Introduction: PARACORD GERM GRENADE

By Unique Ropecraft
About: A knot tying enthusiast at the end of his rope.

The Paracord Germ Grenade is a hand sanitizer bottle wrapped with paracord (parachute cord), which was recently featured on my paracord design blog . Once tied it can be hung upside down using a carabiner or by using a tie made with paracord or other means. I keep one in my vehicle hanging from the rearview mirror so that anytime I leave a store, it is close at hand.

This wrap doesn’t have to be strictly for hand sanitizer, some may prefer hand lotion or any other items you use frequently that you want to keep close at hand. It is also a very easy wrap to tie, if you can tie a knot then you can tie the Paracord Germ Grenade.

Step 1: SUPPLIES

• 13 Feet of paracord in the color of your choice
• Hand Sanitizer bottle (I used Purell)
• Ruler or tape measure
• Hemostats or other small needle-nose pliers
• Lighter
• Rubber band
• Scissors (anything that will cut the paracord)
• Super Glue (not necessary)

Step 2: PREPARING THE PARACORD

Measure the paracord with your ruler and cut to length, if using a bottle close to the same size as the one I used, thirteen feet of paracord will be sufficient. Use your lighter to singe the ends of the paracord to keep the strands from coming out and it makes the paracord easier to work with.

Step 3: THE VERTICAL STRANDS

Find the center of the paracord and form a loop at the center. Take the loop and wrap it around the neck of the hand sanitizer bottle. Then run the two strands down the middle to the bottom and back up the other side.
Place the rubber band around the bottom of the bottle to secure the paracord in place.

Step 4: TYING THE FIRST WRAP

Split the strands on the backside which will have one strand on the left and the other on the right.
Bring both strands around to the front. Using the hemostats, pull the right strand underneath the two vertical strands.
Take the left strand and run it over the two vertical strands and then tie a half knot and pull the two strands tight.

Step 5: TYING THE SECOND WRAP

Flip the hand sanitizer bottle over and then pull the strands around to the back.
As you did in the previous step, take the right strand and pull it underneath the two vertical strands.
Bring the left strand over the two vertical strands and then tie a half knot and then pull the two strands tight.

Step 6: CONTINUING STEPS

Flip the hand sanitizer bottle over and then pull the strands around to the front.
Continue by pulling the right strand underneath the two vertical strands and then bringing the left strand over the two vertical strands and then tying a half knot and then cinching the strands tight.
This is the basic tying technique for the Germ Grenade, just continue to flip the bottle over wrapping as explained until you are about half way down the bottle.
At this time you want to compress the strands together and tweak the strands with either the hemostats or a dull pointed tool to make the wrap fit snugly in the same place all the way up and down the bottle.

Step 7: FINISHING THE WRAP

Continue wrapping the bottle until you reach the bottom.
Finesse the wrap again as you did in the previous step, making the tucks even all the way down.

Step 8: FINALIZING THE GERM GRENADE

Once you’ve wrapped the bottle all the way to the bottom you will need to cut the excess paracord.
Mark the paracord with a pen at the points where it needs to be cut. Use your scissors and cut the paracord even so that it makes it look as if the wrap continues on.
Now take you lighter and singe the ends, if you have superglue, you can use it to secure the strands in place (make sure not to use the superglue on sections of the paracord that will be seen, it should be used on the underside of the paracord).

Your Paracord Germ Grenade is now complete and hopefully you have created something similar to the one I tied. Add a carabiner to the bottom of the bottle or leave as it is, the end result is up to you.

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