What I call paracord for "convenience" sake here, lots of aussies would call either blind cord (as in, venetian, though it's not quite the same) or comms cord (from communications). Military background families will tend to call it comms cord. Or rather "that fake comms cord", haha.

Comms cord here (traditionally green, very finely woven disposal store stuff) is closest to what Brits and I think Americans call parachute cord. Glad we could clear that up  

The "paracord"  of mine is about 1.4 the diameter of traditional army comms/para/hootchie cord. It has a core and a mantle of woven outer stuff. Flash in the photo makes it look chunkier than it is. You can burn the ends etc, same as the other kind.Very forgiving and durable.  15kg breaking limit per strand, or thereabouts. Lots of campers and knot-fanatics keep rolls of the stuff.

The rooskin is just from some bodgy thong for a practice on my "final design". It is a couple of mm thicker than my bootlaces, but close. Roo thong is very pliable, extremely strong and great for fine, strong work.  That one is all the same width material throughout.

The spacing is used in a lot of basket and bag weaves here,traps etc.  rooskin has a great ability to "bite" on itself so the twists all basically hold themselves in place under sudden pressure. They do wander around a little bit in your pocket but stays tidy during use. Holds a stone very nicely and folds up very small too. No stitching or anything used.

Here's a tapered seven strand sheep shank sling that I sent to Aussie.  I love the spin this sling puts on a projectile and how easily it blasts some really hard shots.  It's sort of a Cobra without the fangs, with strands dropped out the back to facilitate the taper.  The wooden bead is Aussie's idea.  Nice touch.  I'm going to have to get some big beads from the craft shop and see how they work for me.

Very nice RatMan! Something of a  "rough diamond" look.

Thanks, guys.  I double the string that I'm weaving with when it's very thin. That's what gives it the rough look.

Thanks.  The design is a work in progress.  Each time I make one I think of a way to make the next slightly better.  I've also got something really cool in mind, if it works.  We'll see.

woops. not sure what happened there.

Here's my latest sling. It's a Peruvian type sling made of wool. The cords are 8-strand square braids, with 24-strand Nazca style braids by the pouch.

I found it rather difficult to decrease from the 24-strand braids to the 8-strand braids. In order to get the thickness I wanted in the cords, I used 3 pieces of yarn for the 8-strand braids, and 2 for the 24-strand braids (except the red strands in the 24-strand braid which were 4 strings thick to give the braid texture). This meant I had to regroup the brown and white strings, and decrease the overall amount of yarn all at once, and it didn't come out particularly pretty when you look at it closely. I'd give a lot to watch a skilled Peruvian sling maker perform the decrease, because I've seen examples that look really clean.






-Timothy Potter