Make a Wide Sturdy Handle With the Portuguese Sinnet

Messenger bags are great but sometimes the long shoulder strap gets tangled when you're trying to make a quick exit or easy entrance. Since they all seem to have a couple of 'D' rings on the back, I decided to make a quick short strap that won't get hung up on stuff as I drag it out of the car to avoid the coming zombie apocalypse.  But the problem is that if it's too narrow, it's too uncomfortable to use zombies or no. So, enter the Portuguese Sinnet (also known as Solomon Bar and referenced as knot #2496 in Ashley's Book of Knots).

Here's the front and back of my messenger bag. The distance between the middle of the 'D' rings is about 6.5 inches (16.5cm for those metricly inclined). I started with a length of #550 paracord 82 inches long (2.08m). I also had the following:

x. lighter
x. scissors
x. 2 12.5 inch (35cm) pieces of thin (2 mm) cord

Start by folding the cord in half and running it through one of the 'D' rings.

Next take a strand and run it through the opposite 'D' ring (I went 'over' the ring as you can see). Now do the same with the other.

Note: I've rotated the image to make it a little easier to reference.
Take the length on the right and bring it over the two main strands.
Now take the left strand and pass in over the strand that was just brought over and then pass it under the two main strands and through the loop that was made by the first strand.

Now that I have my first knot made, I'll refer to the strands as they are in their "current" position not as they started out.

Tighten up the first knot and take the strand on the right and place it underneath the two main strands. Now take the left strand and pass it under the strand that was just moved over now put it over the two main strands and into the loop that was just created by the right strand.

The key to making a flat (non-spiral) Portuguese Sinnet is to keep the strand that is on the bottom on the bottom during the next knot. If you keep the same strand on the top-bottom-top-bottom order you get a real nice double-helix.

Now that I've made about 5 inches (13cm) of the bar, I need to get set to pull the remaining strand ends back into the sinnet body.

Middle the two 12.5 inch pieces and place them inside the next knot. Now the trick to finishing up is to tie the sinnet snug enough to keep it looking good but not so tight that you won't be able to pull the remains through.

In the second pic, you can see how it looks once it's all knotted up and ready to finish off.

Now that we've got it all knotted up, it's time to finish up by pulling the remains into the body which will hold them inside just by friction alone. In this image, I've arranged it in a more top to bottom to make more sense.

Take the "top" strand and place it "behind" the 'D' ring and through one of the 'finishing loops'. Be sure to leave enough slack in it so that it's easier to pull it into the body (pic 3). Now pull it through.

In the forth pic you'll see how it looks just before pulling it completely through.

Now take the bottom strand and pass it "over" the 'D' ring and through the loop and pull through the body.

Now that everything is pulled through, it looks like this. To dress it up, just cut them off but not too close to the body because you'll want to but a flame to the ends to seal them. After they are sealed, push them into the body and cover over (see 3rd pic).

Now it's all set and you can bug-out "fast"!!!  Cuz let's face it....even though zombies move slow, they've ate the brains of everyone that thought they have plenty of time.....