Imagine how thick you would like the finished sling to be, and decide how many individual strands you want to braid with at once. Then buy whatever material is closest to being X thick when Y number of strands are bundled together. Bigger and with fewer strands is easier to braid than small with many strands.

Im looking at jute that's roughly 1/8. a 10 lb spool is  $11.00 and 3 ply. I think that will be the stuff.

momanoheadhunter wrote on Mar 18^th, 2012 at 9:49am:

How much jute? 11 dollars for jute is fairly expensive if you are getting less than 2000 feet or so. Moreover, you would probably be better off with thinner jute, though thick braids do work.

momanoheadhunter wrote on Mar 20^th, 2012 at 1:26pm:


If all else fails then just grab a roll of any material so long as it's twine and not cord/rope (should be thin). If it's rough and uneven, don't get it. If it's nice, keep buying more. Get smaller rolls if you need to- twine isn't all that expensive. If all else fails, gets some decent quality yarn and use that (some people really like yarn, but I think it's too thin).

Make sure you braid a quick sling to try, so you can test the feel before you commit to a big project.  Material choice is very personal, and I at least absolutely hate jute, though I know many people like it.  It has a weird "soft roughness" that irritates my fingers and make the pad of my thumb sting from the release knot (I prefer sisal, so I may just be weird and backwards).  Also, I can never get very good accuracy with jute slings, which I blame on the very low density.  I like heavier materials like sisal or wool, though waxing may help.

There's nothing worse than putting more than 4 hours into making a sling, and using it a dozen times before putting it aside because it just doesn't feel right.

As for yarn, it has a very nice feel, but you need to use many (usually at least 3-4 on the finger loop, doubled on the cords) individual yarns for each strand in the braid.  Also, certain braids can be pretty elastic if not braided VERY tight, I've had trouble with four strand.  I think 100% wool works better, but that is almost always unreasonably expensive.