by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
I do not know what things are like where you live but here at trade- and other shows people nowadays, if they do not give out reusable totes from cotton or non-woven polypropylene, they hand out string paper bags with cotton or nylon cords as handles.
Often those handles are made rather long as to enable one to carry the bag comfortably – until you got it filled up and the strings cut in – on one shoulder.
The bags, unfortunately, often do not last much longer than getting home with them due to all the information material stuffed into them. The cords, on the other hand, are still perfectly usable even if the bag has collapsed.
As those cords are far too good, in my mind, the mind of a permanent recycler, to be allowed to go to waste and thrown out into the trash, I take them off and keep them.
The really short ones find use in the garden, often tied together with reef knots to make longer strings with which to tie up all manner of things.
Those that are originally longer, designed to go onto the should, I find too good for the garden use, in the main, and have, at times, made into lanyards similar to those used with ID cards and USB thumb drives.
But, as one gets such kind of lanyards also given by the tin at shows and I began being overrun by lanyards I was looking for another use for them and struck on the idea of making them into old-style bootlace ties; the kind that one ties like a bootlace and not the kind with the slide of sorts.
The latter version could also be made from such cords but that would require additional things, such as slides of sorts, and the making of them as well.
As the longest cords used for such bags as handles are only about half the length one would want for a proper bootlace tie that is tied I have joined two pieces by means of a reef knot. As this knot will be on the back under the collar, and as the a reef knot does lie flat, it does not show up, causes no discomfort and works well.
Personally, I do think that such ties do not look bad at all. But you can judge yourself by means of the photo.
This bootlace tie can also be made from other cordage that might be too good to be thrown. And, yes, I know, one can buy bootlace ties but what is nicer than making them from trash?
© 2009
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