EDC Strap

This instructable is for how to make a strap to braid your Every Day Carry items into so you have them with you all the time. I used this to replace my strap on my purse, therefore when I was out it was with me automatically. You could put it on a rifle, crossbow, a bag or use it as a belt. It's made to be multi use and to allow you to replace a strap on something else and use this instead.

Most of these instructions are straightforward. The inner braid is just a continuous string from another instructable, which I advise you to look at. Then the over braid is just a standard Cobra Weave to hold it all in place.

Strap Contents:

• 3 quart ziplocks
• 100 feet black paracord
• 300 feet red paracord
• 8 waterproof matches
• 1 striker
• 25 feet each red, black and beige thread
• 5 sewing needles
• 1 dozen asorted safety pins
• 6 each 4, 6 and 8 inch zip ties
• 50 feet baker's twine
• 2 one inch Fastex buckles
• 8 one inch diamater split rings
• 8 simple bandages
• Crystal Light one liter powder for water
• 2 two-pill Ibuprofin
• 2 two-pill Tylenol
• 3 doses Iodized Sea Salt
• 4 Generic Triple Antibiotic doses
• razor blade
• 4 alcohol wipes

All these with the exception of the paracord and split rings are put into the ziplock bags and then braided into the strap. So now we start with the how to.

All you have to do is just follow the referenced instructable. I didn't have the buckle to start this on, so I started it on a flashlight just to have something to take its place. Once I bought the buckle, I replaced that on the strap.

I found that it was much easier to do the pulling with a latchhook. You can get them at a craft store for about $4.00 or so. It helps because the hook section fits the paracord, and the latch will let cord move in through without binding.

I did find that a ratio of 1 inch of finished braid was about 6 feet or so of paracord used. And it is important to remember that this is a continuous braid, so that you can pull as much as you want off, without compromising the integrity of the rest of the strap.

Now you simply do a cobra braid over the entire thing. I took the black paracord and doubled it over. I then tied a simple overhand knot and slid that through the fastex buckle so that it was stuck there. I started tying the braid over the entire strap. Every now and again, I would take one of the ziplock baggies that had supplies in them, roll it so it was no wider than the strap and then tie the cobra braid over the top.

These pictures are a little out of order, but it is somewhat coherent.

Okay, once all the supplies are put in, you have to add the adjustable.

What I did was fold the strap back on itself, I added the split rings at various points, and used two to attach one half of the fastex buckle to the strap itself, and put the other half on the end of the strap. That way I could feed it through one end of the purse attachment. This way I could adjust it easily by detaching the other half, moving the split rings, and reattaching the buckle.

Because of this, I had to attach one end to the purse permanently. I did this with wrapping the buckle end to the brass loop connecting it to the purse. From there, it was just a matter of making it as long as I needed,

Sometimes the zip ties would poke through, and it would take some time to work those in.

Also this is only really good for emergencies, not use in case you have a headache. I kept a normal box of meds in my purse, along with a knife and a flashlight.

But if you only need it for when you are in the outdoors and may be cut off from your camp, this is the item for you.