Pictorial: How I 550 Haft Warp By Q

550 paracord has been called the “duct tape of the

rope world” and is widely recognized within the
survival and preparedness community for its
adaptive usefulness. But have you ever needed
some cord and found you didn’t have any around?
For this reason many construct paracord bracelets,
lanyards, and hat wraps so that -- when the need
arises -- it can be unwound and utilized as
required. This pictorial demonstrates a method for
wrapping tomahawk or axe handles (commonly
called “hafts”), however, the technique
demonstrated in this pictorial can be adapted for a
wide variety of tools and knives. So sit back and
enjoy the show and, if you have any questions,
please visit us at www.PreparedToLive.org!

The first order of business is to find a man friendly

area and for this particular project I choose the
basement: the most woman unfriendly area
available. They will only criticize the enormous
waste of time you are about to undertake, thereby
distracting you from your mission: haft-wrapping
perfection! Next, put on a good show, preferably
one with guns, blades, explosions…and men dying
for noble principals. This show was perfect, except
that Tom Cruise lived.

First I’ll drill a lanyard hole, which will come in

handy when I cord wrap. This haft is 1.25 inches
wide, so I will drill 10/16’s of an inch up from the
bottom. I’ll press a pilot hole in the haft because I
don’t have a drill press so I’ll have to drill by
hand.

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Pictorial: How I 550 Haft Warp By Q

Next I’ll drill by hand with my haft secured in a

vice to ensure there is no slippage as I drill.

Some of my lanyard holes are straighter than

others. Sometimes I get lucky. This one came out
ok.

I’ll clean up the lanyard hole buy rounding out and

smoothing the edges a bit with a razor blade and
some sand paper. I can’t find that rat-tail file! Use
it…put it back where it belongs. Use it…put it
back where it belongs. Use it…put it back where it
belongs. Done and not too bad this time!

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Pictorial: How I 550 Haft Warp By Q

Now I’m ready to begin wrapping, but I need to

protect myself from the edge. I didn’t used to do
this, until I cut my palm a haft or two ago.

If you don’t have one of these fancy do-dads, tape

a rag or something onto the edge.

Better safe then sorry, eh?

Now I measure out the length of 550 cord I want

for my wrap. Wind cord (dry run it) around the
haft until the wrap is as high on the haft as desired,
then cut the cord. In this case I’m using an
eighteen (18) foot length of cord. Next, pass the
cord through the lanyard hole and tie a knot in the
end of the 550 cord.
Note: Soak your paracord in water for half an
hour before wrapping. I’ve read that soaking the
cord before wrapping causes the cord to shrink as
it dries on the haft, resulting in a tighter wrap. I
don’t know if this is true, but I always soak before
I wrap. In this pictorial I did not soak, because I’m
lazy…and because this haft is not yet finished.

Now I’ll build my “head rig” which is a very

simple -- and immensely helpful -- method for
keeping tension on the paracord as I wrap it
around the haft. In addition, the head rig helps
keep the “vertical loop” straight and tensely
drawn/taut while wrapping paracord around the
haft.

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Pictorial: How I 550 Haft Warp By Q

Now I create my vertical loop by passing the cord

up from the lanyard hole, through the head rig and
back down the haft.

I’m ready to begin my wrap!

The key to a good wrap is tension. The more

tension the better my finished wrap will be.

Although I didn’t keep much tension on the wrap

for this pictorial, you’ll want to try to keep your
cord as tight and tense as possible.

Work slow. Your hands and fingers will cramp, but

keep that tension strong!

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Pictorial: How I 550 Haft Warp By Q

If you’re sloppy like me you’ll notice your wrap

turns aren’t tight and that there are spaces between
your turns, like this…

Stop wrapping, maintain tension, and tighten/pull

your turns together to remove the spaces, as shown
here.

Tightening your turns is hard, so it’s better to

make sure you wrap your turns tight in the first
place.

Then keep wrapping, wrappin’, wrappin’…keep

that cord a wrappin’!

And make sure that you keep the tension on the

paracord strong!

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Pictorial: How I 550 Haft Warp By Q

When you reach the end of your cord, pass it

through the vertical loop on the head end of your
haft.

Time to stop and wipe a tear from my eye. I hope I

die with dignity, not cryin’ for my mama and
begging to be saved.

Wait a freakin’ second! What am I gettin’ so

choked up about? This is a $100,000,000
Hollywood blockbuster…and I detest Tom Cruise.

Back to wrappin’ sucker!

That’s better. Untie and remove your head rig to

release the vertical loop.

Yo!!! Slacker!!!

I told you to keep that tension tight!!!

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Pictorial: How I 550 Haft Warp By Q

Next, untie your lanyard hole knot and pull the

cord through the lanyard hole.

Grab the cord on the lanyard hole end with a pair

of pliers and pull it hard: this will tighten the
vertical loop on the head end causing the vertical
loop to clamp down tight on the head end paracord
you previously tucked under the vertical loop.

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Pictorial: How I 550 Haft Warp By Q

Cut and melt the cord on the head end.

Cut and melt the cord on the lanyard hole end.

Let it dry and you’re done!

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Pictorial: How I 550 Haft Warp By Q

A special thank you, credit, and tribute belongs to Ranger Rick from whom I first learned this technique.
You can visit Ranger Rick’s web pages at http://www.therangerdigest.com. Here is an image from
Ranger Rick’s page which demonstrates his paracord wrapping technique for knives.

Subsequent Follow-up: A member of an online community I belong to advised that the technique
demonstrated in this pictorial is termed “Whipping.” This from Wikipedia: “The common whipping is
the simplest type of whipping knot, a series of knots intended to stop a rope from unraveling. As it can
slip off of the rope easily, the common whipping should not be used for rope ends that will be handled.
This whipping knot is also called 'wolf' whipping in some parts of the world. The 'Hangman's knot' is a
variation of this whipping knot.” Learn more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_whipping

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