Just received my new JK last Friday and have already started on a few simple mods. As a United States Navy Sailor I have a fondness for knots and braiding. I also own the Ashley Book of Knots, which is the end-all bible for knots.



There's a simple three-strand braid in the works that strings between the holes in the overhead speaker bar. It's capped on each end by knotted buttons at the top... It will be used to hang 'biners from and secure a dog via leash.

Onto the Grab Handles!! I will be creating a Six-Strand Solid Sinnet. I used medium weight cotton braided clothesline. A full arm length of line is cut three times. Match the ends up and find the middle of the 3 lengths. Using athletic medical tape secure lines just below the middle to form a loop.



Wrap the medical tape all around the loops until the entire loop is secure with the tape. Once the loop has been secure start braiding.










Partially completed Sinnet braid. Also a good chance to examine the loop at the starting end, which has been wrapped with the aforementioned athletic tape.




Finishing the braid can be tricky. Another loop has to be created and covered in athletic tape. Unfortunately, to maintain a complementary appearance on both sides the second loop on the final side must consist of only 3 strands. It is sufficient to tie paired strands together and cut the ends shorts so that the total number of strands go from 6 to 3. The remaining 3 ends can be braided back into the Sinnet or just taped into place. The athletic tape that covers the entire loop can be applied with enough pressure to prevent the loop from slipping.




I'll continue to follow this up when I attach the Six-Strand Solid Sinnet to the roll bar.

 

Welcome,

Looks good, please post pics when you attach it to the roll bar

Let me Guess, BM?

 

Very cool. You should start getting requests for orders any minute now...

 

Welcome! Very cool, Nice to see custom accessories that look good

 

Nice job.

 

Very nice!!

 

I'm actually not a Boatswain's Mate. I'm a Machinist Repairman, but when there's nothing broken to fix I get awfully bored. At some point I'll post pics of custom billet Aluminum and Stainless Steel parts I make in the shop.

I connected the test grab handle to the driver's side roll bar but ran into a few problems. (Left my camera at home while I'm onboard the ship, otherwise I'd post pictures of the situation) First, the 3 strands that were tied off and cut short pulled out so I had to cut new lengths of line and start again. On the remade grab handle I used the same process but secured the 3 unnecessary ends with overhand knots and cut the hanging end (which looks messy) and simply taped the remaining 3 strands together in a loop. That final loop that is taped into place will not stay simply by virtue of the adhesive tape.

Solutions:
1) Keep 3 strands tied off in a simple overhand knot and use the three remaining [longer] strands to form the loop. Instead of securing the final loop with adhesive tape, utilize a metal band that is crimped into place.
2) Do not tie off 3 strands and leave the other 3 long to form the final loop. Instead, pair up opposing strands and secure ends with a water knot. Wrap medical tape around loop to hide water knot and adjust size of loop.

Conclusion:
Solution 1 is doable. Straight forward but looks messy and utilizes more tools than just my skill in knotwork. Ergo, it's a little insulting. Solution 2 will be much more secure and aesthetic. It will, however, require a great deal of attention to maintain the same length between each of the 3 loops created by paired strands when tying the water knots.

One last thing I might mention is that instead of using more line to connect an oval 'biner to the roll bar and attaching the grab handles to the 'biner I tied 2 prusik knots into the roll bar. I left the ends open on the prusik knot and ran one bitter end of the prusik through the end loop of the grab handle. I then tied the bitter ends of the prusik knot together with a water knot.

[A bitter end is the unused end of line]

Thing about Prusik knots is that they cannot pull side to side if the force pulling on them is the hanging end. In this case the hanging end is the attached to the grab handles, which is... being grabbed! So there is no chance of the grab handle shifting position while a person is torquing on the handle. But if the position of the handle does need to moved the Prusik can be shifted by simpling pushing on the knot itself.

I will post more will pictures in the next couple days of a true completed product.

 

I have often wondered what it is like to have the patience of Job. I however am pretty sure I have a touch of ADHD, and would probably lose my mind in the creation of this. I love the look though. Bet it looks slick in black.

I took a couple handles of off of the tops of some "gaming" computer cases that were at work and ordered (ok asked nicely) the wife to sew some velcro loops onto them. Done and done.

 

Let me know how much for a set of black ones for a two door.

 

That's is nicely different. Awesome!