Help me add a good length of cord to my BK7 PSK setup

peripatew

peripatew

Joined
Jul 31, 2007
Messages
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So, I'm trying to PSK-ify my stock BK7 sheath. I've got a altoid tin mini-PSK in the pocket. And a small skeleton knife and sheath inner tubed to the back of the sheath which works nicely. I have some zip ties back there as well.

But, I'm having trouble getting a good amount of cord, 15 - 20 feet, in the package.

I've tried lanyards, and weird d-guards, as well as a tightly wrapped bundle tucked inside the inner tube pieces. But nothing will fit well. Any suggestions?

How does everyone else do this besides a fancy lanyard? I find the lanyard to get in the way, and cord wrapping the handle makes it not fit well. And I didn't really like the way it felt.

I have about 3-4 feet in a lanyard like knot at the bottom for a leg strap.

Pictures get bonus points!

L
 
How about you show us a picture of your the way your sheath is currently set up for those of us not familiar with the BK7, or can't picture how you have it rigged?
I might have some ideas, but have no idea of knowing if it will work without seeing your sheath/psk setup.

P.S. If you don't know how to post pictures, its super easy. just get a free photobucket acount and upload your pictures to it. Then copy and past the IMG tag under the picture to your message, and viola.
 
Most times it's just wrapped around the sheath top to bottom like you would the handle. It's not fancy but, it works and doesn't look bad.
 
In a survival situation, or even just busting brush for an afternoon, I can't stand having a ton of stuff hanging off of my sheath. It's only there until I put the knife on and then the cordage wrap and any goodies attached to the sheath with ranger bands should hit a pocket or two. The only stuff that would stay with my knife are what's in the pouch.
 
Naked, For only 15-20 feet of cord, look into nylon mason's line.

It is thin diameter and is very strong. Has to be strong because construction site gorillas *will* kick it on occasion as they're rumbling around a jobsite. 15-20 feet of it will take up almost no space. It typically comes in 250-foot rolls (or larger) and is usually bright colors to make it stand out so the gorillas will maybe see it.

Get the braided, not the twisted, mason's line because the limpness of the braided allows it to knot much easier and hold the knots better. Also, it is CHEAP and available all over at home centers, hardware stores, lumber yards, contractor supply house, IIRC Wally World/K-Mart, I've even found it (twisted, not braided) at Big Lots.

An alternative cordage that is very small diameter and quite strong is braided casting fishing line. In the 80-lb and up weights it should be plenty strong enough to tie up shelter parts. Being braided, like the mason's line, it will form knots easily and hold them well. Maybe too well since I've found braided casting line, albeit smaller-diameter 30'ish-lb weight, difficult (impossible on occasion) to untie the knots in it.

I know they used to make this fishing line out of nylon, although these days I think they also make it out of hi-tech "magic fiber" polymers, which cost more $$. Spyderwire is the brand name that I recall hearing, although I'm not sure how well it knots.

Again, 15-20 feet of this line will take up almost no room.
 
I'm with RokJok. I recently replaced the steel rudder cables on our kayak with some Dacron planer board line. The planer board line is rated at 200 lbs, and it is pretty static (not much stretch at all). We've had the boat out a few times, and it seems to be holding up just fine. I have thought about other outdoor applications for it, but I haven't gotten around to adding it to any of my kits. I think I will work on that tonight.

I found the planer board line at Sportsman's Warehouse. It is flourescent yellow, and I want to say it was around $7 for a 150 ft spool. The mason's line will work, too, and can be ocasionally found for cheap in the 'sale' bins at Ace Hardware stores.
 
I've come down to using a separate pouch rather than mounting one on the knife sheath. It just gets too bulky. Something like a double M16 magazine pouch will hold as much as you want to hang on your belt. From there you would want to go to a fanny pack, shoulder bag, or just a good ol' backpack.

As to cordage, how about wrapping some paracord on the sheath? Another way to incorporate some line is to make a knotted lanyard for your knife as I have with my F1 (see photo below). A survival bracelet will do the same thing. Using that knot system, you get roughly 12" of line in each 1" of knot. I made one using a buckle with a built in whistle and a Brunton watch band compass.

In my PSK I use some 30# Spectra fishing line, and some small seine twine. Seine twine is braided nylon and very similar to the mason's twine that another poster recommended. It's tough and cheap.
 
I have a small diameter braided nylon cord wrapped on the handle, and a lanyard of the same. The bottom of the sheath, from the base of the pouch to the bottom is wrapped with 550 paracord, laced through the leg tie holes to prevent loss in the case of a total accidental unravel. I wrapped it snug, and tied it tight, then slapped a few bands on it for good measure. I have at least 10-15 ft. of cord on there. In the "lip" of the bottom of the sheath where I pulled it up to wrap the 550, I put a 20 ft. flat coil of 30lb test Fireline before wrapping. I have about the same amount of Fireline beside my tin in the pouch. I have a fondness for cordage, and will even gather pieces I find while hiking, or camping. you can always use cord for something, and you never want to run short. You can also make laces for your boots out of 550, and use the inside strands for light duty, and still have laces.
 
Perhaps do up a leg strap with the survival bracelet knots. Or do one up that will fit around your waist and use it for a belt or carry it through your belt loops on top of your normal pants belt.
 
Here's my first wilderness bracelet that I made today. Not really wilderness colors but I made it as practice out of extra cord that I had laying around. I have some hunter orange and black that I'm going to start on now. I saw an neat watch band made out of this stuff. That's my next project. This bracelet is only 6" long but I used about 6' of paracord to make it. Not perfect but pretty good for my first try I think.

Edit: Sorry had to take these pics off but I have some other neat ones later.
 
Thanks for all of the tips. I tried to pickup some braided mason line, by Lowes only had twisted.

I'll probably redo my boots with paracord laces, make a bracelet, and cram some braided line in somewhere.

I'm also looking for a new way to carry my PSK which would allow me more freedom.

I'll post when I find a good solution.
 
Good luck in your search! Deciding how to stash your gear across many locations is sort of a constant work in progress. I started down the road of lashing a gear pouch to every single piece of equipment, and just got sick of the bulk and weight added to otherwise simple pieces of gear. Now I keep everything in it's own place.

For a general, 'bushcraft kit' I just keep my things on a belt pouch. A few other essentials are shoved into pockets. The rest goes either into a backpack or shoulder bag. A good bit of several types of cordage goes in the pouch, and a lot into the pack.
 
I made this last night. Lite and hardly noticable as a zipper pull. This is 7 or 8 feet of cord in the neon orange. I'm only experimenting with this stuff for emergency use. I alway have bundles in the pack in plastic baggies. To much work to just go in the woods and unravel it unless you really need it. I'm going to make some of these for the kids so that they could cut pieces of it off to use as marking if they got lost. I also carry a lot of dental floss small, easy to carry, and pound for pound very strong.
DSC03347.jpg
 
Good thought about making markers out of it. I usually have some bright orange duct tape, but the paracord would be good too.
 
They've got the orange duct tape too. ;) Small rolls attached to their backback with carabiners. I try to cover all bases without overloading them.
 
:D I look forward to when my son is a little older so we can go outdoors together more so than we can now (he's 3). But, I don't want him to grow up to fast!

Right now he just wears a whistle and a small hiking staff that I usually end up with. For some reason he didn't like my BK7.

L
 
For cordage and my BK's, I rolled about 25' of paracord into a tight bundle, then used a couple of ZIP TIES to attach it to the bottom of my sheaths using the grommet holes. I figure if it's zip tied, I won't cut it off until I REALLY needed it and then can use a piece of the paracord to reattach it until I get more zip ties or out of my predicament! :)
 
I am another one for finding another spot to carry it, the sheath wrap is nice if your knife is a grab and go item, but its not really hard to find a spot on the body to stash chord, a cargo pocket on shirt or pants or even use a magazine pouch or knife pouch on your belt.

Plus chord tends to hold water when it gets wet which can cause a leather sheath to rot or rust the blade inside.

My only chord wrapped sheaths currently are a few neckers with very thin line on them.
 
cucharadedragon said:
I made this last night. Lite and hardly noticable as a zipper pull. This is 7 or 8 feet of cord in the neon orange. I'm only experimenting with this stuff for emergency use. I alway have bundles in the pack in plastic baggies. To much work to just go in the woods and unravel it unless you really need it. I'm going to make some of these for the kids so that they could cut pieces of it off to use as marking if they got lost. I also carry a lot of dental floss small, easy to carry, and pound for pound very strong.
Click to expand...

What type of braid is that? I'm putting together 4 plat braids(I think thats the right name.) for zipper pulls on my packs. I like the look of the one you did, but it looks like more work than the 4 plat.

What kind of ring do you have it on?
 
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