1mm waxed cotton cord...

I found some 1mm diameter black waxed cotton cord in the craft section at Walmart, there was also some 100% cotton braiding cord on a card with 3 assorted colors, each in a 12 yard length. It braids well on a small 3 peg knitting spool and will probably work well for use as a lanyard for a SAK(Swiss Army Knife), as a wrist lanyard, an ID badge lanyard, etc... Of course it's not as strong or durable as paracord, but it is another less expensive alternative.

I used this one to replace the ball chain on one of my neck knives.

I used about 34 feet of 1mm brown cotton cord for this braided neck lanyard. The braid uses around 1 ft of cord per 1 inch of braid. I put a split ring on it to use for adding an ID badge, whistle, small multi-tool or clippers for use when fishing, a small flashlight, a pen, etc...

Monkey Fist/Snake Knot Key Ring Fob

I made some of these a couple months back and found this one on the floor under the bed this morning. I make so many variations of things but only post a fraction of what I make on this blog. It's a simple one if you can make the monkey fist.

I used about 5 feet of paracord, first making a monkey fist around a small marble. Then making sure the two strands coming from the fist were equal in length, I looped them around the key ring about 2.5 inches from the fist and made the snake knot back towards the fist around the two strands coming from the monkey fist, and trimmed/melted the ends at the base of the fist.

I made this braided lanyard using inexpensive orange colored mason line, easy to find at Target, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. I used a small knitting spool using just 2 of the nails for the braid, attaching it with a loop/lanyard knot at one end and used the clip off a Photon Freedom keychain light and the swivel attachment from a cell phone lariat for the other end. I can clip it to a belt loop and let it hang down into a pocket or clip it to itself and it works as a wrist lanyard.

The flashlight shown is the JetBeam C-LE from Emilion's Workbench. The amount of light this 1 AA battery flashlight can put out with it's Cree LED is amazing. It has several modes: high(2 hrs runtime), medium(7 hrs runtime), low(30 hrs runtime), strobe, and SOS. If you want to learn more about flashlights and related info, visit CandlePower Forums, you might be a flashaholic and didn't even know it.

Spool knit 'Type I' paracord necklace and skull pendant

'Type I' OD green paracord braided necklace with a break-away lanyard connector. I added a Punisher skull pendant I bought from one of the knifemakers at the Blade Show a couple of weeks ago. I used just over 20 feet of cord to make the 24 inch long necklace using a 3 peg/nail knitting spool with the nails spaced about 1 inch apart.

Snake knot lanyard with Schmuckatelli skull bead

Here's a snake knot lanyard/wrist strap in olive drab and orange 550 paracord with a swivel clip and a Schmuckatelli pewter skull bead.

I used about 33 ft of 1/16" CoolGlowStuff! cord for this braided neck lanyard with a small carabiner from BackpackingLight.com and have it clipped it to a CMG Infinity Ultra LED light in the photo.

ID badge lanyard made with 550 paracord in neon(toxic) green for the core with black nylon cord braided over it, a swivel hook, and a break-away lanyard connector for safety. A 3 peg/nail knitting spool was used for the braid, the pegs/nails are spaced about 1" apart for the smaller diameter black nylon cord to make a loose braid where the underlying paracord can be seen thru it.

Cool Glow Stuff!

My dad is helping run a golf tournament to help raise money for the ministry he works with(Revelation Celebration Ministry). I've been making some small monkey fist key chain fobs with CoolGlowStuff! glow-in-the-dark cord and various other lanyards as giveaways for the golfers. Here's a few I'd already made. I think they look more like mini volleyballs than golf balls.


Here's a few key chain fobs with some decorative beads made with the glow cord.

Two peg spool knit...

Just using two of the three nails on the spool knitter, produces a smaller square shaped and flexible paracord braid, compared to the larger round one made by using 3 nails. This is the same result one would get using a lucet.

When finished with the braid for a lanyard, I usually make a small loop and finish with a lanyard knot and loop on each end.

A shorter length can be used as a simple fob for use with a knife, flashlight, multitool, key ring, key chain, etc...

Rope Thimble Keychain Lanyard

I used a rope thimble that I've had for awhile to make this key chain lanyard with 'Type I' OD Green paracord.

I've seen the thimbles used with some rather fancy knot work, that's beyond my current level of knot tying, and wanted to give it a try with what I do know.

Type I paracord/accessory cord spool knit neck lanyard...

I just finished making this OD Green 'Type I' paracord spool knit neck lanyard with a swivel clip. I made this one for my dad and he said he'd use it with his cell phone when he's out and about.

*The swivel clip on the lanyard in my photo was purchased from Lighthound, which is no longer in business, but might be found from other vendors somewhere in the interwebs.... ;)

I used some black nylon cord that I found, which is similar in size to 'Type I' paracord, and used the small knitting spool to make it around this neon green paracord on this monkey fist fob. This could also be done around the paracord for a neck or wrist lanyard.

...and another done in tan paracord with OD green 'Type I' paracord in a braid not as tight as the other one so more of the underlying cord can be seen.

Here's a neck lanyard I made from over 30 feet of 'Type I' paracord in foliage green. I used the 3 peg/nail knitting spool for the braid and finished with the snake knot on a small swivel clip.















...and a wrist lanyard made with white 'Type I' paracord attached to a Swiss Army Knife. The small knitting spool I used to make it, is one I bought on ebay.

3 Peg Spool Knitted Paracord Hatband...

I finished up the knitted/braided/woven paracord hatband. The hat is an XL and that meant an even longer length for the hatband. It's more like a rope than a band, as the braid/weave looks and feels like a 5/8 inch diameter rope.

The braided part is about 27 inches and I kept about a foot of length in the starting end strand and another foot at the finished working end. That makes the total amount of paracord used around 37 feet. I just tied it off in the back of the hat and it can easily be secured to the hat with a couple of small safety pins on either side, out of sight.

It could be made longer as a rope type belt, or shorter for various types/length lanyards. Just another way to 'be prepared'(former Boy Scout, so it's ingrained in the psyche), and having some paracord handy in case it might be needed for whatever. I didn't time it, but this is a time consuming project. The funny thing is that I could probably undo it in under a minute.

Homemade knitting spools...

After making a few lanyards with 'Type I' paracord and a knitting spool/corker, I wanted to try it with regular 550 paracord. The only problem was the spool I had was too small to handle the larger diameter cord. So after a unsuccessful search for a suitable spool, I made my own using a wooden napkin ring and some 1 inch brads/nails.

I predrilled the holes for the nails so they wouldn't split the wood when I tapped them in and it worked out fine. I also found an old dental pick to use for working the cord and it also does the job well. The regular paracord makes a tighter braid than the smaller diameter cord, but still remains very flexible. The piece I'm working on is probably going to be used as a hatband, and I'm guesstimating that a 24 inch braid will use about 30+ feet of paracord(approximately 1.25 feet of cord used per inch of braid). If untied at the working end, the whole thing can be quickly unraveled for use in seconds if needed.












The diameter of the braided 'Type I' paracord is about 3/8 inch and for the regular paracord it's about 5/8 inch. I have some more photos showing how to start the braid with the 550 paracord on EDC Forums.

I've added a short YouTube video showing how to get started.

Exploring spool knitting for lanyards...

I tried out a different braid for this lanyard, also have seen it called an icord.  Photo shows it used as a pocket watch lanyard/fob.

I used 'Type I' paracord and I like how it turned out considering it's the first one I've made like this.

I used a knitting tool, sometimes called a corker or knitting spool, and it can go by several other names from various sources.,

An example of a spool that I used is similar to this one, and another of one being used ia shown here, but I only used three pegs/prongs/nails.




















...and some others done in glow-in-the-dark cord from 'CoolGlowStuff!'.

A 'braid knot' paracord lanyard...

I've made this type of paracord lanyard before for it's simplicity, and often use the one attached to my Leatherman Juice Pro.

The lanyard is made with one continuous five foot length of paracord, with lanyard knots and loops on both ends with a braid knot in the center. It's finished length is just over a foot long, so I can still use the knife/multi-tool/flashlight while it's still clipped to my belt loop, or remove it from the belt loop and clip it to itself for use as a wrist lanyard.

Side release buckles

Here's a size comparison photo of some side release buckles I've used for paracord bracelets, watchbands, and dog/cat collars. On the left is a 5/8 inch ITW Nexus contoured buckle I bought on ebay, the other three, in 5/8 inch curved, 1/2 inch curved, and 3/8 inch curved, were purchased from Creative Designworks. I've found all of them to be of decent quality and they all work fine for use with paracord bracelets, watchbands, and dog/cat collars.