I am trying to get some ideas how to make a Breakaway Neck Lanyard using the Orange Paracord from CountyComm. They will be made for Cub Scouts and hold, as a minimum, Fox 40 Orange Mini Whistles. Any ideas would be appreciated.


ONE DAY CLOSER

Stitch it in with a light cotton thread. Just a few whip stitches and a square knot, nothing terribly stong or fancy.

Slip the two flame sealed ends of the cord into some plastic aquarium or rubber tubing.

readyone,

I have heard of some folks using a segment of heat shrink tubing to hold the ends together. Slip the ends in, heat up till snug fit. Easy to install, easy to test. My local hardware store has a large selection of heat shrink tubing in the electrical dept. I haven't tried this yet, but it sounds like a good solution for kids.

If you need something more secure (not intended for kids) you might try the small clips made to secure small lengths of paracord to a zipper. These are commonly used on back packs and parkas to help access the zipper. REI sells these clips in a small bag of about six clips. In theory the clip would fail long before the paracord severs your head. When I get the time I plan on testing this solution as well.

Good luck, TR

I tried doing this, it didn't give good results...

If you want the lanyard to be flexible even at the junction point, you need to take a smaller piece of heat shrink tubing. In this case, it's too easy to pull the two ends apart.

If you take a longer piece of heat shrink tubing, you end up having 3-4 inches of non-flexible lanyard...

Fold your two ends back onto the body and melt,tape,whip secure to form two small loops. Thread a breakaway string and your set. I would strongly suggest you test whatever system chosen. I watched a horse cast itself ( horsey talk for getting stuck or tangled and unable to rise) with it's head still tied to a halter. It was a commercial breakaway and at the wierd angle remained securely on old sparky until THAT GUY WITH THE KNIFE cut him free.

A bit fancier, but knowing Cub Scouts you'll need something that is easily re-connectable.

I might suggest using the spring-loaded toggles that might be used to tighten cord around a sleepiing bag or a hood. Insert both ends of the cord through the same side of the toggle. The force of the toggle's spring keeps it fasten, but if pulled a bit hard, the cord will come out of the toggle.

I bought "ball cord lock" toggles (50 cents each) from http://www.therainshed.com - nice people. The round lock feels better on a bare neck.

I might suggest you use a narrower cord than paracord to make it easier to insert in the toggle lock. I found some orange "Sportsman's Cord" while a Walmart a while back. It was in the outdoors section and come on a small spool about 3 inches across. Works well as a lanyard cord for light loads (compass + whistle).

By the way, another idea is to get whistles from http://www.orientaltrading.com . Item # IN-20/45 . They are only $2.95 for 12 of them!! And they come on a wrist bracelet that is pretty comfortable. They are surprizingly loud too. They come in assorted colors. Make sure you buy enough to not give pink ones to boys.

I had my Cub Scouts put together a small survival kit:

Whistles from http://www.orientaltrading.com
Fanny Packs from the same place - Item # IN-16/257
Orange 33 gallon plastic bags - check w/ your local highway dept. I bought them from http://www.spectrumbagsonline.com/
Microlights - I found some big discout Princeton-Tec microlights on Campmor.com - looked like they were leftovers with a logo printed on

www.sirmailorder.ca As an aside in another old thread I suggested lampwicking as a superior lanyard. This is the cloth tape used in old kerosene lamps. The above link sells substantial rolls of the stuff.Aside from simple comfort and ease of stitching breakaways you have a ready supply of emergency kindling by unravelling a short length.

Break-Away Lanyard Connector

http://www.lighthound.com/sales/lanyard_supplies.php

Now I am Really excited about this project. Thanks so much for all your input. I was also wondering if there were any "slip knots" that could be used in lieu of an actual installed breakaway device and are there any advantages/disadvantages to using the "breakaway" knot?

You might try the magnetic necklace latches. They work quite well and are not very expensive. I have also melted the ends of paracord together to make a breakaway. The melted joint is much weaker than the cord but strong enough to prevent losing it.

Be carefull with magnetic anything if you might use this lanyard to carry a compass. While it might not affect accuracy in use, the magnet could damage the compass during storage.

This is how I've done it for years, and it works great! a good 3" length of rubber hose will work well.

I read on this forum or somewhere else how to cut and flame seal the end of paracord where it looks professional. Can anyone help me on that one? Thanks!

KenK,
Someday your cubs will appreciate and respect your efforts.

My Bear Den (The Black Blade) made small Indian medicine bags out of a nagahyde-like (sp?) material. We stitched the sides up with paracord and used paracord for the neck lanyards. I cut a small strip of leather to glue on the flap. We stamped each boy’s initials into the leather.

At our next hike I will be issuing flat ACME Orion Tornado safety whistles (These are smaller and arguably better than the mini fox 40). I picked up several two packs on Amazon.com (I believe the retailer was OutdoorSuperStore.com). The whistles will go in the bag.

We will have a meeting on first-aid where we will make a small first aid kit for each bag. Another meeting will teach knot tying. I will make up a small “cheat sheet” on knot tying to place in the bag (printed on water resistant paper). I’ll probably make up a small cheat sheet on survival as well to place in the bags. Toss in their “whittling chip” and they are ready to go. Maybe add a photon or Inova microlight. I’ve also looked into getting some suunto clipper compasses to clip onto the bag flap. When complete the boys will have a nice little survival pouch for any occasion. I also added 4 small paracord tassels to the bottom of the bag to show off any achievement beads.

TR (Your’re never too young to have a PSK)

I use my soldering iron with a flat chiseled tip. For small line, it works as well as a hot knife.

That's a pretty cool way to put together a PSK, teach about the uses of the items, and have kids learn important skills along the way.

Good Stuff.

I tightly tape with masking tape the paracord. Cut it in the middle of the tape then flame the ends gently. Remove the tape and you have a good one.

If you could figure out a way to fuse about a half inch of the cord into a hard bit that works very well in the tubing connection.

I have thought about inserting the cut and fused end as above into a tight brass tube and then heating that to fuse the whole end up but have never tried this.

My breakaway lanyard from Suunto has such ends and a rubber tube connector and it works like a charm.

Don't forget to put in some kind of shelter. The Hug-a-Tree program recommended that kids at least carry a whistle and a large trash bag.

Twist the cord so that it narrows and burn through the narrow part with a match. Since it is already tight, you will not get any frayed ends. (Needs three hands.)

I've done this with half inch nylon rope, but it ought to work with paracord as well.

There is an identical thread running over at CPF.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=100031

TR

QUOTE: I tried doing this, it didn't give good results...
If you want the lanyard to be flexible even at the junction point, you need to take a smaller piece of heat shrink tubing. In this case, it's too easy to pull the two ends apart."

Bee,
Thanks for the feedback. What you are saying makes sense.

I think the only other heat-shrink technique may be to run both ends of the lanyard through the same end of a wider segment of heat-shrink tubing. That puts the heat shrink in the same configuration as a knot at the end of the lanyard cord. The lanyard would remain flexible, while the heat shrink tubing could remain short. The trick here is having enough friction to keep the ends from sliding out prematurely. Only one way to be sure... test it. I'll see if I have any spare heat shrink of the proper diameter to accept two ends of cord, side by side, yet shrink down enough for a snug fit.

Another option may be one or more small O rings used in the same configuration, as a knot replacement, lanyard ends side by side.

I'll post back if I can dig up the proper components.

TR

I just remembered this, for what it's worth.

A friend of mine showed me a trick that he'd learned when was last on leave, where he guts a chunk of paracord, and runs break away chain through it, for his dog tags. That, run through a standard split ring on the whistles?

I know, it looses most of it's strength, but it's still strong enough for most things.