The proportions of the paracord can differ depending on how long you want your lanyard to be. For about every foot of paracord length used, you will get about an inch of your braiding knots. [3] X Research source If you want to make a lanyard using just cobra stitching, you may only need about 6–8 feet of paracord. However, if you want to make a king cobra stitched lanyard, you may need about 13 feet. For example, 8 feet of paracord will yield about 8 inches of braiding knots for your lanyard. [4] X Research source
You can really use whatever kind of marker you want, just make sure that it can stay put as you make your knot, and then easily be removed.
Take the paracord passing through the bottom hole of the paper, and make a loop near the paper hole. Then take the paracord passing through the top hole, and place it underneath the bottom paracord’s loop. Have the cord sit through the middle of the loop. For example, the top cord should look like a center “pupil” running through an “eyeball” (the loop). Also place the upper cord underneath the bottom loop’s tail cord. Feed the tag end of the top paracord down through the right side of the “eyeball,” underneath the “pupil,” and up through the left side of the “eyeball. ” Gently pull both tails of the cords to tighten the knot just a little bit. You should have a very elaborate and mirrored knot pattern. Take the tag end of the paracord coming from the bottom of the knot, bring it around to “trace” the right of the knot, past the top hole where the other cord is coming from, and underneath all of the upper cords, to come up through the “eyeball” center. The same technique will be used for the other tag end of the paracord. Bring the upper paracord tail around to “trace” the left of the knot, past the bottom hole where the other cord is coming from, underneath all the lower cords, to come up through the “eyeball” center of the knot. Tear off the piece of paper, and hold onto the looped cord that was on the other side of the paper. Gradually pull and tug on both tag ends of the paracords while holding onto the looped cord. Make sure the looped side of the lanyard knot has about a two-inch loop. The center of the paracord (marked) should be in the middle of that two-inch loop. [6] X Research source
If the snap hook hole is pretty wide, you can loop the ends of the cord around one more time, to take up more of the wide space. [10] X Research source
To make the next knot, follow the same instructions, except reversed to the other side. [13] X Research source Take the right hand paracord, and fold it to the left, across the two center cords. Then take the left hand paracord, and pass it on top of the tail end of the right side paracord, under the two center cords, and up through the loop created by the right hand paracord. Then pull the loose ends tight. As you continue to knot, you are going to alternate which side of the paracord gets crossed over the two center cords to make the first loop. [14] X Research source For example, for the first knot, you made the loop starting with the left hand paracord. For the next knot, start the loop with the right hand paracord. For the knot after that, start the loop with the left hand paracord, and so on and so forth. Keep cobra stitching over the two center cords until you get 11 knot bumps on each side of the lanyard. [15] X Research source If this lanyard is satisfactory to you, you can cut off the excess pieces and melt the loose ends to the rest of the paracord. However, if you want to use up the rest of your paracord, you can do a king cobra stitch.
You can tell which paracord this is by looking at the sides and seeing which paracord is coming out underneath a bump loop on the lanyard. [17] X Research source While making the king cobra stitches, you may need to use your fingers to push the knots up toward the top to make them even. [18] X Research source However, the king cobra stitch sides will naturally end up matching up with the spaces in between the original cobra stitches. [19] X Research source
Do this same melting procedure for the other snipped end of the paracord. [23] X Research source When both loose ends of the paracord are melted and secure, you are ready to use your paracord lanyard.
