Please Delete

Please delete - It would not let me do it as it said it was entered in a contest.

Comments

[etb]

I know it's been said, but thought I'd put my two cents in.  As an outdoor professional, I have been involved in and seen number of studies relating to outdoor safety, and in particular, rope systems.

They all amount to this:  DO NOT use paracord to rappel!

The average rappel under "normal" conditions can produce forces of 900 lbs on the rope and anchors with a 160lb rappeller.  Way beyond the limit of the safety rating for single strand paracord.  And when you start dealing with "force factor" falls, things go sideways in a hurry.  Look into it.

Even more of a danger is the threat of shearing.  When a cord is weighted and stretched, in gets longer, skinnier, and easier to cut.  Paracord sheaths are absolutely not designed to withstand that any kind of abrasion against rocks encountered when on rappel.

DO NOT do a 'Bear Grylls'!  Find some other way down the cliff!


PS. Even 'Bear' is not stupid.  On his "rappels" if you look carefully you can see an actual rappel/belay line passed through the sleeve of his jacket and, presumably, up to an appropriate anchor.  ~ Or maybe Bear is stupid, but his producers definately are not.

[Connoraircadets]

bear grills does not use paracord in any of his rappels :) just thought u should know

[cortchops]

hes also fake there's tons of videos about it

[hydrnium.h2]

actually, I covered this in my High school physics class. It involves impulse momentum, where p=mv (p=impulse momentum, m=mass, v=velocity) because an object always falls at 9.8 m/s^2, then velocity increases exponentially. Therefore a 2 second fall for a 100 kg person from rest, would result in 100kg*(9.8m/s^2*2)=100*19.6=1960 N of downward force, assuming the paracord does not stretch. If the paracord is rated for 400 pounds, then it should hold 1778 Newtons of force. A small, jerking fall using paracord to rappel would result in the breakage of that paracord and the rappeler's death That is the science behind these warnings below So, yeah... rapelling with paracord is a bad idea

[allthegoodnamesaretaken]

I like it.

[trevyboy]

thats why you take your paracord and double or even triple it up to repel because the stuff can take 550 lbs of force, so if you triple it up, that 550x3=1650 lbs of force and that is way more then 900 lbs of force, doubles actually.

[Poet_rocker]

As a matter of genuine inquiry; Would paracord suffice for a short rappel in an emergency? And would a tight paracord weave (possibly using a higher weight cord) work as a climbing/belay harness?

[Jake22]

That is a question that has many answers. Lets start with the short rappel in an emergency. It is clearly the wrong choice if your bringing it with the idea that you may need it for a short rappel. There are much better choices, although lets say your in a burning building to high to jump out the only window exit - certainly giving it a try may be worth it if there is no other options. If you think there is a chance you may need it to rappel you should be carrying a better similar cord like spectra. There are many factors at play here. The small diameter of the cord makes it difficult to grip for a rappel. The dynamic loads on the cord will exceed its breaking strength even with a relatively light person. Knots, bends, fraying, uv light etc can all further reduce the breaking strength by more than half. Friction on even a short rappel with a carabiner can heat the cord to the point of melting (I have seen this happen in as little as 20 feet). While all these factors are still at play in making a swiss seat or other type of harness they are much less. The cord would actually be more likely to survive as a harness. I would still double it up (and it would be incredibly uncomfortable because of its thin diameter as a swiss seat). The dynamic forces would be much less, you would still have the reduction in strength from the knotting or any reduction from previous use or exposure factors like fraying and uv exposure but you wouldn't have the friction problem either.

[intheshaw]

Please put it back, the best paracord belt instructions I have seen.

[darman12]

Why do you want to take this instructable off? Anything paracord is worthy to be seen by everybody!!!

Please put it back!!!!!!!!

[Colonel88]

I don't get the "cross over the strands after each pair of knots" thing. Which strands do I cross over? Can you elaborate or post a picture or two showing which strands? Because quite frankly I don't get how or which strands to cross over.

Thanks in advance

[Jake22]

I don't know where you quoting that from but as mentioned in step 6

After each set of square knots (first on the right then on the left- Step 4 and 5).

Cross the 5th strand from the left over the 4th strand from the left.

[tjarrod]

This is probably my favorite Instructable ever!!!

So far I have made myself one brown and one black belt. I made another brown belt for my two year old son. I made his thinner by only using two core strands (one on each side) rather than four. I have even started making them as gifts for friends and family. The belts are very comfortable and durable.

Initially I had a hard time finding belt buckles… The first one I made with a buckle I cut off of an old belt bought from a consignment shop. The biggest problem I ran into was when searching for belt buckles online all I was getting were the big ornate ones that usually accompany ten-gallon hats and pointy-towed leather boots (no offense to those who sport that look… its just not me). I finally discovered that what I should have been searching for were “Heel Bar” buckles. Since then I have been mostly using BuckleGuy.com. Their buckles are fairly simple, come in a variety of finishes and seem to be sturdy and look good on the belts.

The only change I have made to the original design is on the keeper. I have been gutting the inner strands out of the length of paracord I use for the keeper. It makes the keeper significantly thinner while still keeping with the theme of the rest of the belt. I like this change so much that I actually cut the keepers off the first couple belts I made and retrofitted them with gutted keepers. …Just a matter of personal taste but one I thought others may be interested in.

Have Fun!

[Connoraircadets]

hey, this belt is amazing keep it up :)

i have two now the first one was abit crap beacasue i was no good at the knots

I strongly suggest hammering a nail or two into your work bench to use as an anchor point so you can get it nice and neat

also I didn't have elastic bands so I passed the core strands through my legs and sat on them this seemed to do the trick and sped up the process :) awesome belt !!!!! 11\5

[CntrStageStar]

What color paracord is used in the belt picture? I want to order the same color and need the name.

[Jake22]

That is Dark OD from supply captain. It actually appears more brown than OD.

This is further complicated by the fact that colors can vary from lot to lot. Certain sellers use different names than the manufactures names and some manufactures use the same name as other manufactures for different colors.

[jbs636]

Made my first belt last week and love it. My only real issue was the end. It came out almost twice as thick as the rest of the belt. Anyone else experience this? Any secrets or tips to avoid this on my next one? I am considering taking out the inner strands when I get to the end.

Thanks!

[Jake22]

You can certainly take out the core strands at the end but most importantly make sure you pull them tight when you thread them back though. If you do it shouldn't be any thicker.

[Jake22]

Sure. You can make the core strands whatever color you want.

[mbobb]

How in the hell do you figure 2 hours? It took me around 8.

[Jake22]

Gets faster the more you do it. Also it is good if you find a way to manage all the slack.

[Hallofo]

Awesome build! I was able to make a replacement belt using my old buckle. This was my first time working with paracord this way, but your directions proved to be all I needed!

Is there a formula that you know of to calculate the sizes for the various pieces, or do you just "feel your way" through? (for example: for every foot of "core", use 2.5 feet of working line, etc...)

[Jake22]

No real formula it all depends how tight you pull the individual knots as well as how they are spaced over the core strands. I find though with 1 100ft length of rope I can easily make a belt that is up to 52" in length.

[Cyrus]

Would this work with a set of D-rings or is it to thick?

[Jake22]

It could be done with rings but is somewhat bulky when folded over

[djzadjza]

the numbers given in the last step (for the specialty stitch) would those be the approx. length for a person with a 36" waist.

[Jake22]

Those number should cover a belt significantly longer than required for a 36' waist.

[markomo531161]

i must fail at life can someone point me to a site where they sell belt buckles like the one pictured? thanks!

[rnorman3]

You could go to st. Vincent De Paul or a similar second hand store and find a belt buckle you like, cut it off the leather and use the buckle in this Instructable and the leather in another!

[Jake22]

That one is bronze and would be difficult to find. I took it off a galco pistol belt that was worn out.

You want one that is sized for and inch and a quarter to be right for a 8 strand belt.

Tandy leather has them in brass and nickel plated brass for a couple of bucks a piece.

http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/home/department/Buckles/1548-097.aspx

[markomo531161]

thanks

[freakyqwerty]

There are many paracord survival bracelet instructions on this site, so I suppose with a little adaptation you could create a belt.

[freakyqwerty]

...Or you could do a search of the site... http://www.instructables.com/pages/search/search.jsp?cx=partner-pub-1783560022203827%3Anpr2q7v5m6t&cof=FORID%3A11&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Paracord+survival+belt Seems that the rich editor don't work on iOS…So no clicky link!

[splinks]

I'm guessing you were a boyscout

[cherokee123]

Hi,

Thank you for the clear instructions! Is there a way that I can splice or weave in some extra cord to make the belt longer? I have a nice belt completed, but it's too short. Have you tried this?

[jbs636]

I had the same issue and was able to 'fuse' in more cord. just hollow out and inch or so of the inner core strands and slid the new length in and use your lighter to 'meld' them together. Did that to mine and have not seen any issues.

[mpaeglow]

Make a rifle sling out of it!

[ok_custom_paracord]

I make a single point paracord sling ! check it out @okcustomparacord.com

[orangebird852]

Finished my belt and it looks great! I do highly recommend making the core strands longer than the instructions say. Mine was barely long enough even though I stitched almost to the the very end of my core strands.

[kd7lsd]

doing the finishing with a fid or marlin spike is a little unhandy. Didn't have a fid so I got a Phillips screwdriver and didn't think to much of that. It came to mind that I have a small Craftsman right angle needle nose pliers. Close it, poke it through where the fid should go, open it and put the 550 in and pull it through. very easy and if you do a lot of this stuff would save a lot of time. Nice project.