Paracord Crafts

Making items out of paracord is enjoyable and relaxing. It is nice to be able to kick back with a hank of cord and see what you can create. The sky is the limit when it comes to paracord and people are constantly trying to raise the bar. Paracord crafts are always getting more and more complex and evolved. While this is interesting and makes for fun challenges, sometimes it can be overwhelming. When you set out to complete something and it has a 20 step process, it can become too daunting to...

By now it is no secret that I am a bit obsessed with making your stuff work for you. I cannot help it-I feel like everything in this world needs to pull its weight and toe the line, even the stuff I am carrying with me. It not only has to be useful, but it has to serve multiple uses whenever possible. I am not a fan of being weighed down with a bunch of things I do not need or that cannot serve me, so everything has to have a job, or even a second or third job. Another obsession of mine is...

In your travels you may have seen paracord bracelets with a thin line of some sort running down the center. While some of these are for fashion and because people like to mix and match colors, others actually do have meanings. The most prominently displayed line is probably blue set on a black bracelet. This is known as the \"Thin Blue Line\" and represents police officers; it represents the police force as the thin line between civilians and the criminal element. You have probably seen a...

Something that has grown very popular in our society these days is support and awareness ribbons. They come in various types, but one thing that is always the same is the special meaning behind them. Different colors signify different causes and a lot of times purchasing support ribbons gives money to a charity in support of particular cause. Some of the most widely known support ribbons are yellow to support our troops and pink to support breast cancer. There are several other causes...

Half the fun of owning paracord lies in the experimentation. This could mean anything from trying to find new uses for it or trying to create new methods of tying it. There are several books out there detailing complex paracord patterns and projects as well as knots you can use to bring those projects to life. Online videos are also a great source of inspiration if you prefer. An interesting knot I learned to tie recently is the T-Virus Sinnet. It is a quick, easy to tie knot that can...

The most common paracord bracelet you will see is the cobra stitch (AKA Solomon Bar or Portuguese Sinnet). This is probably because it is the easiest to both make and unravel. It also packs a lot of cord into a small bracelet, that being one foot for every tied inch, making it a logical choice for your survival needs. These bracelets can get a little boring after a while though, so folks have started looking for ways to enhance them. One of the ways this is done is by adding a center stripe....

If you have long hair then you know how much of an annoyance it can be when it falls in your eyes or sticks to your face on a hot, sweaty day. Both men and women implore various techniques to combat this problem, such as hats and scrunchies, but none of those items have survival capabilities. What does have something to offer from a survival standpoint, however, is the paracord headband. While not as popular as they once were in the 1980\'s, headbands are still around and sold in drugstores...

Part of the fun we have in the wilderness involves fishing. The joy of catching fish and cooking it right there, lakeside, are innumerable. There is simply something good and natural about getting back to basics in such a way. Plus fishing is relaxing and enjoyable. How can you not be content casting your line into a body of water and catching some sun while your line eagerly awaits a meeting with a fish? Fishing has become a complex science with all sorts of lures attract fish and convince...

Survival and safety are things often taken for granted while exploring our favorite activities and hobbies. A lot of times, when you leave the house you do not think about the possibility of not making it back. You do not think about the danger or trouble you can encounter along the way. Instead, you leave with fun in mind, not really expecting the worst case scenario. Fact is, there are a lot of activities we humans undertake that involve dangers for which we may not be prepared. Take...

Paracord bracelets are probably the easiest and most common way to carry paracord. Put one on your wrist and it becomes a part of you that goes mostly unnoticed until you need it. It does not get in the way or feel uncomfortable, instead feeling like a second skin of sorts. Plus paracord bracelets come with endless cool points. In a standard bracelet, you have one foot of cord for every tied inch of bracelet. This means that if your bracelet is eight inches, you will have eight feet of...

Widgy bars are small tools with prying capabilities. They are intended for when you don't want to break the end of your knife blade, which we all know would be rather unfortunate and quite a bummer. If the task at hand calls for prying action, a Widgy can get the job done. It can do anything from opening a wooden crate of ammo (its original intent and purpose), to unsticking a desk drawer, prying open a stubborn pop can top, opening paint cans, and much more. There are many reasons to keep a...

Paracord is practically synonymous with survival, and survival is made much easier when you have access to food. Food can come from a lot of sources; you can come across it by going to your neighborhood grocer as well as driving through a nearby fast food joint. Or you can get out there and nab your dinner the ol' fashioned way. Carrying a box of ammo into the woods on a hunt is impractical for several reasons. Not only is it heavy and cumbersome, but it also makes noise. The same goes for...

Yesterday we went over the basics of making a standard dog leash, but there are other, more customizable options out there. One of those options is a leash with an adjustable, or sliding, wrist loop. The advantage of a sliding loop is, well, that it slides. Having an adjustable loop is beneficial in that different people can use the same leash comfortably. An added bonus, for me at least as someone with a large dog that sometimes pulls, is that the sliding loop will cinch down on my wrist...

First of all, one size does not fit all. When you buy a leash, you are giving up customization. You are being fit into a box of what is typically desired and what typically works best and most often. You are becoming a dog walking statistic. Nobody likes a statistic! There are variables with dogs and their preferred manner of walking just like there are variables with everything else in life. You are not going to take your German Shepherd for a walk in the morning and then turn around and...

Protecting oneself has become a reality in this rapidly evolving, or devolving as the case may be, world in which we live. Regardless of the means you choose to protect yourself, it is important to consider the multitude of ways a situation can do down. If someone is threatening your life, your response might not include opting to go easy on them. On the flipside, if you catch someone in your backyard trying to steal the copper from your air conditioning unit, taking their life or inflicting...