Paracord Needles

Made some paracord needles tonight.

For anything where you need to weave the running end through (finishing something off by burying the end, the snake knot, whipping, etc.), this is handy.

I found something on Instructables where the poster suggesting using brass rod and cutting it to length with a Dremel tool, then drilling out the rod with a drill press and then tapping the open end, and then shaping the tips with a grinder....yeah right! Take the path of least resistance.

I found some 5.5 mm knitting needles at a thrift shop for 25¢, took a hack saw, maybe ten strokes to cut each tip off, a rat tail and flat file to clean the ends up and voila. I really only needed one, but since my extravagant expenditure netted me two knitting needles, why not make two paracord needles out of them.

Hitchcraft: Button Knots

The lace on my Merrell Pulsates broke. 

Good thing I have a bin of parachute cord at my disposal. I had a choice of brown or desert camo. Went with the latter. 

I have no way of adding an aglet (what the little thing at the end of your laces is called - there to help get the lace through the eyelets and prevents the cotton most cheap laces are made from from unravelling.) 

I put a button knot on the end. My main interest was in preventing it from pulling back through the eyelet.

Crafty and jazzes them up a little bit.

Klever Kutter Karrier 2

I had one of the earlier models of this, and got a new model recently. Same basic idea, but it’s a bit bigger, so didn’t fit in the pouch I had made for the previous model.

Like the first one, I added a fob to help pull it out of the pouch / serve as a finger loop / identify it as mine.

Close up of the lanyard knot.

A co-worker liked what I had done and asked if I could put a neon green fob on. I only had about a foot of neon green paracord, that had already had the core taken out, which doesn’t really lend itself to doing the lanyard knot. So I put a spiral sinnet on instead.

The only webbing I had laying around that would fit was some 2.75" webbing. A bit wider than I wanted, but it was the quickest route to take. Not pretty, but it does the trick. (The previous version on the right.)

Being a bit wider, means I can also stick a pen in there.

Klever Kutter Karrier

A place I work at sometimes insists people use these “Klever Kutters” to open boxes. I thought it was silly, but whatever. 

It works I guess, although I did see people get injured by them. They flail away at pallet wrap with it, hit the pallet, the tip breaks off, they don’t notice and when they reach into their pocket to grab it, they slice a finger open. I’m of the mind set that how you use a tool is more an indicator of whether you’ll get injured by it rather than thinking that a safety feature will protect without fail. I’d rather someone with a clue uses whatever cutting tool they can manage safely, than think an 18 year knucklehead won’t manage to foolishly misuse a “fool-proof” gimmick. 

It worked all right for the number of times I used it, but the Spyderco Tenacious I carry could have done the job just as well and just as safely - because I use it safely.

I decided to make a little sheath for it.

Just used some seat belt webbing I had laying around. Folded it in 3 - one part forms the belt loop, one part forms the holder.

I put some seam tape at the ends. Sewn by hand on breaks one day.

Realized a limitation the first time I used it - with a belt loop that goes all the way to the bottom, pulling on the tool, pulls the sheath all the way up, and made it tough to get the tool back in.

Nothing a couple of stitches didn’t remedy.

And of course, I also added a lanyard, with two lanyard knots. I can pull it out of the sheath easier, and the loop is big enough to put two fingers through, meaning I could hang on to it while I used my fingers for other tasks.

Simple carrier for a little tool that works, but that I would never have spent my own money on by choice.

Hitchcraft – Kifaru Pullout Lanyard Knots

Now that I’ve figured out that the lanyard knot isn’t actually that hard to tie, I’ve been looking for excuses to put them in various spots. Going through stuff, I saw that I never switched out the loop of paracord tied in an overhand knot on the Kifaru Pullouts I have.

I have a small Pullout in 525D in all the colours they offer. The foliage green one got a UCP zipper pull, the coyote brown one got a desert camo zipper pull, and the olive drab one got a woodland camo zipper pull.

I’ve been liking thinner cord lately, but for doing the lanyard knot, the chunkier 550 cord is preferable to work with.

Pocket Wear

I’ve had this wrist loop residing on my key chain for a few years now, and noticed that the beads were taking a real beating. Decided to make another one using some more of the same beads. Amusing to see how much the size of the skull bead diminished.

Hitchcraft – Sling In Action

Tromped down to a spot I knew I could find some rocks and also fling said rocks with gleeful abandon and not have to worry about causing any damage. 

The sling loaded, or as I prefer to call it, the “High Capacity, High Power, Military Style Assault Weapon Machine Sling!”

And after that photo, the battery in the camera died. I fired that incompetent photographer on the spot.

Which is perhaps for the best, since my performance was on the whole rather pitiful. I mentioned yesterday that there is a very steep learning curve to these. I thought that had to do with actually hitting a target. I didn’t realize that it also had to do with flinging the rock in any sort of desired direction, releasing the knot at the right time, etc. I tried swinging it over hand, underhand and overhead. The latter, helicopter style essentially seemed to be the one that worked best for flinging the rock in random directions. The others were a little more accurate. As for my hoped for speed and power and distance.....the less said the better. I think my best shot was about 25 meters. 

Since there was a hard crust of ice all over everything, finding decent rocks also proved tough. I did the best I could, but didn’t find much. I think I’ll go to the dollar store for some marbles and keep trying. 

I can see this being fun. Once I get the hang of it.

I erred on the side of leaving the cord quite long, just a few inches off the ground when hanging from my hand. I may find I prefer the cord shorter, but I’ll try it for a while this long.

Here you can see a mistake I made. Opening my fingers when the knot is down there, I would have to crank them wide open in order for it to be released. What I should have done of course is use that amazing thing humans have – the opposable thumb. Clamping the knot between the thumb and index finger makes it very easy to release it at the right time. By the time my little pea-brain figured that out I had run out of usable rocks. But I know now for next time.

Hitchcraft – Sling

After meaning to make a sling for ages, I once again came across what is the site on the subject, http://www.slinging.org/, and decided “goddamnit, get off your ass and make one already.” I spent the afternoon trying a few different approaches, and wasn’t so thrilled with them. I recall seeing this particular tutorial years ago, and attempted it. Worked out nicely.

I will be happier tomorrow morning when I am flinging rocks out across the lake. There is a very steep learning curve with these. Accuracy will come with a lot of practice. But for now I will be thrilled with speed and power and distance.

Paracord 2L

The Paracord 2L, for storing and working paracord, is a small, simple, inexpensive molded-plastic unit that neatly stores up to 100' of 550 cord, and it has a ruler, blade, lighter, and burn slots built in so you can measure, cut and then heat seal the ends. Kind of an all-in-one-tool for paracord. (I think the burn slots for finishing off the ends are a clever idea.) 

A Kickstarter campaign at this point, so if you dig it, throw your support behind it.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/664509246/paracord-2l-all-in-one-tool-for-storing-and-workin?ref=email

Patch Hanger

I got my nephew a backpack a few years back that I sewed some loop Velcro to, and also got him some patches that I sewed some hook Velcro to. A name patch, a small Canadian flag, a White Stripes one, two Batman ones, a Star Wars clone trooper one. Recently I took a ball cap that he wasn’t so thrilled with, a New Balance cap, actually a very nice quality one, and sewed some loop Velcro to. Now he thinks it’s “totally epic!”

Not having much money to devote to Yule gifts this year, I got a few patches from the Boy Scout store (far more reasonably priced than any of the Star Wars ones I looked at on line), and a few others and again sewed some hook Velcro to the back of them. I also made him something I have been meaning to make for myself for a long time now, a panel to hang up and stick patches to when not in use. Took a length of stiff plastic to give it some form, a length of 550 cord, some 4" loop Velcro, 2 beads, and sewed this up for him.

I gave him some other things as well, but this one was the most fun for me.