Enlaces de interés: dd

Stormdrane's Blog

Monday, June 11, 2012

"A decorative hitch"... ABoK #1687

This one is from 'The Ashley Book of Knots'(ABoK #1687) and is described as, "A decorative hitch for a boat boom that needs but one tuck.".

I tied this example with some paracord, showing the hitch loosely tied, then tightened, and finished with an overhand stopper knot, just as Clifford W. Ashley showed in his drawn diagram. The stopper knot helps prevent the line slipping/pulling itself undone.

Here is a link to the Google Books preview page where the diagram can be found.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Bright and Loud...

I received a couple of new REV 2 models of the Maratac AA LED flashlight and some ITW Nexus whistles, from the folks at County Comm

The single AA flashlights with CREE R3 emitters have a bright HIGH setting(125 lumens) and a 'Lunar LOW'(0.25 lumens), that's great for reading a book or map in the dark without blinding you, or providing navigation on those late night excursions to the facilities. Lights shown with a couple 'star knot' wrist lanyards.

I took a few of the ITW Nexus whistles and added different Turk's head knots and variations to them with 0.9mm cord.

They have a built in clip, so aside from adding them to a lanyard or EDC key chain, they can be conveniently clipped to a pocket or the MOLLE webbing on a backpack or bag.

The whistles are quite loud, so I'd recommend covering your ears to protect your hearing during use. Here's the whistle specs from ITW Nexus.

~ Single Strand Star Knot

~ 3 Lead TH Knot

~ Spanish Ring Knot

~ Gaucho Knot

~ 3 Pass Gaucho Knot

~ Headhunter's Knot

~ 5 Lead 4 Bight TH Knot

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Star Grommet...

Stuart Grainger's book, 'Creative Ropecraft' has instructions for a Star Grommet, which is derived from the Drummer Boy's Plait.

I first tied a Drummer Boy's Plait(monkey braid/chain sinnet), wrapped that around a 2 liter bottle cap, joined the ends, doubled the knot, and tightened it to finish.

Here's a pdf file link to download another tutorial for tying one.

I may try using it like a finger loop paracord lanyard. In smaller diameter cord, I think it looks nice enough to wear as a pendant...

The lanyard/fob example is shown with a Kershaw Nerve pocket knife.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Single strand paracord star knot...

I've tied a few multi-strand star knots before, but haven't shown any single strand versions. I used a short length of paracord, about three foot long, to make this paracord key chain fob, which would also help with the grip/retention of a small pocket knife, flashlight, or other gadgets/gear, and maybe make a nice zipper pull tied in smaller diameter cord...

A Facebook friend, Mabel Marble, shared a link to Fred's tutorial for tying a single strand star knot. There's also a tutorial on the KHWW.net site for tying a single strand variant.

Feed the end strand back through the center of the star knot to make an adjustable sized loop lanyard...

Also shown as a fixed blade knife no-snag type lanyard where the loop can be closed up against the knife handle so that just a single strand hangs down and is less likely to get snagged on brush when walking through the woods than a loop would. You can use as a wrist loop or make the loop longer for using the lanyard across the back of the hand secure method. A few fixed blade lanyard use examples shown here, here, and another here.

I added a bit of a description to what's being shown in the photos of Fred's single strand star knot tutorial, found below in the 'Comments' of this blog post.

Another Facebook member mentioned this method for tying the star knot was shown in Stuart E. Grainger's book, 'Turkshead Alternatives', currently out of print.

I uploaded a YouTube video on tying the single strand star knot, so between it and Fred's photo tutorial, hopefully the knot tying process is understandable...

Also see 'The Ashley Book of Knots'(ABoK #1396) "The Star Knot Turk's Head".

Thursday, May 10, 2012

A spark in the right direction...

The big brown van dropped off a package yesterday and enclosed were a couple of Navigator Compasses and Brass Flint Wheel Strikers.

I've used these types of compasses before with paracord bracelets, lanyards, fobs, and clipped to watchbands and zipper pulls on bags, packs, and jackets. They work fine for helping keep track of general direction finding, North/South/East/West, and make for a nice backup.

I attached one of the compasses to a Crisscrossed Solomon Bar paracord bracelet, tied following JD's(TIAT) tutorial, but using a side release buckle instead of a knot/loop closure.

I zigzag spooled 10 feet of 0.9mm braided nylon cord(40lb test) around one of the strikers and will do a Turk's head knot around the other...

I've seen similar flint strikers before, plastic versions made for the military and some brass models, and they work well with getting a spark to ignite prepared tinder, like Tinder-Quick, Wetfire or homemade tinder consisting of cotton balls saturated with petroleum jelly, which can be stored in a pill fob, old film canister, or small zip lock bags and placed in EDC/survival/emergency kits or tins.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

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.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

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.

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

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... ;)

Saturday, March 17, 2012

How to Tie a Paracord Gaucho Knot Video Tutorial...

I uploaded a video for tying this Gaucho knot with paracord, which starts off with tying a 5 lead 4 bight Turk's head knot, then working from that into a Gaucho knot, paying close attention to the overs/unders to correctly tie the knot. The 'Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding' by Bruce Grant, also diagrams the tying of this knot.

Marlinspike Knot Works has a promotional video for their DVDs, that gives a bit of history on Turk's head knots and their variations. I don't have any of their offerings, but for anyone looking to learn more about tying them, the finished examples that they show look very nice.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

3 Pass Gaucho Knot on a flashlight...

I used 0.9mm braided nylon cord to tie a 3 pass Gaucho knot on this 4Sevens Quark Mini AA2 flashlight.

The knot offers a little decorative added grip when operating the twisty on/off switch one-handed, and the white makes it easy to see if dropped or set down on the ground.

I bought this light from GoingGear.com, choosing the 'neutral white' tint LED instead of the slightly higher output 'cool white' version, just because I like the color rendering better. They have hundreds of different flashlights to choose from, and all kinds of other neat gadgets and gear too.

The small size of the two AA battery flashlight allows it to easily fit in my shirt pocket alongside a Zebra F-701 pen, Stainless Steel Sharpie marker, and a Rite in the Rain 3x5 notebook.

The sturdy pocket clip on the flashlight makes it a cinch to secure it to the paracord on my boonie hat for hands free use.

Friday, February 24, 2012

A Shard and a glass...

The Gerber Shard is an inexpensive EDC key chain tool, featuring a prybar, nail puller, wire stripper, screwdrivers, bottle opener, and lanyard hole.

I tied a 7 lead 6 bight turk's head knot, three passes, with about 4 feet of 0.9mm nylon cord for a little extra decorative grip around the center of the tool.

With another Shard, I tied two Spanish Rink Knots, doubled with 0.9mm cord. And another with a Gaucho knot, tied with 2mm cord. The last is shown with a three pass Gaucho knot with black 0.9mm cord.

There was a glass, but I decided not to pop the top on that beer and save it for later...

Sunday, February 05, 2012

Titanium, Delrin, and time...

I made this paracord cross pendant/fob using a few wall knots and four Titanium Cord Clutchs. The Clutchs came as three in a pack, with two having three grooves with one flat end and the other side being semi-conical, which reminded me of Civil War type minie balls, and the other had two grooves and are flat on each end.

I used some 0.9mm black cord to tie a couple of one pass three lead turk's head knots inside the grooves of one Clutch, and just coiled up a couple of feet of glow-in-the-dark sewing thread in each of the grooves of the other Clutch, with simple paracord wrist loop lanyards shown with my Spyderco Salt and Wenger Evogrip 18.

It was a lot quicker/simpler trying the thread than mixing up some glow epoxy to apply with them, since I may try some other mods with them later on, making other lanyards, fobs, zipper pull set-ups, and maybe giving them a go over with my industrial butane torch to see what colors might come out with the titanium...

The neat little slide top Delrin Pocket Box makes a good pill container, but I may fill it with breath mints, which come in handy after a loaded chili cheese slaw dog with extra onions and relish... :P

I worked a 3 lead turk's head knot around it with 0.9mm white cord. A bit of super glue would be needed to secure it to the box. I could probably still do a wide knot around the body of the box and still be able to open it with it's tongue groove/dove tail lid...