Miscellany: A Paracord Primer, Part 2 - Handle Wrapping

550 paracord is commonly used to wrap handles for better comfort and traction. Whether it's a knife handle, a bicycle handle, or a water bottle, paracord is ideal since it's elastic (stretches tight over a variety of handle shapes) and dries fast (everything you own will get wet at one time or another).

I wrapped the CRKT Ringer 3 I reviewed last week in gutted paracord. Here's the end product:



The process is simple - just lay one end of the gutted paracord flat against the side of the knife, wrap over it to secure that end in place, and keep wrapping all over the handle. I purposely kept one part of the handle unwrapped so I had some tactile indication of which side the edge was on (this is a common problem with neck knives; since the orientation of the blade changes, you can inadvertently put your thumb on the edge as you draw the knife if you're not careful).

Keep the wrap as tight and uniform as possible. I had to double back around the top side of the knife to get to the small protrusion at the end of the knife. At the protrusion, I tied a simple overhand knot to stop the wrapping from unraveling, and then a doubled figure-eight knot at the trailing end of the cord to form a small lanyard. Other, bulkier stopper knots will be needed for larger knives.

Here is a wrap of the Boker Escape I reviewed.



I used a 180 degree katana wrap - for an instructional, here's a great video from williamcutting08 (check out his other YT vids - he has many great wrapping tutorials):



Again, keeping the wrap tight and uniform will make the end product look better. Nongutted paracord yields a thicker handle, and you can wrap over an existing wrap for added thickness as long as you're neat about it. For even more thickness or texture, you'll need to braid the paracord first before wrapping it. Keep in mind that a wrapped handle may or may not fit in a sheath or LBE gear.

How did I finish off that Escape knife? Well, you'll have to wait for the next Paracord Primer entry, where we'll look at knife lanyarding and fobbing. See you then!