International Guild of Knot Tyers Forum

General => Fancy and Decorative Knotwork => Fancy Knotwork Tutorials => Topic started by: Essexman on November 15, 2011, 11:16:01 AM

Title: How to make a Parcord belt
Post by: Essexman on November 15, 2011, 11:16:01 AM
I've made a couple of these now and thought I'd share some photos and details.
 
I used two guides when making them:
 
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-rugged-and-handy-Paracord-Belt/ (http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-rugged-and-handy-Paracord-Belt/)
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lZss5Tzp54 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lZss5Tzp54)      Thanks JD!    :)

 
You will need ;
- nice belt buckle
- paracord
- something to cut the cord with
- something to melt/burn the cord with
- something to measure the cord and your waist
- lots of time
 
When you first get your cord you will need to pre shrink it. I put mine in the sink for approx 20 mins with warm to hot water. Then take it out and let it dry.
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3885.jpg)
 
For this belt I ended up using 40 foot of Orange and 50 foot of Tan for a 52 inch waist belt.
 
This is how I start the belt.
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3886.jpg)
The outer orange and tan cords are my working ends, the inside orange pair are the core cords.
 
For the details of weaving the cobra stitch watch the youtube link above.
 
After a while it become second nature and you just have to keep going, checking that you don't make any mistakes along the way.
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3887.jpg)
 
and some more
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3921.jpg)
 
When you get near your waist length you need to think about the end. I went approx 5 inches past the waist length and then started the end work.
 
Now take the two outer working cords and make a a cobra weave
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3922.jpg)
 
 
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3923.jpg)
 
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3924.jpg)
 
I have the advantage of having a paracord needle for the next part, but you can do the same with other tools.
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3925.jpg)
 
Now feed the cord back under the weave. MAKE SURE YOU ARE ON THE BACK OF THE BELT!
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3926.jpg)
 
and after some time you sould have something like this
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3929.jpg)
 
Cut the cords and burn/melt flatten the ends. Yes it looks a mess, but no one will see that side (if you did it right!)
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3930.jpg)
 
you see..otherside
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3931.jpg)
 
This is how to make the loop to keep the tail in place
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3933.jpg)
 
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3934.jpg)
 
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3935.jpg)
 
and then weave the cobra stitch again
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3936.jpg)
 
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3938.jpg)
 
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3939.jpg)
 
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3940.jpg)
 
How it should look in the end
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF3944.jpg)
 
I my have missed some points, feel free to ask questions.
Title: Re: How to make a Parcord belt
Post by: squarerigger on November 16, 2011, 05:51:19 AM
Brilliant!  Thanks for posting this...

SR
Title: Re: How to make a Parcord belt
Post by: Blueberzerker26 on December 08, 2011, 03:13:57 AM
Very cool! love the colors as well. I've made a couple of belts but i used the slatt's rescue belt pattern (attached). Very tedious work hahaha. but i haven't thought of using the wide solomon bar design. i'll definitely have to do this soon!  :P Awesome belt though!
Title: Re: How to make a Parcord belt
Post by: Essexman on December 12, 2011, 08:43:40 AM
Thanks for the kind words. 

Having made a couple of belts now, my 9yr old wants one. So the next one will be camo pink and neon pink!

The slatts looks so cool, next year I'm going to make one of those. have you ever seen the slatts made into a bracelet?  That's another item on my long "to do" list.
Title: Re: How to make a Parcord belt
Post by: kagerous on December 12, 2011, 10:46:56 PM
I know how much work making a belt takes, and I did it the easy way. Using a king cobra knot. The hardest problem was keeping the long strands from getting tangled. Yours looks much better than mine. You may want to try glue on the ends next time. Great work.
Title: Re: How to make a Parcord belt
Post by: Blueberzerker26 on December 18, 2011, 07:53:34 PM
@Essexman I have thought about making the slatts design as a bracelet but i have not seen a pic of one. sounds so cool tho i'll have to make one now tho :P and you'll definitely have to post that belt it sounds really cool!
Title: Re: How to make a Parcord belt
Post by: Essexman on December 19, 2011, 09:14:47 AM
@Essexman I have thought about making the slatts design as a bracelet but i have not seen a pic of one. sounds so cool tho i'll have to make one now tho :P and you'll definitely have to post that belt it sounds really cool!

I've seen slatts as bracelets over at the usual suspect forum (USN). There's a huy who makes and sells them over there.

Or just do a google image search "slatts bracelet" !  I really like the way they look.

I finished the pink belt last night and forgot to take any photos. I'll try and grab it before it's wrapped up in Christmas paper!
Title: Re: How to make a Parcord belt
Post by: Essexman on December 28, 2011, 12:46:32 PM
Here we go. A Christmas gift for my 9 yr old, she picked the colours....
 
(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t212/essexman/Paracord%20belts/DSCF4078.jpg)
Title: Re: How to make a Parcord belt
Post by: Blueberzerker26 on December 28, 2011, 10:55:59 PM
That is wicked cool.  :P Love the color combination. Awesome job! Where do you purchase your Hardware for the buckles or the paracord? There's a website called Strapworks.com that has a variety of hardware that could be useful for tying and what not.