Sosakonline Archive

Please note that all content in this section has been imported from our old Sosakonline website and may contain broken links. We are revising it as we can, but these things take time, and it's a lot of content to get through!

This is how to tie a Square Knot Lanyard, Defender style.  This knot is a great way to keep two fairly long hunks of paracord or any other type of cord handy without having to put up with alot of bulk.





Step One- Take two cords of equal length.


Step Two- Remove the inner strands if you are using paracord.  This knot works best with flattened cord like paracord or leather strips.


Step Three- Lay the cords across eachother ath the center, and fold one cord over the other as shown.


Step Four- Bring one side of the other cord across the first cord.


Step Five- Take the unused length of the first cord and bring it up over the other cords.


Step Six- Fold the cord you just had under the top strand of the other cord.


Step Seven- Pull tight until you have a nice little square knot.


Step Eight- Fold the two sides of one cord over the knot.


Step Nine- Weave in the opposite cords, going over the first strand and under the second.


Step 10- Pull Tight into a nice little square knot again.


Step Eleven-  Repeat Steps Eight and Nine until you have the length you like.


Step Twelve- Alternatively, you can fold the cords over one at a time as shown in the next few photos.


Step Thirteen- Make sure when you do it this way that you are alternating the cords properly.


Step Fourteen- Make sure you pull each knot tight before starting the next one.


Step Fifteen- Pull it tight and you are ready to either singe the ends or do the completion knot, covered in another lesson since it can be used on this braid and the round knot.


Step Sixteen- This knot starts to take shape rather quickly and can be a rewarding way to start.


Edited-  To answer J. Christian's question, I wove this lanyard out of two cords that were just over 5 feet each- ten feet of cord, braided into about 9 inches.  Here are James' observations:

If you don't count the 2 or so inches used as the free ends, then your final result of actual braid looks like about 6 inches... If you go by each side being 5 feet or 60 inches and end up with 6 inches of actual braid, then it is a 10 to 1 ratio in inches... This would help me get a good guesstimate and might help others too... Maybe you can post it on the site...
 
That is one side starting cord versus the final result of actual braid in inches as approximately a 10:1 ratio...



To further illustrate this matter, and to test the 10:1 ratio, I cut two more lengths to exactly 24 inches or two feet and ended up with this:


As you can see, it is just under 2 and a half inches- likely because of the length of the leftover strands.