Hey Y'all,

So after lurking for sometime and taking in all the great tips I think I actually have one to offer. I just came back from visiting family in Mexico. I decided to keep what I had on my person to a minimum. I was not lugging around a backpack visiting all the Mayan ruins and beaches. I carried only what I could fit in my travel security belt and my pockets (and not look like a chipmunk). This left me to carry my water bottle and towel in hand.

After my first attempt to take a photo while trying to juggle the towel, map, water bottle, and the camera I decided there had to be a better way. I usually carry about 7 ft. of 550 cord wrapped around one of those key-ring carabiners you find at the checkout counter. I made a quick sling by tying each end of the cord to the rolled up towel and clipping the carabiner to the water bottle. Free hands, it was perfect! It also came in handy as a laundry line to hang my wet towel to air dry and as a pants/underwear suspender in public men's restrooms where you *don't really* want your pants/underwear to touch the floor or side of the toilet.

I think it's a great way to carry the cord, have it readily available, and not get it tangled. I don't know what the knot is called but it's the one where you pull on one end and it starts to come undone. I don't know if someone else has already done/posted this but I sure do find it handy! Here are a few pics.

The knot:


Completed:


Towel sling:

EXCELLENT!

How did you do the braiding? It looks great, but I've never been able to reverse engineer a knot a braid from a picture.

It looks like you're using a technique similar to what someone once taught me for stowing electrical extension cords. Here is a mediocre link to that technique:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4492857_foot-extension-cord-tangle-free.html

Basically you fold the cord in half. Connect the male & femail plus. Form a look at the non-plug end.

Reach your hand through the loop, grab the "free" side of the doubled cord, and pull it back through loop #1. This creates loop #2.

Reach your hand through loop #2, grab the "free" side of the doubled cord, and pull it back through loop #2. This creates loop #3. Repeat until you there's no "free" side of cord left.

I finish it up by unplugging the plus, pass one through the last loop, and then replug them together.

If you unplug and take the plug out of that last loop, then you just pull to unravel the whole thing.

I suspect this is the same braid, only done on a smaller scale with the biner included with each loop.

Here's a video I just put on youtube on how I do the braid. I loop under the carabiner back and forth to get it to keep the knot on one side. If you do it all from one side the knot will spiral around. I just like the way it looks this way. If it's done right you pull on one end, it will come apart in a second or two. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the video! I am going to go try it now.

I have a question...are all the keys on your keyboard blank? Looks that way in the pics.

I like everything about this idea except for the carabiner being so cheaply made.
The gates on those just keep breaking on me. I have a couple of old BD wiregate biners kicking around that I will try it with though.
Chain sinnet on a biner, what a great idea.

Cool. Necessity is the brainchild of invention, or something like that. Video was kinda short, didn't show how you end it. And I agree, why not use a better 'biner???

@el_diabl0: I assure you my macbook has characters painted on the keys. I took the pics and made the video with an iphone so their quality isn't the best.

@scafool,OldBaldGuy: Agreed, it is a cheap carabiner. I'm going replace it with a better one soon. As for how do I end the braid.. I mean chain sinnet (thanks scafool). The end of the cord has the same loop knot as the start I just loop it into the carabiner also if you notice it has a about 1/2 inch tail which I stick through the last loop in the braid.

Here are some pics:

Thanks...