Paracord Pouch

finished pouch holding 3/8" steel shot

Now that I have made a paracord needle, it's time to put it to use.  These slingshot ammo pouches were what first inspired me to try some paracord projects.  A quick search on the web turned up this set of plans for a paracord pouch.  It is a slightly different design than the Simple Shot pouches but it should work.

Start with 30 feet of paracord.  Use a rubber band or tape to secure one end of paracord to can.  Also secure a sharpie to can to add slack to line.  (I used a pen but found it a bit tight afterwards.  The sharpie will give more slack.)  Wrap the cord around a soda can 25 times and remove the sharpie.

25 wraps of paracord

Add your needle to the end of the paracord and weave it up through the wraps by twos.  Start by going under the first two wraps.  Continue spacing each line about 1/2" apart.  Don't worry too much about spacing, just push the lines together, you can feel when they are close enough.

starting to weave

and more

Make sure to work any twists and kinks out of the paracord as you go.  Your last weave should go down and thread back under the bottom wrap.

last weave

Now it is time to start on the bottom.  Push everything down even with the bottom of the can.  The bottom is constructed by making half hitches around the bottom of the weave.  Alternate the half hitches through the horizontal wraps and through the base of the vertical weaves.

starting first half hitch

finishing first half hitch

first row of half hitches complete

Continue the half hitches around the base of the can.  Keep the hitches tight so you have a solid base.  As you get towards the center you have to skip some half hitches and maybe go every other one.  Otherwise you end up making the base cone-shaped rather than flat.  If there is an exact formula for this, I'm not aware of it.  The center gets a little tricky and I just went by feel, adding half hitches where it looked like I needed one.

completed base

Now remove the pouch from the can.  To finish the base, I passed the working end inside the pouch.  Then I secured it to the base with an overhand knot and cut off the excess.  I inverted the pouch and finished it off by melting the knot together, permanently securing it.

inside view of melted knot

The starting end of the cord is then woven back down the side of the pouch next to one of the other vertical lines.  Melt that end and press it to the adjacent line, fusing them together.  Take the extra cord (or cut a new piece) and weave it around the top to create a drawstring (see first picture).  Add a cord lock then knot, trim, and melt the ends of the drawstring.  All done!  Add your favorite junk and pull it closed.

finished pouch