I've been getting into this collar making thing for about a month now and have decided that I've found something that I like better than making those thrifted leather collars. The primary issue for me was finding thrifted belts that were real leather rather than cheapo synthetic stuff. This really transfers over into how I find the quality of the collars to be.
So my new "thing"? PARACORD!
I learned how to do some knots, went and bought myself some paracord and hardware and set to work. We lost Boo's old martingale a while back and I thought it would be great if I could fashion a martingale collar out of paracord - so that is exactly what I did first.
The paracord itself has a working load of 100 lbs with a listed break strength of 550 lbs. I used 3 welded O-rings with a 200 lb weight rating and a D-Ring for the leash to attach to (it's metal - but honestly - if anything were going to give out on this collar, it'd have to be the D -ring, because nothing else is going ANYWHERE). Apart from giving me blisters when I make them, this is cool! It took between 40 and 50 feet of rope to make each of these, I'd guess.
By the way - I'd be willing to part with the darker collar if someone wants it - I measured wrong and it's just a little big for Boo. The colors are black and camo green. My one disclaimer - this was the first one I made and I didn't think to end the under layer on one side and the upper layer on the other to even them out, so there's a bit of an ugly bump where I melted all of the cord together. Nothing that will hinder functionality or hurt the dog, but it's not very pretty. I fixed this issue on the orange one!
If I can find it, my goal is to by a martingale chain so I can make one with a paracord strap and chain for the martingale - I think it would slide a bit better. The ones above work well, but the knotted cord is pretty solid, so the martingale part of the collar doesn't "morph" and slide quite as freely as I'd like.
and then I decided to try my hand at watercolor. It was fun!
And just for kicks - some of Boo on the boat!
and the two of us on a hike:
So my new "thing"? PARACORD!
I learned how to do some knots, went and bought myself some paracord and hardware and set to work. We lost Boo's old martingale a while back and I thought it would be great if I could fashion a martingale collar out of paracord - so that is exactly what I did first.
The paracord itself has a working load of 100 lbs with a listed break strength of 550 lbs. I used 3 welded O-rings with a 200 lb weight rating and a D-Ring for the leash to attach to (it's metal - but honestly - if anything were going to give out on this collar, it'd have to be the D -ring, because nothing else is going ANYWHERE). Apart from giving me blisters when I make them, this is cool! It took between 40 and 50 feet of rope to make each of these, I'd guess.
By the way - I'd be willing to part with the darker collar if someone wants it - I measured wrong and it's just a little big for Boo. The colors are black and camo green. My one disclaimer - this was the first one I made and I didn't think to end the under layer on one side and the upper layer on the other to even them out, so there's a bit of an ugly bump where I melted all of the cord together. Nothing that will hinder functionality or hurt the dog, but it's not very pretty. I fixed this issue on the orange one!
If I can find it, my goal is to by a martingale chain so I can make one with a paracord strap and chain for the martingale - I think it would slide a bit better. The ones above work well, but the knotted cord is pretty solid, so the martingale part of the collar doesn't "morph" and slide quite as freely as I'd like.
and then I decided to try my hand at watercolor. It was fun!
And just for kicks - some of Boo on the boat!
and the two of us on a hike:
