Tag: Rope Work

Hatband for the straw hat

Sorry, this one happened too quickly for pictures. Seriously, once I started tying it just flew between my fingers.

The construction of the snake knot has the cords reversed on the inside. (Red is wrapped around black.) This means that the colors of the True Lovers Knot in the center are opposite the snake knot for a bit of visual contrast.
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8 Strand Herringbone Braid Variations.

So I started playing with paracord and wanted to do some experiments with color.

This is an eight* strand herringbone braid in two colors. I find it interesting how changing the order of the colors changes the overall appearance of the project.

So far, the eight strand herringbone braid is my favorite braid. The biggest reason is that when it’s evenly tensioned, the finished braid is square in cross section. It’s quite striking visually and feels very interesting.

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Ridge line in detail.

The ridge line is a critical, but fairly simple part of the tarp setup. I started with a 50’ length of reflective paracord. Some people use a 30′ long line, this one may become shorter in the future.

Some people don’t like paracord, but it’s a known quantity for me and I’m not convinced that the alternatives are significantly better.

My ridge line starts with a bowline. The bowline never gets untied.

The bowline. Probably my most used knot.
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Still another tent (but not really)

For some reason I started shopping for backpacking tents. But I couldn’t find one I liked. They all had one or more fatal flaws –

  • Too heavy
  • Too small when pitched
  • Too large when packed
  • Too expensive

But I think I may have found the perfect solution.

Continue reading “Still another tent (but not really)”