Braiding a lanyard

dewman · Post by **dewman** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 9:02 pm

There pare probably at least a dozen different types of braiding that could be used for lanyards, but this is the only one I personally know how to do. I like it because it fits flat in the pocket and it's EASY to do!
I like to make it long enough so that about 2" hangs out of my jeans pocket. Long enough to grab, yet short enough so as not to get in the way. For a larger knife, like the Remington R-1306 in the photo, it works perfect.

First, you need a good, soft, pliable piece of leather. I bought one at Tandy's for about $5, but you can use just about anything....even an old salvaged leather recliner, as long as it's reasonable soft and pliable.

Cut a strip about 1/4" - 5/16" wide and about 16" long, depending on how long you want the finished lanyard. Fold the strip in half, and leaving enough unmarked leather to fit in the knife lanyard hole, begin marking lines, as shown in the photo, about 1/3" long, with about 1/3" space in between each line. Take a razor knife and make a slit on each marked line. You'll need to taper each end of the leather thong to make it easy to intert into the slits. I've found using a pencil and forcing the slits open makes is easy to braid. Take one end and pull it through the first slit. Then take the OPPOSITE piece of leather and pull it through the other thong. Keep doing this, being sure to alternate each one you pull through the slits. If you get one wrong, it will become immediately obvious. It will look "funny" and not like the rest. Take care and be sure each time you pull a thong through, it lays "right". When you finish, you can trim each end even. The one in the photo needs to be flattened a little with a mallet. It makes it look a lot better and more "professional".

So....there you are. Give it a try. If I can do it, I'm sure just about anyone can!

wildcat · Post by **wildcat** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 9:17 pm

that's a good one Dewman. I like to use that one for key chains and zipper pulls too. Just a little shorter.

here is a good one to try. i have not tried it yet. there are some other good ones in there too.

http://outdoors-magazine.com/s_article. ... rticle=159

redferd · Post by **redferd** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 3:38 pm

Dewman, finally something I can do! Thanks for the tutorial. One or more pictures is worth a 1K words.

Nice work.

Sketch · Post by **Sketch** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 12:16 am

Thanks Dewman,

I don't think I would be able to figure that out without the great photos to explain. Thanks for taking the time to post this.

Sketch

dewman · Post by **dewman** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 2:31 am

Well....it's a real simple type of lanyard, but it's easy to do and very practical. I'm glad you liked the photos.

Dewman

muskrat man · Post by **muskrat man** » Wed Sep 26, 2007 11:50 pm

Thanks for the tutorial Dewey, I've been wondering how those were done.

Sauconian · Post by **Sauconian** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 11:59 pm

Thank's for this post Dewman.

I tried this a couple of times with cow hide from Tandy, but found it to be not strong enough. I finally located a source for small quantities of kangaroo lace on the net, and made this lanyard up last weekend, with 3/16" lace.

I wet it well with spray on saddle soap from a tack shop, after slitting the lace, but before " braiding ". This kangaroo is strong ! I cut both ends to a width small enough to start through the small hole in a glass ' Zen Eye ' trade bead, sprayed on more soap, and pulled the full width of the lace through the bead with pliers. The kangaroo compressed, but held up to the stress, and a couple of smacks with a small hammer restored it to it's original width. The bead will never come off, and no knots were required.

The Kershaw fits nicely in the watch pocket of my jeans, and the lanyard helps locate and remove it. I kinda' like the decorative look of it hanging out of the pocket too.

Fran