I've been meaning to make one of these for awhile, and had I known how easy it is I would have done so a long time ago!!! It's so easy you can actually just buy a little kit that has everything you need but I didn't go that route as I wanted to add a few features and use a lighter weight cord. 

I knew I wanted a few key features: a whistle, a compass and a built in leash. 

I had stopped in our local used gear store, as I was checking to see if they had any camping pads I could trim down to her size and as I passed by the counter I saw they had a used emergency paracord bracelet for people with exactly the whistle and compass I had been looking for. So for just a couple bucks I walked out with everything I needed except the paracord, which I picked up at the gear shop I knew that had the stuff I wanted by the foot. 

For around $8 I had all that I needed, except the know how, which a quick google search took care of immediately. There are so many how to videos and blogs that I am not even going to bother with that here, except to say, it is so easy so don't even hesitate to try it! 

To create the built in leash I just modified the design a little to have one of the ends longer than the other, I wove in a few extra rings so the leash can feed thru them to help keep the leash wrangled when not in use, and fixed a snap to the end. 

I'm going to test drive it like this and see how I like it, if I feel like I want the leash to be more easily accessible I will take out the extra rings and instead attach a tiny stuff bag to jam the leash into and have that just hang on the collar. But with Emily's off leash heeling skills I really only anticipate needing it when we come into towns so I went with a design that kept the leash as streamlined as possible. 

I'll let you know if I change that up after test driving it. 

I also attached the compass up away from the buckle so that it had more of a chance of staying dryer as the buckles tend to weigh the collar so it's also easier to read. They do make buckles that have a compass, whistle and flint built in, and maybe at some point I'll spring for that, but I was going for light and cheap :) 

I also picked up a used platypus bladder and made a travel bowl. So with just these two projects I took 5ozs off her gear weight!