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?