Make Simple DIY Paracord Water Bottle Holders

With a simple knotting technique and a couple basic tools, you can easily create a DIY paracord water bottle holder that is both functional and eye-catching. In this post, I’ll guide you through the steps to make your own custom cobra-knotted bottle clip using sports-themed (or solid color!) paracord.

Yellow paracord bottle holder attached to purple reusable bottle, on wood table.

As a Mom of kids that play sports, I’ve spent 11 summers at the ballpark lined up on the sidelines with all the other team moms.  These paracord water bottle holders make great handmade gifts for parents on the go. 

For those of us in the sports parent trenches, extra gadgets to keep us comfy on those long tournament days are always appreciated, plus they clip easily to the gear wagon, stroller, or backpack. Use the same knotting technique to make paracord softball keychains.

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Paracord Bottle Holder Supplies:

You’ll need:

  • 4 feet of 550 Paracord, which can be found in craft stores or online.  I used fastpitch softball paracord, which is a bright optic yellow with a red stitched pattern.  You can use red and white for baseball, white and black for soccer, or choose team colors to personalize the bottle holder.
  • Scissors
  • carabiner clip
  • adjustable cord stopper
  • flame (to seal cord ends)
Supplies needed to make DIY paracord water bottle holders. Cute gifts for softball players and moms! | Tutorial from Carla Schauer Designs
Supplies for paracord bottle holders.

See all 17 Softball Gifts for Players and Teams

How To Make Paracord Water Bottle Holders:

The water bottle holders use the same cobra knotting technique as these Paracord Zipper Pulls (refer to this tutorial below to start your bottle holder,) with the following additions at the beginning and the end of the piece:

  • First, start with a 4 ft. length of paracord and fold in half bringing ends together.
  • Then hold 10″ from closed end to mark loop.
Use fastpitch paracord to make water bottle holders for team moms. | Carla Schauer Designs
Make paracord loop.
  1. Tie beginning knot. Hold cord with closed loop toward you, and create the starting knot as shown in zipper pull tutorial below.  Pull the knot together. Then loosen the top loops slightly and thread carabiner clip through.  Re-tighten the knot securely.
How to make softball paracord water bottle holders. | carlaschauer.com
Tie beginning knot.
Tying paracord to Carabiner Clip. Part of tutorial to make paracord water bottle holders. | carlaschauer.com
Add Carabiner Clip to paracord knot through loops.
  1. Tie Cobra Knots. Continue knotting the loose ends toward you using the cobra knot (described in the tutorial below) until you run out of paracord.  If you started with longer cord, leave a 6″ loop for the water bottle attachment.
Make a Water bottle holder using paracord and cobra knots. | carlaschauer.com
Cobra knot remaining paracord.
  1. Trim loose end of 1 paracord strand very close to the knots, and heat end in flame until it just begins to melt.  While the end is still hot, press it against lighter handle to melt flat into knots.  Repeat for other loose strand.

    Safety Note:  Do not use fingers to press melted Paracord ends.  Melted plastic is hot, and will burn fingers.  Seriously, use the lighter base.  Fingers are important, and so are fingerprints.
Trim ends of paracord when finished knotting. Tutorial for DIY water bottle holders on carlaschauer.com
Trim ends of paracord.
Melt ends of paracord to prevent fraying.
Melt ends to prevent fraying.
  1. Thread paracord loop end through the adjustable cord stopper, and move to knotted side of loop.  Keep the cord stopper on the inside of the loop to prevent it from falling off. Slide the stopper to adjust loop size so it fits securely around the neck of the water bottle.
Adjustable water bottle loop allows for a variety of sizes when making a paracord water bottle holder. | Tutorial from Carla Schauer Designs
Adjustable water bottle loop.

How to Start the Cobra Knot

Use the cobra knot keychain tutorial below as a guide for starting and knotting your paracord water bottle holder.

Paracord zipper pulls in multiple colors on white background

How to Make Paracord Zipper Pulls

Yield: 1+
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Active Time: 5 minutes
Additional Time: 2 minutes
Total Time: 9 minutes
Difficulty: 2
Estimated Cost: under $5

Make paracord zipper pulls to make zippers easier to use, stop noise, or as a zipper pull replacement for a broken piece. This easy tutorial uses a cobra knot technique.

Tools

  • Scissors
  • Grill lighter or other flame (adult helpers only)

Instructions

    1. Beginning fold. Take one 2 ft paracord piece and fold in half, lining up ends.  Hold paracord between thumb and fingers, approximately 3 inches from closed end, making a loop with loose ends of cord away from body.
      Make Paracord zipper pulls using only 3 supplies. Full tutorial and video at Carla Schauer Designs.
    2. Make starting knot.
      a) Take right side loose end and loop around to right, crossing cord over top of loop and holding under thumb.
      b) Loop left end to left, crossing cord behind loop and holding with fingers.Hint:  kids may find "bunny ears" a good visualization for these steps.
      c) Thread top loose end (left side) through left loop toward back.  Thread bottom loose end (right side) up through right loop to top. Gently pull loose ends to tighten knot, using fingers and thumb to hold knot in place while tightening.
      3 photo collage of making first paracord cobra knot.
    3. Use cobra knots to create end of zipper pull.  Tilt the keychain to look at the top of the knot in step 2.  For each of the knots in this step, begin the knot using the loose strand that points backwards (away from body).
      a)  Loop rear-facing loose end around and over the top of the zipper pull, holding in place with thumb.
      b)  Wrap remaining loose end forward around first and back to rear, then bring end forward through loop made in (a).  Pull ends to tighten securely.
      c)  Repeat cobra knot (always beginning with rear-pointing strand) until 2 knots are formed on each side of zipper pull.
      3 photo collage of making paracord cobra knot zipper pull.
    4. Finish zipper pull.
      a) (optional) Continue knotting if more length is desired.
      b) Cut one excess paracord strand close to the knots, leaving approximately 1/16 inch of strand.  
      c) Have an adult use a flame to melt the end of the paracord and use the side of the lighter to press the end into the knot, which will prevent fraying and unraveling. Repeat with remaining paracord end.

      Safety Note:  Do not use fingers to press melted Paracord ends.  Melted plastic is hot, and will burn fingers.  Seriously, use the lighter base.  Fingers are important, and so are fingerprints.
      3 photo collage of making paracord cobra knot zipper pull.
    5. Attach. When paracord is cooled, add your paracord zipper pull to regular zipper or use to replace original zipper pull.
      Learn to make Paracord zipper pulls using this easy tutorial from carlaschauer.com. This would be a great addition to a backpack!

Recommended Products

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Did you make this project?

Please leave a comment or share a photo and tag me @carlaschauerdesigns

This paracord water bottle clip works well for attaching reusable water bottles or for plastic disposable bottles.  Plus it leaves your hands free for other things, (like coolers, camp chairs, and shade tents!)

DIY Paracord Bottle Holder. Make for fastpitch moms and teams, or with team color paracord for other sports. Great gift for sports moms! | Carla Schauer Designs

Pin this Paracord Project to Make Later:

Your shares are how this site grows, and I am genuinely appreciative when you do. Pin to your favorite softball Pinterest board or share this idea on Facebook.
Make a paracord water bottle holder. Use fastpitch paracord for softball, or coordinate with team colors for other sports. Cute and useful! | Tutorial from Carla Schauer Designs

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10 Comments

  1. Where did you get your cord stopper? I’m having issues with slipping with the ones I got. 🙁

    1. Mine came from Amazon, I believe they were these: http://amzn.to/2tyqP12. I’ve also had good luck with the single barrel kind that look like slightly flattened cylinders. I hope that helps!

  2. Jennifer Raasch says:

    Thank you for this great tutorial! Using it for our homeschool crafting class.

  3. Katherine says:

    Great idea! What size carabiner clip did you use for this project. Length?

    1. Hi Katherine, I used a 2.5" carabiner clip, but you could use whatever you have handy.

  4. Henrietta Knight says:

    Wow! My adult daughter sent me the link this past spring! Lol finally got one made!
    Thank you for your great instructions!
    Henri

  5. Just finally finished two of these water bottle holders! I had to order the stoppers online. Thank you for this inspirational project. I have also made other paracord items including keychains.