Woven paracord bracelet/watchband

This tutorial will show how to make a paracord bracelet or watch band using a weaving method. More knot work with releated links and resources can be seen on my blog page, Stormdrane's Blog.

Step 1 Supplies

For this project, you'll need approximately 10 feet of paracord, scissors, lighter, tape measure, hemostats, watch, and a 5/8" side release buckle. I used a 5/8" ITW Nexus contoured side release buckle, but you can use other less expensive ones like those found at Creative Designworks.

Paracord can be found at local Army/Navy stores or from various online sources: Supply Captain, Lighthound, Rotokid, Cool Glow Stuff!, ebay, etc...

The actual amount of paracord that will be used depends on your wrist size. My wrist is about 8.5 inches and I actually used around 8 or 9 feet after finishing the bracelet/watchband. So using 10 feet is a safe estimate for most folks, since having too much cord is better than coming up short when making your project.

*If making a watchband, the watch needs to have about 5/8" space between the lugs(where the watch pins go) so that 5 strands of paracord will fit.

Comments

[gdkaufmann]

Thanks, Stormdrane.

I missed that.

[gdkaufmann]

Just curious...

How do you account for different size wrists? I'm very interested in tackling this project, but the wrist I'd wear the watch on is quite small (I usually have 3-5 links taken out of the average watchband).

Thanks.

Great design by the way.

[Stormdrane]

In 'Step 3' of the instructable, I describe how I measured out the sizing of the bracelet/watchband with my wrist measurement. When weaving, the paracord can/will stretch out a bit, so it will/should fit comfortably on your wrist when completed. 

The cord you use, and how tight/loose you make the bracelet can affect the final fit, so before finishing up, try it on and see if it fits, or is too loose or tight. You may have to untie and retie with appropriate adjustments to get it just right.

[TheAmateurArtisan]

Stormdrane, been reading your instructables for a bit and I saw these stainless steel clasps for the bracelets and watch straps on survivalstraps.com. have you tried them and if so, do you know where to get them? they are a lot more comfortable as others have said but rather than buy it, I want to make these myself.

[Stormdrane]

I have used the clevis/bow/D shackles before with knot work, but do not use them for paracord bracelets, preferring to use side release buckles with the ones I make. The site you mentioned uses another piece with the pin, that makes the bracelets slightly adjustable, and I'd guess that they have those custom made and have not seen those sold separately anywhere.

[#OccupyInstruct]

love the instruct stormdrane, you have the dest paracord instructables on here. but one color is kind of bland, could you spice it up a little and make it 2 colors while still weaving it like that?

[Stormdrane]

The weaving method with a single strand is meant to be done with a single color of cord, but you can tie a bracelet/watchband that looks like a similar pattern using two colors with the 'ladder rack' or 'trilobyte' knots.  I do not have a tutorial using those methods, but someone else may...

[#OccupyInstruct]

thanks for the help!

[Robotob46]

Do you know of any digital watches that can be used for this?

[Stormdrane]

You just have to search for digital watches that have cases and lugs that are just like the ones on analog type watches, that have enough room at the pins to allow strands of paracord to fit.

A lot of digital watches have a short pin/lug/watchband setup, that don't work for paracord type watchbands, although there are adapters for G-Shock type watches, that allow the use of nylon watchbands, but I do not know if they would work with paracord.

An example of a Casio analog/digital combination watch, looks like it would work with paracord, but it's been twenty years since I had a model like that, so I can't say for sure if it would work.  You'd need to go to a store and handle some different models to get a closer look to see what will work with a model that you like...

[misses_soulful]

Did you use a Flat Side Release Buckle or a Curved Side Release Buckle???

[Stormdrane]

I used a curved(contoured) side release buckle, but you can use a flat one.

[nclark8]

Where can you find the buckles pretty cheap, and that takes paypal besides Ebay?

Thanks!!!

[dhemmer]

check out www.survival-pax.com they have many colors and sizes of the slide release buckels and safty side buckles and break away barrel buckles.they have e.l.wood braiding 550 paracord and gladding 550 paracord.with 20 colors of eachof the 550 paracord .@ 6.50 for 100 feet 0r a 1000 foot spool.they ship fast too .

[Stormdrane]

As linked in the instructable: Creative Designworks

[Teknix]

how long are these buckles? I found that 3/4" is going to be ugly long, like it will cover one side of my hand, if I'd want to make 3/4" watch band. 

[Stormdrane]

The Length of the ITW Nexus curved buckle, used in the tutorial, is about 1.75" long.  You can use a slightly smaller 1/2" buckle instead.

[misses_soulful]

Awesome! Thanks! I ordered the contoured one, it made sense to. Thank you so much for making this tutorial! I will let you know how it turns out :)

[Sundevildaddy]

Just made this band (without watch).. for aesthetics, I added (2) 1" welded metal rings (from old dog harnesses), overlapped, and configured in an Endless Loop, in the middle of the band, using the outer bight, skipping 2, outer bight (catching both rings) skipping 2, then outer bight, then finishing up the band as instructed.
I was afraid of loosing some of the integrity of the weave, but just ensure I kept it tight as i went.

From a survivalist perspective, you can never have too much hardware (weight/size minimal of course) and these rings, with the para-chord have hundreds of uses.

I, missed the mark on measuring total length at the start, so wound up a little short. Needless to say, my daughter loves it (black para w/ chrome rings).. now I have half a dozen tweens begging me for one... how can a dad say no? *eyeballs Stormdrane... (sarcastic) thanks ;p
lol I love your work - Thank you for the Instructables!
~Sun

[srmike214]

Thank you! What a great instructable. My watch band came out perfectly from the start.

[ancaf33]

great :D

[blitzk72]

Great instructable! Easy to follow instructions and the band came out awesome. Now I am going to make a collar for my dog. Thanks!

[ragnarok377]

I've been wondering how this pattern was achieved. I have made 2 bracelets by my self figuring these things out and forgetting the internet exists. lol. the bracelet i have, i use an anchor shackle for a clasp because it looks cool and adds function.

[kbrown1835]

Thanks for the Instructable. I modified your idea a bit and added a second color for the middle two strands to match the watch face color. My watch is a thick Fossil so I created two sides that attaches to the pins and the buckle. Check it out!

[zenolijo]

Neat!
Interested of buying a cheap watch just to make this lol

[Stormdrane]

Nicely done!

[sthtxmadman]

You have the easiest-to-follow tutorials, Thanks a bunch.

[seed48]

You my man are the paracord king!! Great tutorial. Question 4 u though. Is there anway to alternate colors together using the weaving method? I've done a couple watches with the cobra but I'm really liking the look of this style as well. Thanx for sharing your knowledge!

[Stormdrane]

With the way I've done the weaving, only one color works with this method, but there is another way to tie them that looks similar and can use two colors. There's a tutorial for the 'Ladder Rack Knot' on the KHWW.net forums, and you just adapt that to make a bracelet/watchband, connecting two colors of paracord and attaching the cord to the buckle ends before knotting. There's an extra strand to be woven around with the Ladder Rack Knot, that will go under the watch with this method than with weaving, so all of them might not fit under the watch pins/lugs, so you have to take that into account if making a watchband...

[SIRJAMES09]

Q:
can the watch band be woven in 2 pieces?? That way it does not cross under the watch & if needs be, you would have unobstructed access to the watch battery....

I know that it would be 2x the work, but....

you know more about this than I do that's why I ask.

[Stormdrane]

Yep, you can do the bands in two pieces, each connecting to a buckle part and the pins of the watch. It's a bit harder getting the sizing right, but you can figure it out as you go... Here's a link from my blog with a few examples:

http://stormdrane.blogspot.com/2006/03/blog-post_114288848922910049.html

[SIRJAMES09]

THAT WAS AN AWESOME INSTRUCTABLE!!!!

I never knew hw they wove this cord, Thank you for teaching me how it's done!!
Now that I know how it's done, I have all kinds of project ideas!!!

TY again for sharing!!

[rayjai]

Nice! I would like to know what color was your cord. is it Dark OD? or Dark gray? thanks!

[Stormdrane]

I used foliage green paracord for the watchband, which has a grayish green look to it.

[jmikelinich-eng]

where do you find the watch face for the paracord bracelets? thank you

[Stormdrane]

I used a watch that I already had, that needed a new watchband. I just remove the old watchband from that watch before tying a new paracord band for it.

[crazypenguin]

Could you possibly use a monkeys fist instead of a buckle

[Stormdrane]

Some folks use a knot and loop closure instead of a side release buckle for various paracord bracelets, but a monkey fist is going to be a bit on the large size with the bracelet. A smaller lanyard knot can also be used, as can beads or buttons. It comes down to what you're comfortable with. YMMV

[WILL62]

I went to a fabric store by my house and all the buckles they had were way too large....so I had to get some things at dollar tree I thought mebby I could find one there. I got my stuff and was looking around the aisles for something I could find with a "side release buckle" on it and lo and behold on the pet aisle was a nylon cat collar with the perfect 5/8" side release buckle for $1.00 I'm still grinnin........

[bchristesen]

My local thrift store has dog collars and leads: great source for buckles, rings and other useful hardware, like the 5/8" side release I bought today for 60 cents.