Shopping Bag Fastner to Your Backpack

I usually use my racing bike everyday and on my way back home I visit a supermarket/grocery store. The thing is that I don't have a basket on my bike and my backpack is usually full which leaves me no other choice than putting the shopping bag on the handlebar on my bicycle - which isn't comfortable when cycling because of the changed balance and the bag constantly hitting the wheel when cycling. That problem got me an idea for an easy and very low cost fix.

By making a bag attachment point on my backpack by using paracord (which is strong and can resist a lot of weight) solved the problem.

I have used 2 things for this project:

- the cheapest paracord I could find on ebay.com, they are cheap, strong and is a multipurpose rope.

- the cheapest carabiner on ebay.com

I have tested the rope with the carabiner attached by pulling from the carabiner on one side and the rope on the other side, it could resist more than 10 kilos / 22 lbs and maybe a lot more, but 10 kilos is more than enough of what I usually shop for and want on my back when cycling (plus the backpack itself with all my stuff...).

Now let's get started the instructable !

1. Get a carabiner and some paracord.

You will need 2 ropes with 2 different lengths:

1 rope with a length of approximately 1 meter (about 3.5 feets)

1 rope with a length about 130 centimeters (about 4.5 feets)

Cut the paracord with scissors to get the above 2 mentioned rope lengths. Seal the rope ends afterwards by burning them to pevent the nylon inside the paracord from sticking out. The cord end should look like the picture above after burning it.

We need to connect the carabiner with the rope to start with.

We will afterwards make knots along the rope to make it stronger and more decorative at the same time which will be shown lateron in the upcoming steps.

The 1 meter (3.5 feet) long rope will be used in this step.

The first knot connects the rope with the carbiner.

Step 1: Find the middle of the rope and bend it.

Step 2: Get the rope through the carabiner.

Step 3: Get the two ends of the rope through the open loop which we made when we bended the rope.

Step 4: Now tighten it up and you are done with this step!

It is optional but recommended to make knots along the rope. By doing it the rope will get stronger and beautiful.

2 different knots will be introduced: snake knot and overhand knot.

The overhand knot is the easiest one but the snake knot will be introduced first.

Making the snake knot:

Step 1: Make a loop with one of the rope divisions.

Step 2: Take the other rope division and get it through the loop we made in step 1.

Step 3: Take the rope division from step 2 (which got through the loop) and get it under the other rope division ( see above pictures) to get it through the loop again.

Step 4: Now tighten the knot by pulling from the ends of the 2 rope divisions.

Step 5: Just keep on making this type of knot along the rope or make the overhand knot which is explained how to in the next step.

You can move the knot along the rope when the knot is not tight, giving you the freedom to choose the distance between your knots. Remember to keep som distance between some of the knots giving you an attachment point for your carabiner by attaching the carabiner between the 2 rope divisions.

Making an overhand knot is super easy and fast.

Making an overhand knot:

Step 1: Make a loop with both rope divisions.

Step 2: Get both ends of both rope divisions through the loop.

Step 3: Tighten the knot by pulling from the rope ends.

You will need at least a couple of knots to make attaching points on the rope for the carabiner (no matter knot type).

Now you should have a rope somehow like the first picture above. Attach the carabiner to one of the knots on the rope, or between the 2 rope divisions. This rope have to be wrapped around the handle of the backpack.

If you want to attach a long bag you can make a little loop by attaching to one of the knots on the middle of the rope.

If you use a short bag you can attach the carabiner to a knot at the other end of the rope, getting the bag more down along the backpack, making it possible to fasten the bag to the backpack using the other rope (the one with the lenght of 130 centimeters / 3.5 feet) preventing the bag from slinging/moving to the sides especially when turning when cycling (see the picture with the red circle).

This rope can be fastened by getting it through the straps on the backpack (see the picture with the blue circle) and then getting it around the bag and make an overhand knot. Many backpacks have these straps but if you don't have them you can alternatively get the rope around your backpack as a starting point instead of from the straps. If you have these straps you can make this rope a bit shorter than mentioned (instead of 130 centimeters / 4.5 feets).

Y're all set. I hope this instructable was helpful. Enjoy!