the bottom looks like "K  III".

Of course I couldn't leave without adding a gutted paracord wrapped version too.  It may seem a bit bulkier than done with smaller diameter cord, but some folks might be fine with that when tying their own project.

I'm an Amazon affiliate, so 'Thank You!' to those that shop there through my links, since I receive a small commission from sales through those links posted in my blog.

If you need an edc backpack, check out the limited edition VENOM and VENOM RED mochi drawstring backpacks with Stormdrane logo, which I receive a percentage of sales from, each having a stitched paracord handle that I worked with Mochibrand on for the design.