Back when he was appearing on the BBC Tracks series Ray Mears would often carry his neck sheath slung under his arm using a sling fashioned from paracord. Although I usually carry my knife in a belt sheath I do find that this shoulder set up can be handy.
I spent a three weeks with Woodlore in Namibia in 2004 and quizzed Ray about this set up, the following is based on what he told me...
You will need approximately,
3.5 meters of thick cord (5 - 7 mm dia.).
60 centimeters of thin cord (4 mm dia.).
This text presumes that the reader is right handed and that the knife will hang under the left arm, with this in mind, the cord should be wrapped so that the working end nearest the throat of the sheath exits the belt loop in a way which will pull the handle into your body.
It will take about 11 to 12 rotations to fill the belt loop, note that the working end nearest the throat should be about 30 -35 cm long. The cord end at the bottom of the sheath will be longer, do not worry about how much extra cord there may be, you will need some spare to make adjustments later.
You are now going to tie the working ends together using two double fishermans knots, begin with the shorter working end nearest the throat of the sheath.
Tying a double fishermans knot.
Both knots tied.
Once the knots are tied pass the sling over your head and tighten it to secure the knife under your arm. Check that when tight the knots sit comfortably on your chest and not at your shoulder where it would interfere with rucksack straps, if they do, adjust accordingly.
Some neck sheaths provide a slot for a firestick, the following describes how Ray secures the steel to the shoulder sling.
The first stage is to attach the 60cm piece of para cord to the shoulder sling using a Prusik knot.
Loop the working ends two or three times around the sling.
Then pull them through the bight.
Secure the bight with a knot, insert both working ends into the firestick eyelet and secure with a knot.
The Prusik knot will slide along the sling.
Secure your sheath tightly under your arm and confirm that the fishermans knots do not interfere with your pack or other equipment, only then should you trim any excess cord.
Thanks for looking
I spent a three weeks with Woodlore in Namibia in 2004 and quizzed Ray about this set up, the following is based on what he told me...
You will need approximately,
3.5 meters of thick cord (5 - 7 mm dia.).
60 centimeters of thin cord (4 mm dia.).
This text presumes that the reader is right handed and that the knife will hang under the left arm, with this in mind, the cord should be wrapped so that the working end nearest the throat of the sheath exits the belt loop in a way which will pull the handle into your body.
It will take about 11 to 12 rotations to fill the belt loop, note that the working end nearest the throat should be about 30 -35 cm long. The cord end at the bottom of the sheath will be longer, do not worry about how much extra cord there may be, you will need some spare to make adjustments later.
You are now going to tie the working ends together using two double fishermans knots, begin with the shorter working end nearest the throat of the sheath.
Tying a double fishermans knot.
Both knots tied.
Once the knots are tied pass the sling over your head and tighten it to secure the knife under your arm. Check that when tight the knots sit comfortably on your chest and not at your shoulder where it would interfere with rucksack straps, if they do, adjust accordingly.
Some neck sheaths provide a slot for a firestick, the following describes how Ray secures the steel to the shoulder sling.
The first stage is to attach the 60cm piece of para cord to the shoulder sling using a Prusik knot.
Loop the working ends two or three times around the sling.
Then pull them through the bight.
Secure the bight with a knot, insert both working ends into the firestick eyelet and secure with a knot.
The Prusik knot will slide along the sling.
Secure your sheath tightly under your arm and confirm that the fishermans knots do not interfere with your pack or other equipment, only then should you trim any excess cord.
Thanks for looking
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