A new project, pays off with excellent results.

So for sometime now I have been wanting natural fiber rope. So I decided, what the hell, I'll make some myself. AA couple friends had told me it was time consuming, but rather easy. So I said, what the hell, and went to hobby lobby and bought a spool of 4 ply natural jute. I am not going to go into the full process, but here are the results of about an hours worth of work. 15 ft. of about 6mm rope.

Turks Head Knots And Water Bottles.

I was in a turks head kind of mood today, and decided to wrap the neck of my old Klean Kanteen, and the small detented area of my brand new Sigg bottle. Also i used old scrap paracord for the old bottle, and beand new military issue for the Sigg. Both are 3 lead 5 bight turksheads. In a twist, instead of tucking the standing and working ends inside the knot, I decided to go ahead and make small tassles out of both ends.

On the Sigg I did a lanyard knot, then used a two hole black bean cord lock on the strands. I did a simple blood knot on each strand to keep the cord lock from coming off.

On the Klean Kanteen I used two lanyard knots to finish it up.

I will post better pics tomorrow, my camera is charging. lol

My first attempt at a can koosie. In Vertical Half Hitching

I get a lot of ideas from fellow bloggers and knot tying fanatics. This one came from Stormdrane, who recently posted a koozie in the same hitching. I have been wanting to try a koozie for some time now and wasn't sure which one I wanted to try. This one is a bit difficult for a first attempt, but I'm happy with the results!

As you can see this style works for both cans, and bottles.

I wish I had my camera working, these pics are from my cell phone. I apologize for the quality and will be posting better ones in the near future.

 I first learned of this style of hitching from a video tutorial by TIAT on youtube. He has great video tutorials for decorative knots. And all of them are fun to follow along with.


I have a few other projects in the works, and will be posting about them soon.

Moku Hitching handle wrap on a Bokken!

For those that don't know, a bokken is a traditional training katana made out of hardwood. Some are oak, some are ash, white ash is the most traditional wood used.

I decided to try a handle wrap on one of my old bokkens to see how it went. I decided to go with Moku hitching for the bulk of the wrap. I used a 1.5mm nylon cord for the moku hitching, as well as for the 3 lead 5 bight turks head knot at the fuchi kashira end (pommel end of handle) of the boken. I also used normal 550 paracord in foliage green for the 3 lead 5 bight turks head knot at the tsuba area (hilt area). The cord I used is not my first choice of cord or color. But it worked well for what I was doing. I would have prefered a cotton cord but nylon is what I had.

I have included links to a couple tutorials for these knots. On the Moku Hitching one it is a tutorial for half Moku hitching, but also has instructions for the full Moku Hitching.

Keen Edge Training Knives

I am an assistant instructor for R.A.V.E.N. Tactical Systems Colorado, a division of R.A.V.E.N. Tactical Systems International. I'm also the International Quartermaster. SO one of my duties as such is to find quality training supplies and good EDC knives. In my search for a quality training knife at a great price I came upon Keen Edge Knives! Keen Edge Knives is local here in Colorado, a family business with one goal, make quality training knives and live blades. I personally think they make the best training blades I have ever used. If you are involved in a knife based martial art or a modern combatives I am willing to bet you have already seen or know of Keen Edge Knives.

We partnered with Keen Edge to produce our training blades and live blades for R.A.V.E.N. Tactical Systems International. We have designed two blades that are currently in production, The RAVEN Operator and the RAVEN Guardian. Both knives are a specific design to fit what we feel are needed in a good knife. One for operators such as military, the other for EDC and for back up for Police and Security professionals.

On the top is the RAVEN Operator, it's a combat sized blade in the just under 6" category. The bottom is the RAVEN Guardian, it's a 3" blade that is legal to carry in most areas. Both have a long handle with a large guard and a deep return. This allows you to choke out on the handle and still retain grip while giving you more range with the blade.

When I was asked by Keen Edge to find a way to wrap their handles with a two color scheme, I gladly accepted. They already use a very familiar knot to do their handle wraps. It's the basic cobra knot, made from a single length of paracord. The best way I found to use two lengths was to use a hole in the handle about three inches from the guard. I melted two strands together and took them back up the handle to another hole right below the guard. then did a normal cobra knot with the two colors. This accomplished two things. It got two colors on the handle, and made the grip a bit thicker where the two strands returned up the handle under the cobra knot.

Here is the handle I wrapped for them as an example. This is one of their most popular designs. The P3 or tactical folder. As you can see they also make good kydex sheaths for their blades, both live and training.

New and improved key keeper!

So I decided to try my key keeper another way. After thinking it over and deciding to use the same doubled cobra stitch I am going to use on my belt project, I really like the way these turned out! I used 1" snap hooks from Mil-Spec Monkey in coyote brown and foliage green. I used OD green and coyote on the one and OD green and foliage green on the other.

Second Diamond Braid

So after I showed my combatives instructor the first item I made with the diamond braid he thought i should make another item that could be used as a "flex" weapon. A flex weapon is just that, a flexible tool used for self defense. You can use a large bandanna, a small bit of rope or what not. So I made him a flex, about a foot and a half long, out of red and black 550 paracord.  I used the same method to start as i did on the choker, a doubled lanyard knot. And used the snake knot as before as a whipping. But after the whipping used another doubled lanyard knot to finish it. I added a snake knot as whipping around the starting end as well to give it uniformity. And as the first time I used a bit of black 550 paracord to go through the first lanyard knot so it could not collapse on itself, finished with a normal lanyard knot.

A small key fob on a whim.

I had a few object laying in the top tray of my paracord toolbox that I had yet found a use for. I had a small spring clip and a stone skull with a hole large enough to use with paracord. I'm not sure what the stone is, but it's red with black marbling. It may be Jasper, but I'm no geologist. So I did a simple Cobra stitch (Solomon bar) fob with the spring clip on one end and the skull on the other. I used foliage green paracord for this one. And I think that is quickly becoming one of my favorite colors of paracord.

First attempt at a diamond braid.

I recently made my first attempt at a diamond braid. I used black and tan 550 paracord and made a choker of sorts. I used a lanyard knot doubled up to start. To keep the knot from collapsing on itself i put a single strand of black 550 paracord through the loop, finishing it off with another lanyard knot. I then used the diamond braid to get it roughly the length I wanted. To end it I used a snake knot to whip the end. Leaving a loop to capture the lanyard knot in.

Paracord Knife Handle Wrap.

I have a CRKT Stiff K.I.S.S. knife that I have wrapped the handle in a two strand figure 8 weave. I used OD green and coyote brown. Finished the knife off with two lanyard knots.