A lil Paracord

Today in the News:  The Wandering Thinker returns!  This time, he's playing with paracord.  I've never gotten my hands on the stuff, but I would certainly like to try.  Just not sure where to buy it from.

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A lil Paracord


When I first got into survival-ism the first thing I went out and bought was 100' of black 550 paracord. I had no clue what I would use it for, but I "knew" I had to have it ....at least that's what everyone said. Well, months and months went by and it just sat in my pack, not doing a dang thing. A few weeks ago I saw someone post a gun sling made out of paracord on Bushcraft USA and decided it was finally time for me to use it, so ... I came up with the (unoriginal) idea of making a belt out of it. At least this would give me a use for this stuff and it would be a convenient way for me to carry some of this stuff around without really adding any weight to any of my gear.

After a bit of searching I found a simple weave that my "stupid fingers" could handle, I have since lost the link to it, but its pretty simple to explain.

I'm about a 32 in the waist, so I though 39" would be plenty to make up for the weave. I tied one end off to the buckle in my vise and made four loops around a nail. Then it was just a matter of over-under weaving, which took forever.

Once I reached the end it was just a matter of pushing the end though the loop created from the runner, pulling it tight, and then feeding it back through the runner and cinching down.

Two words of advice, fill up the buckle with loops or it will shift when you pull the belt tight (I should have used at least six instead of for) and seven inches past your waist size will give you exactly enough to get it around you. I would recommend doing at least ten or twelve extra to make up for the weave.


Another thing I recently tried my hand with is the one sheet hammock featured all over the net. Its a very simple and easy to do project that will give you hours of waisted time ... in the good way.

All you need is a standard sheet (most use a queen, mine was either a full or twin and it works great for me).

The only real trick to this is the end knot pictured above. Fold the end in a pleat style (think accordion) then fold over about five inches. Double your paracord over and feed it through the fold, then wrap it around and feed it under the the cord where it just exited the fold, then run the free end through the loop and work tight. If you experiment with it a bit you'll get the hang of it. I think it took me about four tries before I got it just right. Then simply repeat on the other side and your set. I tied a fishing knot with another section of paracord to add some length and give me a closed end to put the strap hooks in. This knot it tied by making a loop in the cord, wrapping the free end around the loop 7 to 10 times, then feed the free end through the loop (and if you want, through the loop created here on the opposite side of the first loop) and pull tight.

I hung mine up with some $5 straps from wal-mart because the paracord is easy to tear, or so I've heard.

I've also put a camping pad in the fold of the hammock to keep it opened up more, however I don't think it's as comfortable or steady with it in because the fabric can't wrap around you tightly.

If I've read right, this hammock should support up to 300 lbs.
And there you have it, two simple paracord projects you can actually put to use.

Thank you
Take Care and God Bless
TWT

www.thewanderingthinker.blogspot.com