Zipper Pulls

[Rei]

Greetings,
Would it be possible for you to share a photo of your Matthew Walker knot zipper pulls? Do you have directions?

I like to change the zipper pull colors on occasion, so an easy to replace zipper pull is very appealing. Thank you! elisa

I poke my nose here

I make my para-cord zip-pullers the way they can be replace anytime (without breaking them) by making the loop long enough, they are attached to the metal part of the zip-puller as @experimentjon , I can then swap them as often as I want.

[Blisscosity]

Greetings,
Would it be possible for you to share a photo of your Matthew Walker knot zipper pulls? Do you have directions?

I like to change the zipper pull colors on occasion, so an easy to replace zipper pull is very appealing. Thank you! elisa

Aloha! I do not know how to quote someone else’s post in my reply, but i got the idea from experimentjon (post #45) who used the included zipper pull kit with the plastic ends.
I tried experimentjon’s method and liked the short length, but did not like the feel of the plastic end in my fingers on my A30 zippers, which are still a little resistant.
I decided to use the same technique with a knot instead. Any knot will work. I figured out that with 550 paracord (a lot thicker than the one provided), I needed 11-12 inches in order to make a loop with the knot at one end. Then I attached it to the zipper pulls.
I used the included coyote precut cords for the two middle pockets of my new used GE S25 (thanks Evgeny Ostretsov it is GORGEOUS); it was a chore getting them on there using the same method, but I like that they are super short and won’t get caught in the side pocket (super annoying).
For the other pockets I used reflective 550 paracord (I think that’s what it’s called). I can remove them and change them out without destroying them, for when I want hot pink!

My knots might be wrong or ugly to a pro, but it works.
Thanks! Amazing what a little quarantine time can do for you!
Aloha!


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[Blisscosity]

Forgot to include the youtube video I used:

https://youtu.be/L-5Q5NtNhmA

Turn the volume down. There’s no verbal instruction, just annoying music.


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[AlaskaGirl]

Thank you! Those little knots look very neat and sleek. They will look nice on my ukulele cases. Thank you very much for sharing! elisa

[Blisscosity]

Thank you! Those little knots look very neat and sleek. They will look nice on my ukulele cases. Thank you very much for sharing! elisa

Ukulele cases?!?! In Alaska??
TB needs to make ukulele case bags
Enjoy making knots! My hands have toughened up from all the paracord knots I’ve been making.
Stay safe and healthy while “unclenching.”


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[moriond]

Hi @Blisscosity

Ukulele cases?!?! In Alaska??
TB needs to make ukulele case bags
Enjoy making knots! My hands have toughened up from all the paracord knots I’ve been making.
Stay safe and healthy while “unclenching.”

I’m going to point you to one of @AlaskaGirl’s posts (quoted, with YouTube links to her performance, from

Greetings,
I played ukulele in two groups at the Anchorage Folk Festival last week. We meet in the Green Room backstage, where we can warm up and practice before the performance. It's also where we leave our coats and personal things. There are lots of people coming and going backstage. It was so nice to wear a Side Effect around my waist with my keys, Tom Bihn wallet, and phone.

Frolicking Ukuleles: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5G9ucQzGo20
We were constantly laughing during practice. We re-wrote a song from The Lion King just for the Folk Festival. The House at Pooh Corner was challenging to play. Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen was re-written for ukulele players by R. H. Eichler and we added our own modifications. Frim Fram Sauce was so much fun to play, with a great chord progression. This was a musical comedy act, very playful and irreverent. From left to right: Ron, Elisa (me), Leslie, and Mark.

The Alaska Jumping Flea Society: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ1-CGhpHJA
As you can see, this group is about having fun. And we do, at 7:00 pm every Friday night at Guido's Pizza in Anchorage. If you are in town, you are invited to join us. We have several loaner ukuleles.
We played several popular songs and one written by Nick "the Dream Weaver", who is one of the founders of our ukulele group. Nick's song Bull Frog (copyright 2010) is a group favorite! He's the guy in the white Hawaiian shirt on the right.
You can barely see the strap around my waist. I'm the one in the teal blue shirt and black pants just to the right of center. I slid the Side Effect to the back and it was completely out of the way.

My regular gig bag is a Maker's Bag in Nordic/Ultraviolet. It was loaded with everything for the other events I had last week, so a small Shop Bag in Ultraviolet was my Folk Festival gig bag this year. It was perfect! A small water bottle went in one side pocket and my hat and gloves tucked into the other pocket. My wool sweater fit, with my jacket on top while we were on stage.

Both videos were recorded by Dewayne Brantley. Enjoy! elisa

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And, as for other questions on traveling with a ukulele, I’ll let you read the bag solutions in that thread (where the Smart Alec figures prominently in the discussion)

HTH

moriond

[Blisscosity]

OMG thanks!!!! how fun!


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[father_dawg]

Where are people getting paracord (and what size?) for the zipper pulls? I've got my Synik pre-ordered, and since I can't customize it with patches, I'm going to use pulls as best I can.

Thanks for any help or tips!

[Surrealle]

Where are people getting paracord (and what size?) for the zipper pulls? I've got my Synik pre-ordered, and since I can't customize it with patches, I'm going to use pulls as best I can.

Thanks for any help or tips!

I ordered 3mm paracord from Amazon in 4-5 different colors back when I ordered a bunch of stuff during lockdown. (While it won't be exact due to monitor settings, I found it helpful to have a picture of the bag up in one window and the paracord up in another so you can get some idea if the colors will go well together.)

[Blisscosity]

Where are people getting paracord (and what size?) for the zipper pulls? I've got my Synik pre-ordered, and since I can't customize it with patches, I'm going to use pulls as best I can.

Thanks for any help or tips!

amazon... but i can’t find the exact same size as the TB paracord. i use reflective (comes in a million colors from paracord planet), but the 3mm i received was larger and i can’t use the plastic ends with it, which i actually don’t mind, but the thicker cord causes the pulls to stick up the way i have them attached.

[moriond]

amazon... but i can’t find the exact same size as the TB paracord. i use reflective (comes in a million colors from paracord planet), but the 3mm i received was larger and i can’t use the plastic ends with it, which i actually don’t mind, but the thicker cord causes the pulls to stick up the way i have them attached.

Hi @Blisscosity ,

I believe that 95 Paracord (1.85 mm diameter) matches the diameter of the Tom BIHN cord pulls. Take a look at some of the pictures posted by @AlaskaGirl . Here’s one excerpted from her post (#11, dated 09-24-2019) in the Attaching fobs and/or zipper pulls thread, so you can see the thickness of the cord.


Three posts down she identifies this:

Greetings,
It's "95 paracord". The VERY thin stuff, just like the cord that comes with the Tom Bihn zipper pulls.

Here’s another, more recent example from her post (#32, dated 03-17-2020) earlier in the present thread, where she identifies this as two threads of 95 paracord


Most Paracord knots you’ll see on the web use 550 Paracord, and I’m guessing your 3mm diameter cord is 425 Paracord, which a number of forum members also use. 95 Paracord is 1.85 mm diameter. You can probably get this on Amazon or on eBay, sourced from somewhere like Paracord Planet, e.g., https://www.paracordplanet.com/paracord/95-paracord/

HTH

moriond

ETA: There’s an old TB video from 5 years ago that shows a few different ways of attaching the cord pulls

[Blisscosity]

Thanks! I might have gotten a bad batch from amazon. I ordered something described as 1.8mm paracord and it was way smaller than the TB paracord. I use that on my smaller zippers. Thanks! Will try again.


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[KBr00ks]

Inspired by you all, I've been looking into paracord for doing some fancy knot-tying, and I think what comes stock from Tom Bihn for zipper pulls is not 95 paracord. The description of stock pulls says the cord is 1/8" thick, which is 3.175mm -- effectively 3mm. 95 is listed at 1.75mm.

Maybe the stock cord is closer to 325 paracord, rather than the 425 that poster Blisscosity reported having trouble with because it was too thick; I saw 325 listed on one part of Paracord Planet's site as having a thickness of 3mm. But elsewhere it says 2mm. I might just order some and find out.

[moriond]

Inspired by you all, I've been looking into paracord for doing some fancy knot-tying, and I think what comes stock from Tom Bihn for zipper pulls is not 95 paracord. The description of stock pulls says the cord is 1/8" thick, which is 3.175mm -- effectively 3mm. 95 is listed at 1.75mm.

Maybe the stock cord is closer to 325 paracord, rather than the 425 that poster Blisscosity reported having trouble with because it was too thick; I saw 325 listed on one part of Paracord Planet's site as having a thickness of 3mm. But elsewhere it says 2mm. I might just order some and find out.

Hi @KBr00ks ,

You may be right about the identification being off, because I haven’t ordered this size myself. i’m relying on @AlaskaGirl ’s posts. But. For what it”s worth, if I go to the page that Paracord Planet uses to list the size of the various types of cord that they sell, and scale the image of the Quarter given as a reference image so that it matches a Quarter on my iPad, then the cord diameter on the chart is closest to the diameter of the Tom BIHN cord pulls that I have for size 95 paracord.

Here’s the link to the Cord Compariosin Chart Page at Paracord Planet

and here’s the separately grabbed jpeg image of the chart

Maybe @AlaskaGirl can comment on the sizing or Paracord source?

HTH

moriond

[Blisscosity]

Aloha! I found the right size of reflective paracord in the store as tent guyline?, or some such. Alas the packaging did not say what size it was. I saw reflective black and a gorgeous kelly green, and a lot of it. So maybe check outdoor/camping stores for tent guyline? if you want reflective.


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