A few weeks ago I started playing around with paracord. I always have a bit of paracord on my person. It’s one of the Five C’s.
Lanyards are useful for keeping gear attached to one’s body or kit. I decided to make one for my Marlinspike, even if I don’t normally carry it in my kit. It was my first lanyard and I enjoyed the Zen-work of making it. I learned a few things in the process, as well.
I need to make some lanyards for my multitool (which I do carry in the field) and a fixed-blade knife that stays in my field kit. I might try a three-bight design of the turkshead knot. There are many other patterns as well.
This is good for me. I like it.
N.B. and Edit: A friend pointed out an error — it’s a Marlinspike, not a Martinspike. I can only attribute my error to old eyes, which sometimes have a difficult time reading what I see on the screen. Or, perhaps is just that I’m old. [grin]
There’s an useful article on Wikipedia about the Marlinspike. I bought mine through Amazon (that evil empire) from a favorite vendor, Bored Paracord.
When I Google Martinspike, it asks if I mean Marlinspike (do I), otherwise I can’t find that thing. It’s an intriguing bit of kit and I’d like to know more about it.
Ty, that’s my bad and you can attribute it to old eyes. I edited the post to fix my typographical error.
In addition, I added a link to Wikipedia and a note about where I got my Marlinspike. Mine is machined aluminum and came with three fids inside. The largest fits 550 paracord. The two smaller fit the 450 paracord and the microcord.
It’s a great piece of kit and very useful when working with cordage. A simple clove hitch will provide enough traction to pull the cordage pretty tight. The knot then unties easily.
Thanks for the clarification! I may get one of these for Karna and one for my daughter, their paracord creations are growing in complexity and lately I see crochet hooks & knitting needles being used for various things.
No worries and I needed to correct my typographical error.
The fids are especially important for weaving and finishing the work. I like my stuff to be pretty tight. In addition, a hemostat or two comes in handy when working with cordage, pus they have a multitude of other uses as well.
As previous EMTs we had no shortage of hemostats; it took about 90 seconds on the wife’s first paracord bracelet to realize their worth!!
LOL, I could see that. I was unaware of your EMT background, but the notion of having numerous hemostats about is mildly amusing.
I have a couple in my mobile toolkit and a couple for my cordage box. That’s where I keep my Marlinspike and fids as well.
Oh yeah, if you haven’t already picked one up, a butane (jet) lighter is really handy. They’re more efficient than a Bic and more controllable as well. Plus, they are refillable.
Two of my favorites on You Tube are ‘The Paracordist’ and ‘TyingItAllTogether’ (he has cool music with his videos too)
Griff, I haven’t watched much of either of those. I watch the Bored Paracord channel and Weavers of Eternity a bit. Stormdrane also posts good instruction for a variety of knots.
There’s a Canadian who posts all kinds of practical videos, including general knot tying. It’s good stuff too. I think his channel is Repairs101, if my (sometimes poor) memory serves.