Knotty Pirate

I wanted to make a lanyard to keep my "Every Day Carry" stuff handy.


Here you see the finished project...




I started with a Lanyard Knot on a loop.


The Lanyard Knot is a very simple knot to tie and adds a little bit of decorative flair to the lanyard.



Then begin to tie the Snake Knot.


You will continue to tie the Snake Knot until you reach the desired length.


TIP: I always use forceps when tying the Snake Knot. It just makes things a bit easier.

Now give yourself a couple of inches to make a loop. This loop will be used to attach to the carabiner.


Now tie another Lanyard Knot.


Carefully cut off the remaining ends and melt to prevent from fraying.
Attach the lanyard to the caribiner by feeding the bottom loop through the loop you just made. Then pull tight.







Lastly I add my "Every Day Carry" stuff...


Enjoy...

I wanted to give my girlfriend a bracelet to let her know how much I love her. But I thought a big Survival Bracelet wouldn't look so nice on her slender wrist. So I searched the Ashley Book of Knots and came up with the True Lovers Knot (ABOK #798).







I started with 6 feet of paracord and melted the ends of the cord.







We are going to start with a 2 Strand Matthew Walker Knot. Form a loop and hold the loop under your thumb. Now make 2 additional loops. One loop will have the running end going in front (left loop), and the other loop will have the running end going behind (right loop).





Take the running end from the front and go through the opposite loop. This is the end coming from the left and going through the right loop.

Take the running end from the back and go through the opposite loop. This is the end coming from the right and going through the left loop.




Now you pass the running ends through the loops one more time...

Take the end coming from the left loop and pass it through the right loop.

Take the end coming from the right loop and pass it through the left loop.

Keep the cords going in the same direction...


Carefully pull tight. You will have to make a few adjustments to get the knot tight. Just keep working the looseness out of the knot.


Now we will tie the True Lovers Knot. Take one of your cords and tie a simple over hand knot.






Tie a second over hand knot by passing the running end through the loop of the first over hand knot.






Pull tight to form the True Lovers Knot







Now we are are going to tie the Lanyard Knot. I forgot to take pictures of this knot, so I have included a link to a video on how to tie this knot.

Cut the excess cord as close to the knot as possible and melt the ends.



Take the Lanyard knot and pass through the loop formed by the Matthew Walker Knot... If the loop of the Matthew Walker Knot is too big you will have to loosen the MW Knot and reduce the size of the loop and then tighten it up again. (Or if your lazy, just grab a needle and thread and sew up the loop to make it smaller.)

Here is a picture of the handle of one of my walking sticks. I tied a series of Half Hitches or French Whipping (ABOK #3450) in BLACK paracord. Then I took 2 lengths of PURPLE paracord and I tied 2 Turks Heads Knots on the top and the bottom of the French Whipping. The Turks Heads are 5 bite, 3 lead knots that have been tripled.

The French Whipping gives the handle a nice grip that doesn't slip when my hands get sweaty on a hike...

I like to have a flashlight with me at all times. You just never know when you will need a light to look under the couch for the tiny screw of your eyeglasses that just came out. I always have my keys with me so what better place to carry a tiny flashlight.  I attached the Photon Light to my key chain. It's small, it's bright, and it weighs next to nothing. So here is my problem...

When I need the light, I have to fumble through all my keys to find the light.


So here is the solution to my little problem. When ever I make a project, I sometimes end up with a scrap of cord that may be used for a small project so I keep it. I looked through my scraps and found a piece of paracord about 3 feet long, just perfect for what I planning. I also found a split ring from an old key chain I had laying around.

Loop the paracord through the split ring and begin to tie a Solomon Bar (ABOK((Ashley Book of Knots)) #2496).
Continue to tie the Solomon Bar until you either run out of cord or until the knot is long enough. Cut the ends off with sharp scissors and melt the ends with a lighter.

I now attach the Photon Light to the loop of the key fob. The key fob is longer than anything else on my key chain. So no matter how I grab for my keys, the light is always the lowest hanging item so I can always find it right away.

Problem solved.

Well my own curiosity got the best of me and I couldn't wait to see what a Two Color TWISTED Solomon Bar would look like. So I got up today and made one...
Whats the difference between a Straight Solomon Bar and a Twisted Solomon Bar??? Well as the name suggests the Twisted Solomon Bar is TWISTED... To make a Straight Solomon Bar you alternate left and right cords going in front of the knot. So if you start with the left, going in front of the knot, while the right goes to the back of the knot. The next knot will be right goes in front while the left goes in the back...

With the Twisted Solomon Bar you will only go ONE direction. If you start with the left going in front of the knot, you will continue all the remaining knots going left in front... It really does not matter which direction you go... left or right. It's a matter of preference. Going left will twist the knots one direction and going right will twist the knots in the opposite direction.
In this picture you can see the RED cord is starting on the left and is going in front...


Once you tighten the knot, you will see the RED cord is NOW on the Right and the BLACK cord is NOW on the LEFT. To continue with the Twisted Solomon Bar I am always going to cross the LEFT cord in front of the knot.
Here you can see the LEFT cord passing in front. The next knot the RED cord will be the LEFT and will go in front.
Continue making the knot passing the LEFT cord in front of the knot.

  
After a few knots you will see the Twists begin to form.




This is what a Two Color Twisted Solomon Bar will begin to look like.

Continue tying the knot keep passing the LEFT cord in front of the knot.

And here you have it...

A Two Color Twisted Solomon Bar

What would happen if you made a Solomon Bar with 2 different color paracords???? Well let's find out...

Start your Solomon Bar as normal... for this little experiment we are going to use a Straight Solomon Bar, maybe in the future we will tackle a Twisted Solomon Bar with two colors to see what happens...






After a few knots you can see the pattern begin to form. One color will be the edges of the knot, and the other color will be going across the knot. In this picture the RED paracord is on the edges and the BLACK paracord is going across the knot.










This is what you will get at the end....


But wait....


There is  a surprise coming...







If you turn it over the colors are reversed...

And now the BLACK paracord is on the edge and the RED is going across the knot...


And that, my friends, is what a Two Color Solomon Bar looks like.