I make paracord leashes and jesses. I have included photos of how I make the leashes. Jesses are just a shorter version of the same materials and tools. But, when I make the paracord jesses. I make the loop either of two sizes. 1/3 inch for field jesses, 10-2 inches for mews jesses that take a traditional swivel. I now use field jesses all of the time, rather than mews jesses. For the swivel, I use a number eight Sampo coastlock swivel. Which I change each year. I also use a steel trigger snap for fastening the hawk to the perch. I put a hair elastic on the trigger snap as extra strength. I change the hair elastic about once a month. When I tie off and melt the jesses. I leave at least 3/4 inch of extra para cord to melt OVER the knot. I hold the jess with forceps or hemostats to keep the hot liquid melted nylon from burning my fingers (have a couple of scars from that). With leashes, I make sure again that both the inner and outer loop are melted together to make sure they do not come apart. With the jesses, I coat the knot with NOBITE nail polish, to prevent picking by the raptor. Helps reduce the picking greatly. If the bird likes to pick at all of the jess, I coat the entire jesses with NOBITE. Helps a lot with picking. Some birds I need to remove the jess all entirely when in their mews. I just use a bronze trigger snap to hook directly to the grommet to take them from the mews. I secure the jess then thread the para cord cord and attach the Sampo coastlock swivel.
Materials needed: Upholstry needles, 10 inch minimum is the best. File to round the point of the needle. Candle and lighter for burning the ends. Paracord (550 is the best). Knitting needles to stretch the hole where the loop feeds through.
How I draw the loops is this. I use an upholstry needle about 10 inch long minimum. I dull the point with a crystal nail file (see photos) to a rounded point. I take the inner cords out of the material and save some for my drawstring.
For the leashes, I make them about 30-36 inches long. So, that means I need about 60-70 inches of material. I fold the leash in half. I fold the cord in half, leaving about one side six inches longer than the other. I then leave some for the loop, about 3 inches for a leash. Stretch the entry hole with the knitting needle. DO NOT EVER CUT OR MELT the entry hole. The stretching of the opening keeps the strength and integrity of the cord intact. I then thread the SHORTER part through the longer part of the leash. The leash expands when one is being threaded inside the other. I 'massage' the entry hole with my hands at the entry hole, starting with the needle, knot then the rest of the inner leash. You will have to practice with this part to get the right 'feel'. Some people wear leather gloves, to keep the wear and tear on the hand. I step on the extra threaded cord (NOT THE NEEDLE) to get extra leverage when starting the inner loop. I made 20 leashes in a 3 hour period, while watching TV one afternoon. I then slide the inner loop through, knot the leash about 6 inches down to hole the loops in place until I melt and burn them.
