Ok I searched for and found a little information about these scattered around in various threads but couldn't find a thread with everyone's neck lanyards/survival necklaces in one place, or with all the information I was looking for either (maybe I am using the wrong name for these?). I am working on my own and so far I have a bead neck chain with a fauxton, whistle and BSA hotspark on it. But I have some questions before I go any further.

What do you use for your necklace material?

Do you have concerns over getting snagged and strangled? In this event does your necklace have a safety factor and if so what is it?

I am leaning heavily toward the beaded necklaces and was wondering if anyone has a good source for the materials?

Special question for EMT’s/paramedics/first responders: Can I put my medic alert tag on this necklace? Or should I keep that separate?

What items do you have on your neck lanyard/survival necklace?

So please feel free to share info, pics, tips, concerns or anything else about neck lanyards/survival necklaces. Looking forward to your responses and thanks in advance for your help.

Near the bottom of this sites home page you'll find a 'review of eight personal survival kits'.
One is 'Ranger Rick's Special Ops Survival Necklace'.
It has some good ideas (like a wire saw as the necklace)
And one handed fire starting; there's a reason Doug has a one handed fire starter in his kits. It's a survival kit: you might have a broken arm.
Other good ideas on Ranger Ricks site and all priced very reasonably.
qjs

I use one of these safety lanyards from EK USA:

Safety Lanydards

They all have a safety breakaway and are of high quality. You can find them cheaper elsewhere, such as Ebay.

As to the Medical Alert: I think the above lanyards are a little too beefy to wear all of the time and you want to wear your Medical Alert tag all of the time. If you go with a beaded chain, make sure it is stainless steel and not nickle, as many people have allergies to nickle.

Pete

If your making your own lanyard, you can use the break-away buckles from a cat collar. I have used a few of these with paracord bracelets and neck lanyards. Check the craft section of your local Walmart,they have break-away necklace clasps. I used 1 long piece of mason twine tripled back on itself, then braided.

Mark,

I use a few different configurations, depending on what I'm doing. I always wear a paracord (2 ft) necklace, that has a micro photon on it at all times, and I add a whistle when I'm out in the wilderness. That's minimum for me.

I've also got a beefy lanyard that's part of my edc, that I wear when I'm in the wildreness. On a break-away lanyard, I have: a whistle (jet scream), an LED light (streamlight keymate), a knife (I just changed out my gerber clutch for a SAK), and fire (fire steele or mag block, and a mini bic).

When I'm Scouting/hiking not far of the pavement, I wear a lanyard with a fox 40 and a micro photon. (It's also got a mini star wars LED light sabre on it, but that's more for entertainment purposes.)

I am no expert , and I use a survival necklace/lanyard as a Just- in-case emergency item.

In every kit , I have a emergency necklace within the kit. When emergncy hits, I take out the necklace and wear it ASAP, and put the items in front pocket or under shirt for safety purposes and to to gaurd against unwated attention.

My emergency laynards are made from ID lanyards ( they are usually worn in conferences ..etc.) I removed the ID card , and add some carabiner or D ring, then add a whistle, tiny flashlight, and a tiny minitool.

They are on-person backup, but there is always a real thing in my bag and more in the office locker or vehicle glove compartment.

YMMV

not to talk you out of a beaded necklace... I didn't like wearing dog tags around my neck in SEA a lot of years ago, and I live in a climate pretty similar... so I offer an option that takes up little room and is pretty inconspicuous...I use a multi tool pouch with velcro closure...my kit was built around a Victorinox Farmer (saw and awl), referee whistle, mini Bic w/button compass, strip of 4 quarters, sewing needle/safety pins/firesteel taped to back of section of hacksaw blade, tweezers, 15'mono cordage,spare AAA battery, and cut down pen fit in pouch...Fenix E01 flashlight and pill fob on key ring, Leatherman SP4 in pocket...first aid/water tabs in HD zip pouch

Just a suggestion ... include a break-away link in your necklace.
i.e. one link that will break if the force tugging on the necklace gets too large.

cheers
Pete #2

I had the same concerns - picked up Doug's RSK® Mk5 and then was struggling with the best necklace. I decided on stainless steel beaded for the reasons others stated. Then I was going a bit mad trying to find a reasonable price on-line or elsewhere. Finally discovered my local Ace Hardware sells spools of beaded necklace and accessories (joiners, clasps) in a variety of sizes and metals. Look in the crafts section.

For my ID tags, I used a piece of hollowed out paracord over the metal bead necklace. I made sure the connector and maybe one inch of necklace were exposed, so that in the event of a snag, the necklace could break. I did this as I had a reaction to the metal, it turned my neck black.

At times, I also had a small knife, a small bic lighter and a small flashlight on the chain - just in case. Oh, the tags themselves were in plastic cases so as to deaden any noise.