You might try contacting Kelty directly at www.kelty.com to determine the actual diameter. They have an 800 number listed on their web site.<br><br>The cord might be too thin to be comfortable for a neck lanyard. I would think you would want wider line or flat webbing to reduce the cutting into your neck factor. The lanyard cutting into the back of the neck will be aggravated by the amount of weight you add to the lanyard.<br><br>The barrel shaped plastic break away option looks good. My kids have a couple of lanyards they got as toys with that connector. It is relatively strong but will break away. The problem I have seen is that with repeated breaking away, the mechanism wears and is not as strong to the point it takes very little to make it break. Once the kids determine it will break, they try to make it break, repeatedly. After a few sessions of repeated breaking, it will bearly hold together. <br><br>I have some lanyards that have the 1" flat webbing with velcro closures that were issued to the City of Atlanta Police department. Wide webbing to spread out the weight and velcro closure for a break away feature. I don't believe that velcro wears out. <br><br>Depending on what you have dangling from your lanyard, you might think about the width of the lanyard material. Plastic whistle, not really an issue. Photon flashlight, pocket knife, and whistle; then I would step up to the webbing. You can always add reflective tape to the objects to make then easier to spot and not rely on the lanyard to be reflective.