Woven paracord bracelet/watchband

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

[BLUEBLOBS2]

Is that a Zippo lighter?
-BLUEBLOBS2

[Stormdrane]

It's a Zippo lighter body with a Z-plus butane torch insert.

[BLUEBLOBS2]

Awesome.
-BLUEBLOBS2

[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 :)

[pokerstud001]

What use is this when you don't tell us where to get the watch without a band!

[stoomcdoo]

Keep living! Your watchband will wear out.

[Nostalgic Guy]

You could always try car boot sales or second hand shops. I see watches with damaged straps or no strap at all every time I go to a boot sale. From now on I will be on the lookout for suitable ones to give a new lease of life to as gifts for friends.

[jdebaun]

If you are in a hurry, i wouldn't recommend Supply Captain for paracord. I ordered some paracord on May 11 and finally got it on June 8.

[Snakeyes_98]

Interesting... I ordered 6 100ft hanks from Supply Captain on July 2, and recieved it on July 5th. Thats including the Holiday.

[Gunner7800]

I think I'm going to use this braid to make a should strap for my binoculars.  I figure the strap should be right around 3' or less in length.  Do you think using the 10' of paracord for 9" of braid is an accurate enough length estimate for this weave?  That would give me a cord length of about 40'.  Also, how wide is the finished bracelet?  It looks like it's about 3/4" to 1".

BTW...very well written and easy to follow tutorial.

[Stormdrane]

For a binocular strap, I would overestimate what I think I'd need and work with a 50 foot length of paracord.  The core strands alone for that longer length could use a dozen feet of cord.  It can be very aggravating to put a lot of time into a project and realize close to the end that you don't have enough cord to finish.

For a consistent tight weave with paracord, the width is between 3/4" and 1", or 7/8", which is a good width for a strap.

[Gunner7800]

I have a 50' hank to use and was not planning on cuting it.  So I'm thinking it should be good.  Thanks storm.