Paracord Bracelet With Monkey Fist Button

I saw the paracord bracelet by Stormdrane a couple of months ago, and had to make some; one night, while insomniacking, I was inspired, and had an epiphany: why not make a paracord bracelet, using a Monkey fist and loop as a closure, instead of a buckle or button?
So, here we go: a paracord bracelet with a Monkey Fist knot acting as the button.

Step 1: Ingredients

-Approximately 7 to 8 feet of gutted paracord; more depending on your wrist size. I measured the ratio of cord to weave once, and promptly forgot it.
-A pair of scissors or sharp Swiss Army knife.
-A lighter to melt fraying ends.
-A marlin spike or similar pokey object, used when dressing the monkey fist knot; it should be as tight as possible.
-A skully bead, available at craft stores near you; all kinds are available online, too.
-Time: 2 hours for first attempt

Step 2: The Skully Button

The hardest part of the project, after procuring the skull beads, will be the monkey fist. It was intended for use as a weight on a heaving line, in order to get larger, non-throwable hawsers from ship to jetty. I think it is a nice looking knot, and also resembles a head with a turban on it.
Take the inner strands out of the paracord, as this reduces the bulky look

Step 3: Wraps and Fraps

Hopefully these pics and diagrams will help; if not, there are lots of good knot-tying sites online.
Begin with your single, long piece of paracord; while tying the Fist, try and get it as close to the center of the piece of cord as possible; this will save a lot of cursing and swearing later on when dressing / tightening the knot.

Using the fingers, make 3 turns around the hand; as part of Mountain Ops training, we called these verticals 'wraps'

Step 4: Fraps

Start the turns passing outside the middle of the first three turns; these horizontals we called 'fraps'. I do believe this terminology is particular to military mountain ops.

Step 5: Fraps Continued...

Complete the three horizontal fraps...

Step 6: Wraps, 2nd Time.

Make three more vertical wraps, passing inside the first set of wraps and outside the fraps.

Step 7: Dressing the Knot

Dressing the knot (tightening) is the process of using the knot itself as a 'standing' or anchored end [clumpy bit], and taking the 'running' or working ends [dangly bits] and running them 'through' the knot.
With the marlin spike / pokey object, tighten the Fist accordingly. I made two or three of these before I got it right. This is where getting the knot centered on your piece of paracord is important; there's less waste, as well. Be careful not to stab yourself with the pokey object. You will really get to understand the knot dynamics as you tighten it.

Step 8: Sizing the Bracelet.

Now that the hard part is done, making the bracelet portion out of ladder weave is next.
Firstly, take a measurement of your wrist, from the Fist, and loop the two running ends around the knot for a basic length.

Step 9: Sizing the Closure Loop.

The next step is to size the end loop that the monkey fist will attach through; this is just a matter of starting the first ladder loop, and fidgeting around with it, so both lengths from knot-to -loop are the correct size for your wrist; check the size frequently as you tighten, as paracord can be deceptive!

Step 10: Ladder Weaving

Ladder weave is simply opposite side half hitches around two strands of paracord. Once you have the single loop closure fidgeted out, make a bight on the left side;

Step 11: Ladder Weaving

Now bring the other cord under the running end of the bight, across the front of the two starnds and through the bight...then tighten.

Step 12: Alternating Hitches

Now repeat the previous step, alternating sides , until the bracelet body is completed; then snip and melt ends.

Step 13: Weaving the Bracelet

Now you can go to town on the ladder weave / half hitching, tightening as you go, and frequently checking the wrist size. If these bracelets are too tight, they are very uncomfortable, and paracord will shrink a tad over time; I darn near had to cut my first one off, as it had tightened up while I wore it.

Step 14: Finishing Up.

If you've got enough cord, take your half hitches down to the monkey fist; tighten the weave, and try to get another hitch or two in, as close to the knot as possible. After a final size check, cut and melt the running ends, and seal them to the main weave.

Step 15: Add the Skully Bead.

The skull beads I use were too small to fit over the loop closure of my bracelets; so, I used an awl from a Swiss army knife, and carefully bored out the existing hole, until, with a lot of effort, I got the bead on. Other beads may fit better. A bead really helps tighten the loop, so that it's not too sloppy, and really enhances the overall look of the bracelet.

Step 16: Final Product Photos

Congratulations! If all has gone well, you should now be the owner of a Headhunter Paracord Bracelet. Allow a couple of hours for first attempt.

Step 17: Skully

A photo highlighting the skully.

Step 18: Herd of Bracelets.

All colours, etc...!

Comments

[scaredanuthin]

I'm here insomniacking (4am). Been looking for a paracord weave that can hold a penny. This is cool, though.

[dogma26]

Perfect

[charles.e.benoit]

paracordgalaxy.com All sizes and colors of paracord and lots of beads including skulls. Like this bracelet very much. Thanx for the posting.

[BrennenI]

I keep getting stuck on the part where the loop is formed. Anyone have any pointers or maybe a video i could use? Any help would be greatly appreciated

[datamonk]

Strangely enough, I just found a site that sells nothing but 550 paracord AND skull beads. Is there a particular symbolism with the survival bracelet, the monkey fist and the skull bead? :)

http://www.paracordmaster.com/index.php/beads.html

[BrennenI]

just so you know, that link is either incorrect or the website no longer exists,

[kwebber321]

where did you get the big roll of paracord? and how much did it cost?

[Captain MacTavish]

you can get them on ebay and most 100 feet rolls cost around $10.00

[Smokey069]

Don't you mean 1000 ft?

[Captain MacTavish]

Well yes and no, it all depends on who you get it from and if they know a thing or two about common scene.

[rbollong]

kept me busy for a while. used a nut instead of a skully bead, I think it makes it look more rugged.

[ndally]

I widen the bead hole with a drill. Clear monkey ball diagrams. I've wanted to learn this for a while, but the first tutorial I looked at was not digestable.

[clax1227]

why does it need to be gutted? I mean I've done plenty of bracelet's with the core in.

[N3dnarb]

It doesn't need to be gutted, some people probably just find it easier or think it looks better.

As you can hopefully tell from this picture, I did not gut mine.

[mistahkool]

cool project! thanks!

[mistahkool]

cool project! thanks!

[fatboy07]

very nice! I wish I can have one, :D

[jrv411]

Another buckle alternative, I too don't care for bulky buckle. https://www.instructables.com/id/Replace-bulky-buckle-on-paracord-bracelet/

[SuperCoPilot]

I'm doing alright until this step, then my knot gets really messed up, any tips?

[evilspacemonkey]

Unless you put something inside the knot to create some bulk, the knot is going to be a little messed up and not as nice as some of the larger monkey fists you will see. The whole idea to using this knot is to secure the bracelet.