BEGINNERS GUIDE TO TYING A PARACORD FOB

TYING A PARACORD FOB

This tutorial is directed toward the novice knot tying enthusiast, but the intermediate knot head might find this useful as well.

You probably recognize the design, it is known by many different aliases: Solomon Bar, Portuguese Sennit, Cobra Stitch, or King Cobra Stitch. The Solomon Bar is simply a series of Half Knots. In this guide, I will be showing a simple technique of tying a Solomon Bar keychain. Once you learn the fundamentals of tying this knot, you can expand the design to create lanyards, bracelets and more.

SUPPLIES

feet of paracord. When purchasing paracord, I recommend only buying paracord from a reputable source; I have used and trust the following suppliers: Camping Survival, Supply Captain, Vermonts Barre. RULER Anything you can use to measure the paracord. SCISSORS Anything you can use to cut the paracord. LIGHTER Used to singe the ends of the paracord. If you are going to be tying more paracord designs, I suggest purchasing a Plaid Craft Tool (Wood Burner); this will cut and singe the paracord at the same time.

PARACORD For this project, you need 10

1.

Once you have gathered the supplies, we can

2.

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begin tying the fob. Start by middling the 10 strand of paracord (simply place both ends side-by-side, the curve on the other end of the two strands should be the center point of the paracord).

TYING A PARACORD FOB

The total length of the fob should be 7 (2 for the loop, 4 for the Solomon Bar).

3.

Tie the first Half Knot at the 7 mark.

4.

Pull the Half Knot taught.

5.

To tie the next Half Knot, you need to look at the previous Half Knot; the one on top will always remain on top and vice versa for the bottom. Bring the right strand over to the left.

6.

Bring the left strand over the right, underneath the two vertical strands and then out the loop.

7.

Pull the Half Knot taught.

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8.

Start the second Half Knot by determining

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which strand goes on top of the two vertical strands. Remember: The strand atop the vertical strands in the previous Half Knot will remain on top. Bring the left strand over the two vertical strands.

9.

Bring the right strand over the left strand, then underneath the two vertical strands and then out and over to complete the second Half Knot.

10.

Pull the second Half Knot taught and then bring the right strand over the two vertical strands to begin the third Half Knot.

11.

Bring the right strand over the left strand, then underneath the two vertical strands and then out and over to complete the third Half Knot.

12.

Pull the third Half Knot taught by pulling the left and right strands.

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TYING A PARACORD FOB

13.

Continue tying Half Knots, remembering to keep the same strand on top of the two vertical strands.

14.

Rotate the Solomon Bar with the loop facing down and the ruler placed beside it. Stop tying Half Knots once you reach 2 on the ruler.

15.

You have now tied a Solomon Bar, if you like this look, you can stop tying here by cutting the ends and then use the lighter to singe the ends. If you choose to continue you will simply be doubling the Solomon Bar. To begin, you will need to determine which strand will go over and atop the Solomon Bar. This is achieved by looking at the previous Half Knot, you will notice that the left strand is pointing downward and the right strand is pointing upward. You will always use the strand that is pointing downward to go on top of the Doubled Solomon Bar.

16.

As you see by the image, the left strand is pointing downward which means that it will be the top strand.

IMPORTANT: YOUR SOLOMON BAR MAY NOT HAVE ENDED EXACTLY AS MINE; THE STRAND POINTING DOWNWARD MAY BE ON THE OTHER SIDE.

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TYING A PARACORD FOB

17.

Bring the right strand over the left strand and underneath the Solomon Bar and out the left side.

18.

A close-up view of the first Half Knot.

19.

Pull the Half Knot taught by pulling on both strands. If tied correctly, your Doubled Solomon Bar will fall in place on top of the bottom grooves.

20.

To begin the Second Doubled Half Knot, bring the right strand over the Solomon Bar to the left.

21.

Bring the left strand over the right strand and underneath the Solomon Bar and out the right side.

22.

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Pull the Second Half Knot taught by pulling on both strands.

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TYING A PARACORD FOB

23.

To begin the Third Half Knot, bring the left strand over the Solomon Bar to the right.

24.

Bring the right strand over the left strand and underneath the Solomon Bar and out the left side.

25.

Pull the Third Half Knot taught by pulling on both strands.

26.

Continue tying Half Knots, remembering to keep the same strand on top of the Solomon Bar.

27.

To finish the fob, you will need to decide which look you want to choose. You can stop tying at this point, or you can continue to the next step.

28.

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This is the way that I prefer to end the Doubled Solomon Bar, but either way looks okay.

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29.

Since there is very little room left on the bottom Solomon Bar, you may need to sew or super glue the Half Knot to the Solomon Bar to keep it from coming untied.

30.

If you have a Wood Burning Tool you dont need the scissors or lighter. Be careful to keep from melting the outer loop area or burning your fingers (speaking from experience, Ive tested the heat of my Craft Tool many times and I regret every one of them).

Grab the scissors and cut the ends of the strands as close to the loop as possible. Then, use the lighter to melt the ends of the paracord in place.

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TYING A PARACORD FOB

FINAL NOTE

I hope that I didnt skip over the important tying sections too quickly and loose any readers. I tried to cover only the relevant parts so that anyone can pick up some cord and tie this design. Remember that if you dont get it on your first try, dont just give up, when Im struggling to tie a certain design, I will often lay the cord aside and focus my mind on a completely different subject. And then at a later time, when my mind is clear, I will pick the cord back up and often times I will find that I can then tie the design that I was previously giving me trouble to tie.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel to contact me by visiting my blog. You may also want to visit Stormdranes blog for more paracord design ideas and tutorials. And if youve got that knot tying bug, you might want to join the Knot Heads World Wide forum.

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