Paracord Cache Keychain!

This keychain is relatively easy to make, and it looks great and is really useful for stashing some money away for use in case of emergency etc. You can also include other things. As well as money mine has a couple of other useful bits. I'll write what else you could include in each section in each step. It would make a great present for somebody who travels a lot, or something that you can keep for yourself. I made mine using yellow and orange paracord, but you could use any colours that you think would look good.

For this project you will need:

• A length of paracord of colour 1
• The same length in colour 2
• Anything that you want to include
• A keyring attachment e.g lobster claw,swivel hook etc.
• Lighter/Matches
• Scissors

I included:

• A button compass
• A short pencil
• £5

The main knot that is used in this project is a round crown sinnet, if you can already do this knot you can skip this step.

To make the first crown sinnet, begin by crossing the paracord, the vertical length needs to be underneath. Next, you take the bottom half of the vertical cord (BV) and fold it up over the left half of the horizontal cord (LH). Now take the LH, and fold it over the top vertical (TV). Then the TV goes over the right horizontal (RH). The RH then goes over the folded-down TV and underneath the folded-up BV. It's clearer in the pictures. If you don't get it, go to step 4 and watch the video. I think that he does it anti-clockwise, but it's still the same knot so it doesn't matter.

(The pictures are annotated)

Now you need to put in the pencil. I found that the best way to do this was to tie another knot, and then tighten this around the base of the pencil. This is the step where I included my fiver. I tied the knot around the pencil a few times to hold it in, then wrapped my money around it and put an elastic band on it. If you want to not include a pencil then you can take it out and try to put money in the gap where you had the pencil before closing it, but that could be difficult if you didn't tie the knots tight enough. For a survival-themed keychain you could use a ferro rod instead of a pencil, or maybe some matches. You might want to just use the pencil not the money, it's up to you.

Once you have inserted your pencil/other core you need to continue doing the same knot, working your way up the core.

When you have worked your way up the core,so that it is all covered by knots, you need to finish it. Now, I have to admit that I am no expert at the turks head terminal which is the knot used in this step. It took me a couple of tries to get it right. You can either just do the knot by itself, or you can do what I did and include something. I included a button compass, but you can include a flint/fire striker or whatever you want to! It's definitely harder to finish off including something, or at least it was with the compass. I used this video for the knot, it's at 2:51.

Now that the knots are all finished, we need to turn this into a keychain. First, trim the cord ends to the size that you want them to be, then melt the ends to make sure they don't unravel. I didn't have a lighter at hand, so I had to use matches. I would definitely recommend using a lighter if you can get one. This is the point where you need to add the keychain head. I ended up shortening the chain to make it easier. I used a pair of pliers in this step, but you might not need some.

This is the final product! I am pleased with the way that this turned out. It's a little longer than I intended, but I still like it. If you do make one, comment with a picture and tell me what you included. If you like this idea but want to do something more advanced, I found this instructable by Tarun Upadhyaya. It has a similar concept, but uses a more advanced knot and doesn't include the compass. Go check it out!