its paid sponsors, whose products you need!
| Home |
| Intro |
| Current Issue |
|
Mailing List |
| Store |
| Strength |
| Subscriber Content |
| ARCHIVES
|
| Martialism |
| Pacifism |
| Q & A |
| Cunning-Hammery |
| Advertise With Us |
| Submit An Article |
| Staff |
| Discussion Forum |
| Links |
“Stay ‘unreasonable.’ If you
don’t like the solutions [available to you], come up with your
own.”
Dan Webre
The Martialist does not
constitute legal advice. It is for ENTERTAINMENT
PURPOSES ONLY.
Copyright © 2003-2004 Phil Elmore, all rights
reserved.
The Koppo Wrap
(Or: How to Add a Finger Loop to a Flashlight or Pocket
Stick)
By Phil Elmore
I first learned of this cord wrapping method through my
friend Don Rearic, who
also made for me the first koppo stick
I ever owned. A koppo is a pocket
stick bearing a finger loop for your middle and ring fingers. When
your fingers are threaded through the loop, you can open your hand without
dropping the stick. This is an extremely useful feature in a handheld
tool, as it aids in retention while facilitating digital manipulation for
grabs and such.
The koppo-wrapped flashlight is a versatile
self-defense tool.
In a society that grows more hostile to self-defense every
day, even a pocket stick can get you in trouble in some venues.
Increasingly, citizens knowledgeable in self-defense are turning to
flashlights that can be used as striking
and pressure point implements. One of the most common (and least
expensive) is the basic AA Mini Maglite, the length and diameter of which is
similar to many pocket sticks.
Using the koppo wrap, you can turn any cylindrical object
into a koppo without drilling holes or making other permanent modifications.
All you’ll need is a length of paracord, something to trim the cord, and a
source of flame to seal the ends of the cord.
I usually cut a length of cord about six or seven feet,
leaving plenty of excess. Take the cord and make a loop at one end.
Place the loop near the border where the wrap will be on the body of your
flashlight or pocket stick.
At the opposite border, leave a few inches that will stick
out underneath the wrap at that end. Take the lion’s share of the
paracord and start looping it around the body of the light or stick.
You’re going to work your way slowly up the body in a tight
spiral until you get to the loop you made at the first border. The trick
is that you’ve got to get the loops as tight as possible or the wrap will be a
mess (and probably too loose at one end). If your hands hurt while you
do this, you’re probably pulling the loops properly tight.
When you get to the loop at the end, feed the cord under and
through the loop and pull it taut. Now grasp both ends of cord at either
end of your light or stick and pull with all your might to cinch everything
up. Be careful to keep the cord loops lined up as you do this.
The loop you made first should tighten up to constrict the
long end, while if you did this right the cord bordering the shorter
excess end will be tight too.
You’ve done the hard part. Now you just size the loop
to fit you, tie it off, and trim the ends. Burn the knot to seal it and
you’re good to go.
To see this process again using a pocket stick flashlight,
click here.
Adding a finger loop to a
mundane object makes it a more versatile improvised self-defense tool.