Paracord Water Jug Harness.

In 2012 I had an outdoor job for most of my summer break and one of the things we had to bring to work was a some sort of water container. I didn't own one at the time but I've seen people just tie some paracord around the neck of the bottle and call it good. I of course wanted something just a little more elaborate. With two shoe strings and a weaving technique I learned in Boy Scouts, I pulled it off! Here's one of the better ways of making a water jug harness from paracord...

The list of materials is as follows for making the harness:

- Two 80 in. lengths of paracord, either shoe laces or plain paracord. (I used two shoe laces)
- Some sort of plastic bottle that tickles your fancy. (Water jug, Gatorade, etc...)
- A small carabiner.
- A lighter or box of matches.

Beginning with the carabiner of your choice, you begin tying your cord with a girth hitch, then end it in an overhand.

This is what you might call the "four strand round braid" which will be used repeatedly throughout the project .

#4 goes under #3 and #2, between #1 and #2, then goes over #2, becoming #3. #1 goes under #2 and #3, between #3 and #4, then goes over #3, becoming #2. After that you repeat the pattern.

But to simplify the process, the pattern is as follows: Under two, over one, under two, over one, under two... But once you get the hang of it, you want a knotted length of about 4 or 5 in.

In this step, this is where we attach the harness to the water jug, starting at the bottles neck. Begin with a simple over hand knot but in this case we will be wrapping the end around it several times on both sides until they reach back to the braided cord. The knot should fit snugly around the bottles neck. Then finish off with another over hand knot at the base.

Next is another session of braiding. Braid as we have done before until you reach the sort of "stomach" or "belly of the jug, where you usually hold it. Continue with over hand knots until you come back to the base.

This is the final step in making a plastic water jug harness, where we will be cutting and melting the ends. Be cautious since you will be dealing with flames and hot, burning paracord fringes that have a tendency to drip. Not too fun to get on you hands or jeans. Be careful and enjoy using your own DIY paracord jug harness!