My Go at this Brenden Para Thing
Alright, so I kept hearing about this ‘Brenden para’ technique. Saw a couple of pictures, someone mentioned it in a forum I read sometimes. Looked kinda neat, like a solid way to wrap stuff or make a sturdy strap out of paracord. Figured, why not, I’ve got some cord lying around, let’s give it a shot.
First, I had to actually find the paracord. Dug through my garage box, found a decent length of black and another bit of green. Wasn’t sure how much I’d need, so I just grabbed both. Also snagged one of those plastic buckle clips you get on backpacks sometimes.
So, I sat down at the kitchen table. Spread the cords out. Tried to remember the pattern I saw. It started simple enough, looping the cord through the buckle. Okay, got that part.
Then came the weaving part. This Brenden para thing, it’s a bit tricky. You gotta loop one cord over, then under, then pull the other one through… I messed it up the first few tries. Ended up with a tangled mess more than once. Had to undo it all and start again. Frustrating, let me tell ya.
- Loop the main strands through the buckle half.
- Start the weave with the working ends.
- Keep the tension even – this was the hard part for me.
- Push the knots up tight as you go.
Took me a good hour, maybe more, just fiddling with it. My fingers started to get sore from pulling the cord tight. I wasn’t following any official instructions, just going off the memory of that picture. Maybe that was my mistake. But eventually, I got into a rhythm. Over, under, through, pull tight. Over, under, through, pull tight. It started looking like something resembling the pictures.
Getting Somewhere
I made a small bracelet length first, just to see if I could actually finish it. Clipped the buckle together. It looked… okay. A bit uneven in places where my tension wasn’t consistent, but it was solid. Really strong feeling weave.
Decided to try wrapping the handle of an old hatchet next, using the same Brenden para weave. That took even longer because wrapping around something is harder than making a flat bracelet. Had to keep stopping, tightening, making sure it didn’t slip. Burned the ends with a lighter to fuse them, like you always do with paracord.
End result? The hatchet handle feels great now. Really grippy, and looks kind of rugged. The bracelet is sitting on my desk, a reminder of the fiddly process. It’s a decent technique, this Brenden para thing. Takes patience, definitely. Not sure if it’s better than other weaves, but it works. It’s solid. Glad I spent the afternoon figuring it out, even if I was just winging it based on a name and a picture.
