For those of you who are regular visitors to this site, you know how often I stress making 550 Paracord an essential item in your bug-out-bag, survival kit, car and so on — the more the better.

Given the strength of paracord (550 lbs of tensile strength) and its many applications (tiedowns, lashings, shelter building, friction fire making, fishing line and nets, splints, repairing equipment, tooth floss and many more) it’s one of those things you should never leave home without.

In my article on How to Put Together a Survival Kit I talk about my three-tiered survival kit system, with the first tier being what you always have on your person. Part of my first tier is the paracord bracelet that I wear. While it was good that I had some amount of cordage on me at all times (around 12 feet) that small amount of cordage has only minimal applications. Now enter the paracord belt…

My Journey to Find the Ultimate Paracord Belt

Originally I had posted an article about the first paracord belt that I made. Although you get about 100 feet of paracord, it was difficult to unwrap if you needed it quickly in an emergency and most of all it looked dang ugly — not something I wanted to be wearing, which I didn’t.

At that time I began looking for other belt ideas. I had three requirements. One, it had to be able to unravel quickly. Two, it had to contain at least 100 feet of paracord. And three, it had to look nice enough that I’d actually wear it. The cobra weave for example, while it looks great, is not ideal for quick access and you don’t get around 100 feet of cord.  

Well I finally came across a belt pattern that is not only nice to look at, but it unravels as quick as a crocheted blanket (in fact it’s nothing but a modified crochet stitch) and it contains around 120 feet of cord! It’s called the Slatt’s Rescue Belt (invented by Philip Slattery). Here’s another image of the belt I made:

How to Make the Slatt’s Rescue Belt

The stitch, while it may appear complicated, is actually quite easy to do. And once you get the hang of it, you’ll be making your belt while you watch television. Here’s an excellent video put together by TyingItAllTogether on YouTube that details the process in making this (I plan on creating an instruction set on how to start the knot on a belt loop soon. UPDATE: Please click here for instructions on how to start the belt loop): 

video link for email subscribers

• Posted in Urban Survival, Wilderness Survival