Koozies from Paracord and Nylon Cord

I've been meaning to post this for a while, but just never got around to it. In the past I have tried many different possible ways to tie a koozie that will not only cover most of the bottle and fit it correctly, but I also want it to be durable and not smash in on itself. The gaucho interweave on a basic Turks Head Knot fits this bill perfectly. I've tied them out of paracord, as well as solid braided nylon, and both work. I have included some pictures on the final product as well as a couple of in progress.

Turk's Head Knot Tool

Well I've been gathering the materials and trying to find the time for weeks now, and it has finally come to fruition. I got this idea from knottool.com. I found this website and quickly realized I wanted a lot of them and they are a little expensive, so instead I decided to make them myself. This first one that I'm posting is an 8 bight tool. The PCV pipe is 1-1/2" in diameter. The set screws are 6-32 x 1/2" and they have a recessed allen wrench head. I plan on making tubes like this one out of 2" & 3" pipe pretty soon.

Overall I am very happy with it. The only thing I would change is that with an even bight THK, the pins need to be staggered from the top & bottom, instead of lining up straight. Anyways I hope you enjoy!

The example knot I tied is a 9x8 casa.

Workshop

This weekend I finally got my garage cleaned up and organized. I'm pretty slow right now on projects, so here is a picture of my workshop. The vice is mounted to the table and its what I used for most of my braiding and plaiting. The black tool box sitting on the table houses all of my cord, tools, and accessories. Also pictured is all of the books I use when working on new projects.

A Look at the Current Inventory

I've been continuously making new halters, pigging strings, and horn knots. So, I decided to take a picture of all the current products I've put out over the past couple weeks. Everything is made of paracord except for the white halter in the front. It is made from solid braid nylon rope. It's a lot stronger, and I wanted to see if it would be more popular. The last picture is a close up of the flat braid that makes the nose band of the white halter.

Piggin Strings

My latest work has been tying a bunch of piggin string to sell. Each of these is tied with the standard 550 paracord. I used nearly 50 feet of cord for each string. I started with a four strand round braid, created a loop, then continued an 8 strand round braid for a short length. I tapered off this 8 strand round braid to continue on with a 4 strand round braid. The total length of the piggin string is 6.5 feet. I finished it off with a square sinnet and a four strand diamond stopper knot. This wasn't a very difficult project, it just takes a bit of time. If I guessed I would say each of these takes about an hour.

More Halters

For the past two weeks or so I have been working on making more halter of all different colors. This is the same style of halter that I previously posted, only difference is the colors.

Again I used 4 & 8 strand round braids, Spanish Ring knots, and Crown knots.

Here are some pictures, hope you like it:

Newest Lead Rope for Halter

This weekend I finished another lead rope for the next halter. This one was done just like the last except for the finish. I used a 4 strand round braid to make a loop into an 8 strand round braid. I braided the lead rope for about 8 feet. Then I finished it with a 4 strand diamond knot which I then doubled with the remaining 4 strands.

The color of paracord I used has a special name, but I can't remember it. It is lime greenish with a black camo breakup. The total length of cordage used is about 115 feet of 550 paracord.

Halter for Horse Part 2

So here is a project I completed a couple of weeks ago. I didn't have time to take pictures of it in my shop, but I did go out one evening and get pictures of it on the horse. I think this make it look better and actually show its useful purpose. I used only 8 strand braids and 4 strand braids. It took about 200' of paracord. The paracord I used was some kind of blue camo with a reflective tracer. In the future I am going to try to make several of these halters and sell them. I used a couple of Spanish ring knots and a Turks head knot to connect some of the braid as well as make it aesthetically appealing. This project was very similar to the neck rope I made, only more advanced with the complexity.

Neck Rope

The latest project I finished is a neck rope for my brother. I used regular 550 paracord that was blue camo with a reflective tracer added. This was a very simple project which started with a four strand round braid. I then looped this braid and used the eight strand to make an 8 strand round braid. I worked this for a total length of 3 feet. I ended the braid with a 4 strand diamond stopper know, which I double using the remaining 4 strand.

I added some Turk's Head knots in order to keep the rope in place while being used. I tied two 3X5 Turks Heads towards the end of the neck rope. I also tied a 5X4 Turks head close the the loop to serve as a tightening mechanism to keep the loop from sliding around.