Make Friends in May · Adventuring Into Life
A hands-on activity — takes about 10 to 15 minutes and you'll have something to take home. This is the same kind of skill we teach in our Women's Bushcraft Program.
🪢 Cobra Weave · Beginner Friendly · 10–15 min
Before you start
You'll also need to grab
Lighter safety: When you melt the cord ends, the paracord gets extremely hot and the melted plastic can drip and stick to skin. Use a slow, low flame, keep your fingers well clear of the melted tip, and always melt over a hard surface — never over your hand.
Length tip: With 3.5 feet of cord per side you'll end up with roughly a 6 to 6.5-inch keychain. Want it shorter? Just weave until you're happy with the length and trim off whatever's left over.
Step by step
Fold your two-colour paracord in half so the fused midpoint is at the top. Feed that loop through the carabiner from front to back, then reach through the loop and pull both tail ends through it. Pull snug — this is called a lark's head knot and it holds everything in place.
Feed both cords down through your key ring and pull to your desired length. Leave the key ring hanging at the bottom — this is where your keys will live. The two cords running between the carabiner and the key ring are your core strands.
Pick one colour to go over the top first — let's say solid green. Lay solid green across the top of both core strands, making a loop on the left side. Now take patterned, cross it over the solid green tail, bring it behind all three strands, and pull it up through that solid green loop on the left. Pull both ends firmly to tighten.
Same move, every row. Solid green goes over the top across the cores, making a loop. Patterned crosses over solid green, goes behind everything, up through the loop. Pull tight. Work your way down toward the key ring, one knot at a time.
When you've woven down to where you want to stop, cut each tail as close to the weave as you can. Then use a lighter to carefully melt each cut end — you just want it to soften slightly, not catch fire. Press it flat quickly with the metal part of the lighter to fuse it in place. Do both sides.
Paracord is just the beginning. In our Women's Bushcraft Program we spend full days outside learning fire-making, foraging, wilderness skills, and the kind of quiet confidence that only comes from time in the trees. We'd love to have you.
Explore Women's Bushcraft → adventuringintolife.ca