Leashes

After the new paracord enthusiast has made enough bracelets to cover all members of his or her family and random strangers, a common next step is dog collars and leashes. Collars, or non-adjustable ones anyway, are basically just big bracelets so that's pretty simple. Leashes, though...that gets interesting.

Simple Leashes

The most common simple leash is a four-strand round braid that gets looped back and back-braided into itself for the handle. On Youtube, there are many videos for this, but Looker's version is a great and clear example. The four-strand leash has the advantages of being simple and sturdy, while also being compact and attractive. It has a weak spot aesthetically, in that it's hard to hide the burnt ends of cord within the back-braid. It also is possible to keep uneven tension while braiding, which leads to a lumpy end product. If you don't back-braid far enough, the joint is also a weak physical point. For most people, it's strong enough and good enough and easy enough, so a good starting point.

Another simple leash is the solomon bar loop that JD Lenzen demonstrated in early 2013. His video is easy to follow, as is typical JD style. This leash type has the advantage of being based on the most common bracelet style, which means you probably know how to do it and it's easy to keep the tension even. The JD leash also has no inherent weak points at the handle, as the knots are tied around a looped core. There is one quibble that some people have, and that is the burnt cords at the top of the loop. But, overall, this is a fast leash to make, familiar to most paracord people, and strong enough for any dog (depending on the clip of course).

Intermediate Leashes

Once you've mastered the 4-strand, you can start riffing on it to make fancier or more comfortable designs. One simple tweak that makes a difference is replacing the simple hitched attachment to the clip with a braided splice. Melvin Thomas has a couple methods on his Youtube channel, including a two-strand splice and a braided eye. The braided loop for the clip adds some strength, and a little panache. The handle of a 4-strand leash is a little on the thin side for some people's comfort. Beccah Maier makes leashes with the same basic Looker style, with a braided loop for the clip, and then adds a second layer of 4-strand around the handle. This double-layered 4-strand braid is no more complex than what you use on the body of the leash, but is wider and softer to hold for long periods. It also removes the weak splice at the handle, as you run the cords through the weave to start the second pass, which reinforces everything wonderfully.

Advanced Leashes

A design pioneered by Melvin Thomas adds a flat-braided handle and some fancy transition knots. The knot at the bottom splice is mainly decorative (hiding the splice for the ring), while the knot at the transition to the handle locks the cords in place and allows other cords to be added, assuming you used a 4-strand braid for the body. The handle is generally an 8-strand braid. So, in order, here's the method. First, start from the centers of two 20-foot lengths of cord and make a splice, as shown in the previous section. Don't forget to put the snap clip on before you close the splice, and then transition to a doubled footrope knot (here are tutorials in video and pictorial form). After the transition, make a 4-strand round braid for a few feet, until you're ready to start the handle. You should have at least 3 or 4 feet of each strand left at this point. Make another doubled footrope knot, and your main body is locked into place. Add two more cords into the weave at this point, and begin the flat braid for the handle. Melvin has a video on the 8-strand crocodile ridge, as well as an 8-strand double edge flat braid. Once you've got a good length on that handle (18 inches is a decent ballpark), it's time to finish it up. Melvin's 8-strand gaucho style video shows you how to complete the handle with a fancy-looking and very solid knot.

The advantages of the Melvin-style leash, as many of us have been calling it, are aesthetic and functional. Obviously, you look at the finished product with fancy knots and wide-flat handle and you know someone put some work into that item. Also, the cord ends are all hidden from sight within that gaucho knot at the end. Functionally, the initial splice for the clip is strong, and the final method of pulling cord through the earlier braid and then locking it in with a thick knot means there are no weak points. Also, many people use the gaucho knot as a handle, if they put their hand through the leash loop rather than holding the flat part.

Options

Once you're comfortable with a specific method, you can tweak it and make it your own. Some people put a grab handle part of the way down the leash, in order to make a shorter leash on-the-fly when walking their pet. If you're comfortable with the footrope knot transition, you should be able to add some good options by splicing in a loop or splitting cords and making various changes there.

If you think the 4-strand round braid is a little thin and want something more substantial, you can make a 6-strand or 8-strand round braid for the main body. Using 8 strands actually makes the initial splice a little easier, as you can just make a standard 4-strand braid in the middle of four 20-foot cords, and bring those cords up to make a transition knot to the main body. Most people will still use a doubled footrope knot for the transition, which only requires four cords. The other four cords are just threaded up the middle of the footrope knot. There are a few options for an 8-strand round braid. One simple method is to just treat two strands like they are one, and do a 4-strand round braid, doubled. It is important to keep track of the strands on this, to ensure they stay consistently placed in each pair. Other methods are documented on this leatherworking page. Using multiple colors of cords, each of these methods produces a different pattern. The gaucho method makes four lines running parallel to the length of the leash, while the first 8-strand braid makes a spiraling pattern. The square braid produces a herringbone pattern, and will also produce a distinctly square-shaped cross-section if made without an extra core cord.

Experiment! Who says you can't make a leash with a round braid body and a solomon-bar handle? Why not add a ring to a short leash's handle so you can clip another leash to it? Maybe you want to walk two dogs with one handle, so put in a double-swivel and go nuts! Join one of the many paracord groups on Facebook or Knot Head sites, and share your experiments. Someone may have some ideas you'll want to adapt, or you may inspire others.