Some recent leather projects...

I received a package with a few items from Swissbianco in February, including the Victorinox Vagabond and Lumberjack (limited production models), both in copper alox, along with some new scales, a Victorinox shield pin, and a Rex peeler.

It's been a while since my last post, with my hands bothering me a bit the last couple of months, but I still managed to do some tying with some leather projects I'd started on back in February.

I began with a leather finger loop fob, and tied/untied several different knots to cover the paracord lanyard knot loop and core, before settling on a couple of knotted layers with a Gaucho on the outside.  A pineapple knot might work better with the pattern and shape, but I still like how this one ended up.

I made a neck ID/badge/utility lanyard with a 4 strand round braid done with the goatskin leather lace worked around a 1.4mm nylon core strand.  I added a safety break-away using Celtic button knots at the ends of the nylon strand to secure them, covering the clasp with a 7 lead 6 bight Turk's head knot, first tied around a Sharpie marker, then slid off and given a brushed on coat of super glue all around the inside of the knot, and left to dry.  Later the knot is slipped over the safety break-away for a snug friction fit, so it'll stay in place but not interfere with the break-away coming apart if needed.

There are a couple of different sliding Gaucho knots for adjustment, a three pass knot from a 5L4B Turk's head and the other from a little bit longer 4 bight knot, both first tied around a Sharpie highlighter, that is just a little bit thinner than a marker, for a better fit over the two braided lanyard strands.  They were also given a coat of super glue around the insides and left to dry, to firm them up before adding them onto the lanyard.

I used a lark's head/cow/ring hitch to attach the lanyard to the snap hook, which can be switched out with another attachment/carabiner/clip if I want.

Roger had suggested adding some knot work to the Rex Peeler, so I gave it a try with a simple leather wrap and Gaucho knots on the ends.


The glow-in-the-dark Stayglo 111mm scales have the attached Swissbianco designed tactical pocket clip, and the black/yellow 91mm replacement scales are for the worn and scratched ones on my dad's old Victorinox Ranger model Swiss Army knife.  And with a little cleaning and lube, it looks and feels like a new knife with the new scales in place.