Tips, tricks, and tools

This tip comes to us from Salty Dawg over at The Pirates Republic. It gives us a tip on how to make a tool that is nothing short of amazing! Simple, easy, effective. Right down my alley!  And trust me, as a kid with older brothers, I learned how effective these things can be!                  Hunt with a Paracord Sling Written by Brandon Garrett Brought to you by The Prepared Pirate  Paracord can be an awesome tool in your preparedness arsenal. This durable nylon rope can be tied into tons of different designs including bracelets, strengthened cords, pouches and more. If you’re in an emergency, you simply unwind the strong cord and use it to bind, haul or anything else that you might need. You can even use it for hunting! Create a sling for hunting and hurling objects with a great design and a 60 feet of paracord. Check out the design below! What is Paracord? Paracord, also known as parachute cord, is a soft, lightweight nylon rope that was originally used for parachuting. Typically, 550 paracord (which is the paracord used for our bracelets) is made of 32 strands of nylon sheath on the outside and seven strands of 2-ply nylon yarns on the inside (the “guts”). The 550 paracord is the same made for the government and has a minimum breaking strength of 550 lbs. While paracord started out as a parachuters tool, people quickly recognized its usefulness in other areas. Since the cord is quick-drying, rot- and mildew-resistant, it’s great for many purposes. Military units use it for securing packs, hanging covers and tents. Many military personnel even use the guts as fishing line. Paracord Hunting Sling You’ll need:  • Tape Measure  • Scissors  • 60 feet of Paracord            ο Three strands of 16 feet            ο One strand of 12 feet Collect the three 16-feet strands and find the center of each (the 8-foot mark). Tie the center with a string to keep them together. Begin by taking the three strands and creating a simple braid. Braid the three strands for a few inches and then fold the braid over unto itself. This will form the finger loop. Once you’ve folded over the braid, pair the three strands with the other three strands on the other side of the braid and continue creating a simple braid with two strands in each hand. Continue braiding until you’ve reached the desired length where you’d like the pouch. Typically, this is in the middle of the strand. Your braid will be about 2 1/2 feet long at this point. Once you’ve reached this point, stop braiding and divide the six stands into two sections with three strands on each side. Locate the 12-foot strand of paracord. Tie the center of that strand (the 6-foot mark) around three of the strands. (The 12-foot strand here in blue.) Using one side of the 12-foot strand, you’ll begin creating part of the pouch of your sling. You’ll do this by weaving the strand through the three strands on one side of the braid (The 12-foot strand here in blue.) Continue weaving the pouch along those three strands until it reaches the desired length of your pouch. (Now the 12-foot strand is shown in black.) You may have some excess cord on  your pouch and that’s fine. You can just leave that and we’ll come back to it later. Now that you’ve created one side of the pouch, untie the knot at the center of the 12-foot strand and use the other half to create a weave on the other strands. This will create two sides of the pouch that look like this: Once the two pouch halves are the same length, lay them over each other and collect the six strands together and divide them into groups of three. Continue your two-strand weave like you did on the other side of the pouch. Continue the weave until it reaches the same length as the other side of the braid. Once you’ve reached that point, tie a knot in the strand and cut off any excess paracord. If you had any excess cord from your 12-foot strand on the pouch, you’ll want to tie that off. Tie a simple knot around the braid and cut off any excess that you have. You’re done! Now you have a paracord sling ready for hunting! Updated November 21, 2013