Autumn

Autumn

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Slings

Not sure what it is about me and slings, but I like them. I don't care if it's a shotgun or rifle I'll have a sling on it sooner or later.

I make my own. It's always during the quiet of the evening. I'll read a while, get antsy, set aside my book or Kindle and reach for my current project. Currently it's the little Rossi that came home with me last week. She needs a sling. 

Years ago I began hand knotting survival bracelets from 550 paracord. It keeps my hands busy. So it was an easy step for me to make slings for those weapons of mine tucked away in the safe not fully dressed. I could almost feel their shame, naked as it were...

I've gotten in the habit of sling construction with the first knot attached to the rifle. I'll knot until I've reached the desired length. Some projects take days, even months. I might tie six knots, set the rifle aside and read an hour, grab the rifle and tie twenty more....there's no hurry. It'll get done, eventually.

Pick your nose while I pull up a picture of questionable quality...

 
As you can see the picture above was taken with my Dingleberry in low light conditions. Anyway, there's the Rossi and my sling. I might, not sure, retie a another layer over this one. The boys out there have named this pattern Cobra. A second tie will result in a (go for it) King Cobra. The single knot shown is sufficient for most applications. Just make sure the length allows you to throw a 'hasty' over your elbow for stable sight alignment.  Here we go, another poorly taken photograph.


In process.


Above, an awful shot of my three (or four) year old bracelet I wear daily. I made it from three (as you can see) colors. I guess it holds close to forty or fifty feet of cord. Very useful in a survival situation, think tourniquet, shelter cordage, heck even fishing line if you break down the cords. 

If you are interested in this quiet activity of mine run over to Youtube. It's loaded with 'how to's.' Just search survival bracelets and/or paracord. Have fun.

Stephen

7 comments:

  1. Pretty awesome. I'm a sling kind of guy, though I've been debating it back and forth with my new shotgun. I'm kind of a gadgety sling person. I love my VTAC on my AR and I've been considering getting one for my hunting rifle to replace the old 2+ over-the-shoulder sling. I like the way the VTAC lets the rifle ride in the ready position. It seems like it would be great for hunting.

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  2. 45er, thank you, Sir. I too enjoy VTAC and such on my AR's. Other weapons, like the little .22, paracord slings are great, shotguns too.

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  3. Stepehn - your work is beautiful! thank you for sharing! you should do a how-to video on youtube!

    your friend,
    kymber

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  4. Nice. You reminded me that I need to learn how to make these slings as well. I had forgotten that I added that to my list... Thanks!!!

    Now where did I stash that paracord?

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  5. I tried to send you an email but I must not have the right address.

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  6. That is really too cool. I know how to macrame, just haven't done it for years. I will have to see if I can find some parachute cord and make us some slings. I want one of those bracelets too. Never thought of one as survival gear if needed.

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  7. Mamma Bear, it's fun. One of my slings will hold as much as sixty or more feet of paracord, and my bracelets, twelve feet or so...very useful in emergency situations. Thank you...oh, btw, very easy to learn.

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