Overview
The Goruck Silent zipper pulls are nice touch on what is an already great bag however not many other bag & pouch manufacturers have been quick to imitate, often bringing their own flavour such as Vanquest’s ‘Titan’ zipper pulls or Maxpedition’s ‘Positive Grip’ zipper pulls.
Often they are great but if you are wanting to keep all your gear looking as uniform as possible you have come to the right place. In this five minute tutorial we will show you how you can change your the non-Goruck zippers. This simple hack is a quick, cheap and easy.
What You Will Need
- 7-10mm (0.25-0.4 inches) diameter will work well as long as two lengths of gutted paracord will fit through
- 3:1 heat shrink with adhesive lining will provide the best results
- 4cm (1.5 inches) per zipper pull is required
- Can be bought online or from a local electrical shop
- Colour is personal preference
- 30cm (12 inches) per zipper pull is required
- 550 paracord works best as it can be easily gutted and won’t stretch over time
- For best results we recommend a heat-gun or gas powered soldering iron however it can be substituted for a lighter
Guide
Step 1
Remove the old zipper pulls either by cutting the off or untying the knot.
Step 2
Measure out the heat shrink and paracord and cut into length with scissors. One 4 cm (1.5″) length of heat-shrink and 30cm (12″) length of paracord per zipper pull.
Step 3
Gut the paracord by simply pulling out the inner fibres. If you have 550 grade paracord, this should slide out relatively easy. The internal strands won’t be required for the rest of this tutorial so it is your choice whether to dispose of them of reuse for something else at a later date.
Step 4
Thread one end of the paracord through the zipper and pull through until both lengths are equal size.
Tip: If the end has become too frayed, try trimming some off with scissors and singeing with a lighter.
Step 5
Slide the heat shrink tubing over both ends of the paracord and slide it right up to the zipper.
Tip: If you have narrow diameter heat-shrink try threading though a length of narrow cord first (such as paracord inner strands) and use as a mouse-line to pull the paracord through.
Step 6
Evenly heat the entire heat shrink tubing making sure all surfaces have had plenty of time to shrink and adhere.
Tip: If possible avoid using a lighter, either the flame from the exhaust on a gas soldering iron or heat gun (preferable) will work fine but if a lighter is all you have, try not to expose to flame to the tubing as it will cause blistering.
Step 7
Tie a simple overhand knot in the paracord trying to keep the knot as close as possible to the heat shrink tubing.
Tip: Keep the knot loose at first so you can try and tidy up the knot and undo any overlapping. Tighten when happy with the result.
Step 8
Trim the ends of the paracord to around 5mm (0.2″) with scissors.
Step 9
Use a lighter to slightly melt the ends of the paracord to prevent fraying.
Tip: When the nylon is cooling down, try pinching the ends together so they melt as one but be carefull as it will be hot.
That’s It!
Repeat as many times as you wish and enjoy your new Goruck style zipper pulls!
Extra
You may find that there is a gap between the zipper and the loop that the paracord pull goes through. If this is too large, the zipper pull can slide out when in use. To get around this, take some pliers and gently squeeze the loop into the zip to close the gap.
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