The Official Lanyard Thread

[cabdmd]

I did actually. I'm not sure of the strand count but in most cases I find myself pulling a few or all strands on some projects for several reasons: I actually prefer flatter more floppy lanyards. I like to make lanyards removable and fully stranded lanyards are too thick to push 2 strands through most lanyard holes I have. Lastly, I usually pull the sheath up and cut the inner strands after tying the last knot so the singed ends have even colour and don't show the melted white inner strands, also is neater when fraying the ends like a tassel.

I will admit diamond knots do sometimes with the more supple types of paracord look better with the strands intact but the latest batch of 550 cord I have been getting seems stiffer and seems to lay better with a few strands pulled.

Lately I have been experimenting with pulling all the strands then cutting and replacing the 2 sections on either end so the only the loop area that threads through knife has the inner strands removed. Seems to work pretty decent when a fuller cord is needed for certain knots but I still want to make the lanyard removable if I get the lengths of the inner strands cut and threaded accurately. BTW, a needle for replacing the 2 sections of stranding can be made from a wire coat hanger with one end flattened and a hole drilled like a huge long quilters needle.

Edit to add: I also use a Pana-Vise with base to hold cord or item when tying knots, makes a world of difference getting things tight and well placed.

I see that your skill set is way past my pay grade. Post a picture when you are done, and I am sure that you know what you’re doing.

 

[CableGirl]

Oh, not with paracord. I was a quilter since I was younger which is where I got the re-threading with long needle idea. I come from a creative family, that's all. I'm sure Mr. Graley has been at it and has far more experience with paracord than I.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Lol let’s leave Mr Graley be if we can
As I’m not any expert on this, and never laid claim to be, just an enthusiast at heart and my ideas are just that, my ideas. Glad to share
G2

 

[firefighterguy]

Added a lanyard to my new Crooked River yesterday--black nylon 550 with two crown and diamond knots and an @Inspiribomb matte finish Ultem bead.

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

G2

Those look amazing! Do either of you have video links on how to tie them?

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks, I did make a tutorial Seen Here

G2

 

[ChazzyP]

Those look amazing! Do either of you have video links on how to tie them?

That's a pair of Crown and Diamond knots on my Crooked River. Here's a link to a good vid on that. There's also an extended Crown and Diamond. Here's a closer look at the Crown and Diamonds on my CR from a couple pages back after adding O-rings to the bead. It takes a bit of patience to get those knots all cinched up evenly and you can see the one on the left still needs a little work.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Most knives have a lanyard hole, some a lanyard tube, others a hidden lanyard pin...my fav but those with just a hole through the scales mean that you will increase the overall thickness of the handle by having the paracord above the scales on both sides.

In cases like that I try to utilize one of the spacers if available, but often times the edge is too close to allow the paracord in that space. So on my Kizer Ophid, it has such a lanyard hole, I don't have much in the way of machining equipment at home but I took a wooden kabob stick thingy you get at the food stores and cut off two short sections. Then I 'batoned' down through one of the pieces, well, just pushed my blade down through no actual batoning and used that split piece to be a wedge as I inserted the two pieces into the lanyard hole. Essentially creating a makeshift bar that I can then wrap my paracord around, that way keeping the thickness of the handle alone. I took some black magic marker to the top surfaces so it really blends in pretty good. As I am not risking my life by hanging onto the lanyard high above the ground, it doesn't have to be super strong and for a short section of that wood, it's plenty strong and being wedged in, it stays put.

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

as mentioned before, I favour the whipping knot to keep the lanyard under control near the handle and that helps here too.

Edited to add, that last spacer did not have enough clearance for the paracord, so I had to go this route...
G2

 

[ChazzyP]

I picked up a couple new knives in the last week and tied up a fresh lanyard on the latest, an old school Shirogorov 100NS Tabargan. I tried some attractive, slightly glossy grey cord I had with a couple crown and diamond knots and one of my blue glass beads, but it was much to stiff for my tastes, so I switch to this nylon/nylon 550 with the same bead and two extended crown and diamonds. I'm with C CableGirl above, preferring my lanyards floppy, and like to run them them long so they hang straight down outside my pocket.

 

[Primitivepete]

 

[Primitivepete]

 

[David Nowlin]

Where can i buy some cool beads?

 

[David Nowlin]

 

[David Nowlin]

Ok found some cool beads ie Gladiator, Spartan, Snake and Celtic Skull style. But 21-27 dollars each?? It’s a tuff call. Are they really worth it?? Maybe i should start a new bead thread lol

 

[Rose and Thistle Custom]

 

[ChazzyP]

I recently received my new Cheburkov Raven, custom-ordered from Alexandr's workshop, and it took me a while to get a beaded lanyard on it. On the one hand, I didn't want a metallic bead that would bang up such a pretty knife, even though I got it to carry and use (the custom-order was made for a stonewashed blade finish to be more wear hiding than the satin or polished versions). On the other hand, with no lanyard hole, I had to tie up around the back post which is dreadfully close to the blade's edge and point.

I don't mind the blade cutting up the cord a little there as long as the tang hits the stop-pin properly, but what sucks is when the lanyard moves a little and gets caught on the point, stopping the blade from opening. Gary W. Graley 's whipping cord technique is the perfect solution to keep the lanyard tight around that post, but I neither have mastered that nor have any of that material, so I determined to tie one tight snake knot up against the butt on the knife to keep the cord in place and proceeded to use some of that glossy gray cord I'd rejected for my Tabargan above, partially gutted to make it a bit floppier and also to run tighter on the post. It worked really well for the latter, but the Polyester cord was still too stiff and I didn't like how it flattened out the crown and diamond knots when gutted...

...so off it came. I did like the modestly-priced black Delrin bead I found at Etsy, though, so I re-tied that with the Nylon cord I used on the last knife, un-gutted, using two extended Crown and Diamonds with the same bead and am somewhat happier with the result...

...though not entirely so. Despite my preference for long and floppy, this one came out just a bit too long and bulky with the extended knots. I do like the bead OK, but what I really want is one in red CTek to match the knife. I'm going to write to the maker from Etsy (who is also here at BF, but no longer seems to be paid/registered and is long-absent) to see if he can do something in CTek for me as his work and prices seem good. In the meantime, I'll work at finding some whipping cord and perfecting Gary's technique for cases like this. Definitely a work in progress....

 

[Gary W. Graley]

That's a beautiful folder right there, very nice and a couple of tips on doing the whipping knot,
waxed thread, I use this thread
And after you wrap around the section you are 'whipping' take a pair of pliers to give a strong pull on one side of the loop so it tugs the starting end nice and tight, be sure to pull it quite strongly
Then slip the end through the loop and pull on the starting end to bring that back and underneath the wrapped area.
Snip off the one end with a small pair of scissors and carefully pull the cut end all the way under and then snip the starting area piece of thread close to the start.

G2

 

[ChazzyP]

Thanks for the tips, Gary W. Graley . Do you use the .020" single-ply cord?

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Ah my selection did not carry through when I copied the url, glad you asked

I have the .040” version

G2

 

[ChazzyP]

I just picked up a couple sweet Shirogorov-related beads off the Exchange. One of them is a Dmitry Sinkevich Gaudi bead that I'll find a place for eventually, and the other is a vintage Shirogorov/Nasgul bead from the initial run of Shiro beads that was destined to grace my F3 Python from the time I pulled the trigger on it. It was time for a new tail on the old snake anyway and I tied up a simple 6 snake knot lanyard out of green nylon 550 with the new bead in the middle.

 

[Tigerden]

I just picked up a couple sweet Shirogorov-related beads off the Exchange. One of them is a Dmitry Sinkevich Gaudi bead that I'll find a place for eventually, and the other is a vintage Shirogorov/Nasgul bead from the initial run of Shiro beads that was destined to grace my F3 Python from the time I pulled the trigger on it. It was time for a new tail on the old snake anyway and I tied up a simple 6 snake knot lanyard out of green nylon 550 with the new bead in the middle.

Can someone help me figure out how to pull 550 paracord through a Shiro TI Petal Bead? I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong. Maybe wrong size paracord? I've tried pulling out thread strands to no avail. This is my first attempt at doing a lanyard with beads. Thanks.