Hey - I made my first paracord bracelet yesterday! It is a single cobra weave with a plastic buckle in Desert Camo, all supplies from Hobby-Lobby. I'm really happy about how it turned out although it is a bit snug on my wrist. I followed the You Tube video by Survival Pax. It was pretty good. A few lessons learned: - I recommend a solid color pastel cord (such as beige) for your first project. A color flecked cord makes it a bit busy and more difficult to follow the weave pattern. - Leave a little more slack (1/2") than recommended, because the bracelet gets a little smaller as you weave it. - prior to clipping the ends and singeing, try the bracelet on for size. Up to this point, you can undo the weave, adjust the length and reweave it. Once you snip, you are committed. Hobby-Lobby didn't have a lot of supplies to choose from, REI had no paracord, just utility cord measured by its diameter in millimeters and their buckles were too big. Michael,s crafts had even less than Hobby-Lobby and were more expensive. I guess the on line venders are the best choice for variety and quality.
Glad to hear you're happy with it and enjoyed yourself! Yeah trying it on before you snip and burn it is a must till you get it down. Will save money and a few headaches. Post up a pic if you get a chance!
You made some very true beginner points to remember. Once you make a paracord jig like I now use you won't have to worry about the bracelet getting smaller. But yeah before I used a jig (which was years ago) I used to check three times the sizing before I snipped the ends. I checked the size in the beginning, middle, then end when I was finished weaving/tying. As far as inventory of paracord. A lot of us our getting ready for craft fairs, county fairs, etc. Matter of fact I just ordered the last in black paracord from my online supplier. So yeah it's kind of hard to find paracord from popular vendors. Show us some pics of your bracelet.
I use a free image hosting site like Photobucket. Upload images there, and copy/paste the IMG code in the reply box here. It's free, and i probably have 5k in photos backed up there... I find this better then having to fool around w attachment size limits on forums.
Its strange that yours ended up smaller. I've recently picked up the hobby and mine always end up bigger. I measure after the first knot, but it seems mine have steadily gotten bigger. I intentionally started one smaller tonight and it ended up being a full inch and half bigger. Any ideas? It was my first fish weave.
Yea! I figured out how to post a photo! These are the first two bracelets I made. The single color Cobra weave was first, followed by the two color Cobra weave. I have also made a King Cobra bracelet (not pictured).
I'm a big guy and I'm heavy handed. So with that in mind I tend to tie my knots really tight. So that's why my bracelets got smaller and I have to measure at least three times.
I do the same constantly pulling the knots up so it's very tight. I think it's just moving on me when I'm doing that. Any thoughts on melting the underside of the top cord and top side of the bottom cord together so it doesn't move?
I haven't tried doing that and never will since it going to ruin part of the cord. I'm always prepared to take apart my bracelet if the need arises so I only burn off the ends. Once you build/buy a paracord jig all your para cording problems (with bracelets) will be just about solved.
One thing I do when making bracelets is to preshrink the cord. When cord gets wet, it tends to shrink about 5% (I tested "The Paracordist"s theory and he was right)... If you think you may get it wet from sweat, pools, beaches, etc.... I would shrink it in some boiling water first. Just make sure to add that to the "pre shrink" measuring.. Turned out great though! I really like the desert camo and black.
I have been wondering about this too! I have googled deploying survival bracelets but nothing showed. If we are to make the items tight, tie off properly so it doesnt unravell, how do we undo it when needed?
It's really simple. Just work the end loose with your thumbnail and it will come apart easily. On a single color Cobra weave bracelet, you should end up with one piece about 7 feet long. On a two color bracelet you should get two pieces about 3 1/2 feet long.
