Homemade Survival Lanyard
The Finished Product
Materials Used:
- Casio SGW-300H Twin Sensor Watch.
- 6 Feet of standard Paracord
- Mini Compass
- Magnesium Rod
Production Time: Approximately 30 minutes
Estimated cost: 50p!
Difficulty: Easy
Features:
Estimated cost: 50p!
Difficulty: Easy
Features:
- Thermometer
- Barometer
- Altimeter
- Compass
- Fire making rod
- Paracord
My Old Casio Twin Sensor Watch
Introduction
Recently I bought a load of paracord from eBay with the intention of making a few survival bracelets.
I managed to make a few bracelets for friends and family and found that I had we quite a lot of Paracord left over.
I didn't really want to chuck the excess cord out so I thought I might find something else to do with it.
In my box of stuff was my old Casio sensor watch which had been abandoned because the strap had broken and I couldn't be arsed finding a new one for it. The Casio still worked perfectly and had battery life left in it so I set about thinking of a way of 'Up-Cycling' or reassigning it for another purpose.
Magnesium Rod and Mini Compass
In my Paracord box was a spare mini Compass and Magnesium rod just sat there doing nothing so these were taken along with a length of Camouflage Paracord and I set to work.
Firstly the Paracord was melted and flattened on both ends to help with threading it through the narrow gap between the watch and the strap pin.
Watch Pins can ping off when pressure is applied so a gentle approach was required.
After making a Cow hitch knot on one of the strap pins the cord was fed along the back case and through the other strap pin hole and back again.
Threading the cord this was round means that the watch can be read easily whilst the lanyard is still round my neck. Similar to a nurses watch.
After securing the watch to the Paracord I then threaded the Magnesium rod through the cord up close to what would become the top of the watch.
Next I decided to knit snake knots up the length of the lanyard for about 6 inches. It's easy enough to adjust if I change my mind.
After I finished weaving the snake knots I slipped the Compass over the finished braid.
Paracord With A Simple Snake Knot Design
The last job was to measure the length I wanted this lanyard to be, cut it and then fix a break-away clasp to join the lanyard together. This was really easy to do actually.
Job done!
This project turned out to be simple and easy to make.
Every feature works properly and it's custom made to how I want it.
The reliable Casio watch is great for temperature and altitude readings and surprisingly accurate.
The little compass strapped on the side is accurate and fast to respond. It had only cost me 10p when I originally bought it so I'm impressed by its performance.
Fire making is straight forward with the little magnesium Rod I attached. Sparks are numerous!
I'm happy with how this turned out, surprised might be a better word. It's unique and it bloody works!
I'm considering designing some more 'one-off' survival bracelets and lanyards in the future.....