This was more of a feasibility study or maybe just a bored old man wanting to do something. I had some black / red paracord from a previous project and figured it would be more durable than the shoe strings that came in these New Balance shoes. Let's proceed..........

Step 1: SUPPLIES & TOOLS NEEDED

2 - 5 foot long pieces of paracord

4 - 1" pieces of 1/8" shrink tubing.

Scissors or knife to cut cord & tubing

Heat source such as butane lighter, to melt ends of the cords.

Hair drier to shrink the tubing

1/4" tapered awl to enlarge holes in shoes a little

Step 2: MAKING THE LACES

Cut the cord to length of old laces plus a few more inches just to be safe.

Slip the tubing onto each piece of cord and get them towards the middle of the cords so they will not get heated while melting the ends of cord.

Melt the ends of the cords to keep them from raveling. Pinch the end to make the melted end as small as possible. Don't burn your fingers. (I wet my fingers then quickly squeeze the hot end while rolling it.)

Now slip the tubing down to the ends of cord and shrink it with hair drier, heat gun or other heat source.

Lace up the shoes with the newly made cords. All the lacing holes in my shoes needed to be enlarged slightly to get the ends through the holes.

Step 3: THE OLD & NEW LACES

You may not like the color, but that's purely a personal matter. The fact is, they are much more durable and the two five foot cords could be unlaced and used for other purposes when you are out in the woods. Not so much with the old ones; they are not nearly as strong.