"How NOT To DIY Paracord Gun Sling"

Looks good from far but is far from good... 

Paracord is one of those things that became rather trendy for a while then died of a bit, but the functionality of having an abundance of paracord while in the woods is priceless.  I have used paracord numerous times while hunting to help secure an animal to my pack, fix broken gear, or even to make a shelter.  I have also used it countless times while camping and scouting for just about everything.  Especially with kids, you will always have a moment you'll need some paracord.  These are some of the reasons why I decided to make myself a paracord gun sling!

I have been following Chelsea from SOS Gear for quite some time now and even have some of their items.  I have seen their gun slings and have thought they were pretty cool.  I will admit, I didn't want to spend any more than I had to so I decided I would DIY (Do It Yourself) and build my own. I mean really how hard could it be... 

I had made a few bracelets here and there at family reunions and thought my bit of experience could be aided by a few YouTube videos in order to get me the finished product I wanted.  I watched 3-4 videos and was feeling okay about starting my project but had never woven any of the styles I was watching... I found one video with a pattern I could easily follow and was confident in which made up my mind that I was going to make this.  

The unintentional switch of colors... 

I purchased two colors of paracord, got me long board I could attach my gun sling brackets on, and began my work.  One of the quickest lessons I learned about making a paracord gun sling, was the fact that when you buy one from someone like Chelsea at SOS Gear, you aren't just buying a product that cost "X" amount of money for the supplies to make it, but you are also paying for the time they put into it... It didn't take long for me to get tired of tying my knots and making my sling.  After a few hours I realized the length of paracord I bought wasn't long enough so I ran back to the store to get the same color.... or course my luck was that I had bought the last one in that color so I had to improvise and add another color.... I wasn't to happy about this, but at this point of my project I was just anxious just to get it done.  

By the end of my project I has spent hours tying knots, spent more than I wanted to on paracord due to not getting the right amount the first time, and my gun sling didn't look near as good as I wanted it to.  Yes it works, It twists a little on the ends where the paracord attaches to the brackets, but it lets me carry my rifle on my shoulder.  

Twists at brackets :/

I'm sure my next one could turn out better, but if I could do it all again, this is what I would do: #1 get off YouTube and buy a gun sling from SOS Gear. Don't waste your money or time trying to make one yourself.  As satisfying as it is making something yourself and using it, I would like my gun sling to be more comfortable, look better, and be tied at a higher quality than mine is.  SOS Gear prides themselves for making quality products which are made to use, not just look nice.  Having an item that is functional, durable, and doesn't look like a 3rd grader made it is well worth the money.  So there you have it, this is my confession that DIY is not always the best way to go.  If you are in the market for a rifle sling, or any other cool paracord item, be sure to check out SOS Gear.

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Ranger Beads

One common aspect of hunting or hiking is knowing how far you traveled on your trip.  This can be pretty difficult if you don't have a GPS or a set trail you are following.  What I want to talk about is an inexpensive way to track how far you travel without spending a lot of money on a GPS 

One of the guys I coach with was asking me how I kept track of how far I hiked or backpacking trips, hunting, or just on random hikes.  I told him that I honestly didn't know how far I was walking/hiking but I usually used Google Maps to guesstimate how far I hiked after I finished a trip.  He told me that when he was in the military, they used what they called Ranger Beads to keep track of how far they walked when venturing off base.  He had one on his backpack and showed me what it looked like.

Ranger Beads

I thought it looked cool but I will admit I had heard of Ranger Beads but I had no idea how to use them or anything.  I will attempt to explain how to use them from his explanation and my one adventure I have tried it out on.

A typical Ranger Bead set consists of 9 beads on the bottom half and five beads on the upper half with a knot separating the two sets of beads.  The confusing part for this concept is that you will be keeping track of the distance you travel in meters rather than feet and miles.  You can however convert the meters or kilometers into miles after you return from you trip if you desire. One thing you will have to do prior to using Ranger Beads is measure how many paces it takes you to walk 100 meters.  What I would suggest is to go to your local high school track and walk exactly 100 meters counting how many steps you take with your right (or left) foot.  By counting the number of steps for just one foot you are able to keep track easier and count less.  The typical "step" for a human is around 2 1/2 feet or .762 meters.  This would equal out to roughly 131 total steps in a 100 meter stretch (around 66 steps per foot).  Knowing how many steps you take in 100 meters is the key to keeping accurate record of the distance you travel using the Ranger Beads.

So as I mentioned, you have 9 beads on the bottom and 5 on  the top. When you begin your hike/trip/adventure be sure that all the beads on the top are pushed all the way to the top of their section and all the beads on the bottom are pushed to the bottom of their section.  At the beginning of your hike the Ranger Beads should look like this.

Starting my hike

 As soon as you start hiking be sure to count the number of steps you are taking with your right foot.  For every 66 steps you take with that foot you will move one of the beads on the lower section to the top of it's section on the Ranger Bead signifying that you have walked 100 meters.  So if you walk 500 meters you should have 5 beads slid to the top of the lower section and 4 beads still at the bottom as shown below.

Ranger Beads showing 500 meters

After you have walked 900 meters all of the lower beads should be raised as high as they can signifying that you have walked 900 meters.  After walking another 100 meters you will then lower one of the top beads to the bottom of the upper section signifying that you have walked 1000 meter.  At this point you can either lower all of the bottom beads again to repeat the process or some people just reverse the process and just lower one bead at a time as they walk additional 100 meter lengths.  In the picture below, my Ranger Beads are showing that I walked 1300 meters which is the equivalent to .807 miles.  I know that isn't very far but this was a quick hike to try out my Ranger Beads.

My Ranger Beads showing I have walked 1300 meters

 I thought this was a simple, yet useful piece of equipment that is extremely light and easy to use. Even if you have a GPS or some other device you use to keep track of the distance you travel on a hike or hunting trip, having a set of Ranger Beads would be a good idea to place in your pack in case your GPS does not get service or runs out of battery life.  The Ranger Bead set that I received from my friend is made out of paracord but you could make them multiple different ways.  There are also a few places you can buy them online that I have found.  I will post a video I found on YouTube which shows how to make the Ranger Beads out of paracord if anyone is interested.

Ranger Beads will be with me on my hunting and hiking trips from this point on.  I don't think I will use them every time but I will use them when I want to know how far I hiked.  Some of the situations I can see myself using them in would be when I go on a hike to get in shape for hunting season or after I spend all day chasing elk or deer and I want to see how far I walked/hiked when I head back to my vehicle.