Nettle Cord Lanyard

[JonathanD]

I was supposed to be out surveying the local adder sites today but got waylaid sitting by the side of the river watching fish, kingfishers and the banded demoiselles doing their thing. Anyway I decided to do a knife lanyard from nettle cordage tutorial, so here it is.

Gather some big fat nettles about four to five feet tall.

Strip off their leaves and stalks quickly and firmly if you have no gloves handy. You shouldn't get stung that way.

Bash the stalks flat and open up, removing the stiff inner pith from the strong outer fibres by breaking and stripping.

I used my knife butt and a water bottle to gently knock the stems flat.

After that, you should be left with some nifty strong fibres...

Split a fibre off from the bunch and fold in in half. Then twist each strand in the same direction until it twists on itself and begins to lock together like sting.

 

[JonathanD]

Then keep going and adding further strands as each one runs out

Eventually you should end up with some cord about 40 cm long

Now with this piece, repeat the last step and make some thicker cordage suitable for a lanyard

Add a locking cap and you are sorted.

Very easy and quite addictive.

 

[Mesquite]

Nice tutorial Johnathon

I've got some willow bark that's been prepped for cordage that I'm going to do the same with

 

[JonathanD]

I have a bit of willow bark too, not quite sure what to do with it yet though.

 

[bushcraftbob]

How long will the thread last if the cord is twisted while green?

I have made some similar cord with some dried nettle fibres and well impressed by how durable it is. Is there anything that can be applied to it to stop it fraying and keep it strong???

 

[JonathanD]

I've twisted it tight so it should last a few weeks before it needs tightening again. Ideally It should have been dried for a day or so and them re-wetted, but I decided to photograph the process on a whim. It's amazingly strong and lifted a five year old off the ground.

The best stuff to apply is beeswax. I've got a few hooks and things made by Ray Mears that I wanted to preserve for good. A soak in Danish oil for a day did the trick and they are very well preserved.

 

[brancho]

I need to try that and then do it with my Scouts.

At least it will show them why not to put nettle stems in soup

 

[lannyman8]

was always a little scared to try this in case i messed it up and it put me of for good, gave it a go today and whoooooo.......awesome and how easy.......

should have done it long ago.....

 

[JonathanD]

was always a little scared to try this in case i messed it up and it put me of for good, gave it a go today and whoooooo.......awesome and how easy.......

should have done it long ago.....

It is isn't it. Kind of addictive too.

 

[kieran-]

Great pics, I agree about it being addictive - although all of my early attempts were complete failures! I once spent about 3 hours carefully rolling incredibly thin strands of nettle fibre together, then rolling those together to build up a thicker piece of cordage. I went through about three films on the computer by the time I was done, then I tested it by pulling gently...

SNAP

Im getting pretty good at it now though, its all about patience and preparing everything properly.

 

[gsfgaz]

i would like to try that

 

[Miyagi]

Very impressive JD.

Like Gaz has said, that's something I've been meaning to try.

Thanks for the tutorial.


p.s. My apologies for posting something sensible for once.

 

[JonathanD]

p.s. My apologies for posting something sensible for once.

I keep reading it to make sure that you actually have. There must be a hidden slur or some innuendo in there somewhere.

 

[Miyagi]

p.s. My apologies for posting something sensible for once.

I keep reading it to make sure that you actually have. There must be a hidden slur or some innuendo in there somewhere.

Not this time, I must be having an off day. I need a lie down now...

 

[dozzer]

i think i may have to give this a go!

 

[Andy BB]

Fascinating! How exactly do you join in the second and subsequent strands though?

 

[falcon]

Really nice job Jonathan....reckon you could enhance it further with the lanyard knot developed from the carrick bend...(which I was shown last week and am still struggling to matster)

 

[JonathanD]

Fascinating! How exactly do you join in the second and subsequent strands though?

Just twist them together and weave in as usual.

 

[JonathanD]

Really nice job Jonathan....reckon you could enhance it further with the lanyard knot developed from the carrick bend...(which I was shown last week and am still struggling to matster)

Cheers. I will put a more natural knot in it. I just find these clamps need to be put on so that it dries with a tight weave. I'll have a look into teh carrick bend and see how diffty it is.

 

[Alfredo]

Fantastic! Bravo!!