# Great Lanyard!



## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

I have been very remiss, and I want to remedy that situation right now. Sometime ago I posted about turning my Dankung Agile Toucan into a gloveshot by attaching some nylon straps and velcroe:

http://slingshotforu...ucan-gloveshot/

Not long after that, I had a pleasant pm from jskeen (James Keen) offering to send me one of his braided lanyards. I promised to try it out and report my opinions. Well, it arrived two months ago, and got stuck in a pile of things on my table while I shamelessly pursued other things. I want to offer a public appology for that.

It seems I am a pale shadow of my former self ... and getting paler day by day. I no longer have the hand strength of the likes of Bill Hays, Gamekeeper John, or Joerg Sprave. And my arthritis is particularly troublesome in the joints at the base of my thumbs. I cannot shoot hammer grip. I cannot shoot gripper style. I am reduced to finger hook with thumb brace. Even at that, a heavy draw weight becomes quite painful to shoot. To reduce my aches and pains, I made the indicated modifications to my Dankung Toucan.

James suggested his lanyards could be used in much the same way as my gloveshot modification. Here is what he very kindly sent.










Who knew macrame could come in so handy! The lanyard is extemely well made ... very professional ... from parachord. The plastic sliding gizmo (I cannot recall the name of it ... DARN!) contains a wheel lock. When the little button is in the forward position, you can slide the gizmo in either direction along the two pieces of parachord. But when pressed to the rear, the gizmo will slide in only one direction ... it jams the parachord, locking it in place, if you try to slide it in the other direction. However, it readily releases if you move the little button forward again.

In use, I removed one of the end pieces of parachord from the gizmo, inserted it through the lanyard hole in the handle of a slingshot, and then reinserted the parachord in the gizmo. Here it is attached to my Dankung Owl.










You simply put your hand through the lanyard loop, and tighten down the gizmo, locking it in place. You can just let the slingshot dangle any time you need both hands for other tasks. Aesthetically speaking, it looks very nice in my opinion.

The nice thing about this lanyard is that when cinched up, it serves as a wrist brace. You can do quite a heavy draw with no need to maintain that monster grip on the slingshot. Here is the Owl under draw, without me holding onto the handle.










You can see that no grip is needed. And that nice, wide braided portion is vey comfortable on the wrist ... does not bite in at all. That locking gizmo keeps the lanyard at the proper length to hold against the draw of the bands.

I also tried the lanyard on a small bamboo PFS with pretty heavy bands.










To some it might look a bit chunky for the size of the slingshot. However, it functions as a wrist brace very well, just as it did for the larger Owl. Here is the PFS under draw.










Soooo, the lanyard is very well made, and aesthetically pleasing. But more importantly from my point of view, it serves very well as a wrist brace on just about any size of slingshot. Ask youself how else could you attach a wrist brace to a PFS??? For those who want to shoot with a wrist brace, but live where they are not legal, this lanyard may well be just the ticket. If you have a favorite slingshot but are having pain in your hands from trying to grip it, this just might be the solution.

In case you haven't guessed, I like this thing a lot. THANKS, James!!!!

Cheers ....... Charles

P.S. Sorry again for being so tardy.


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## jskeen (Feb 7, 2011)

Hey Charles, Glad it worked out for you. I'll check in with you in a couple of months to see if your still using it and how it's working. Don't worry about the timing. Technically, the gizmo is called a cl 194 cable lock. I've used them since I was in the Air Force lo' these many years ago. It's the only cable lock design that I know of that WILL NOT slip, up to the point that the weight actually breaks the shell. Don't know how much that would take, but it's a heck of a lot more than those little push-on-the-top spring tension type widgits will hold. Works great for keeping the top of your Alice pack closed too!

Anyway, Enjoy!


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## Ted (May 27, 2011)

Great post! That's a very useful lanyard. I would not have guessed that it would relieve some of the pressure even on a PFS.


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## orcrender (Sep 11, 2010)

Great looking lanyard. Looks like it is very easy to install and use.


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## AZshooter (May 1, 2011)

jskeen....Where can you purchase these cable locks?...They are handy little items!


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## jskeen (Feb 7, 2011)

AZ shooter said:


> jskeen....Where can you purchase these cable locks?...They are handy little items!


Actually as of now, you can get them from me! And not the cheap imported from china ones. These are made by ITW nexus, and are heavy duty! I just got a shipment in, and should have plenty, so if you need some, let me know.


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## Slingshots rule (Apr 5, 2011)

how do you guys make lanyyards out of paracord. I'm getting some paracord very kindly sent from allmost human and i what to make some lanyards out of it. So any tip would be apprecated


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## wombat (Jun 10, 2011)

more praise for the lanyard!! after reading charles' post i rigged up a lanyard for the first time, and it did exactly what i was hoping for, which was taking a bit of the pressure off and it also helped to lock the sling in place. I'm definitely a convert. thanks charles and jskeen!


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## jskeen (Feb 7, 2011)

Most everybody has their own preferred pattern/method for making these. There are a ton of video's on youtube on how to tie knots with paracord. Most of the ones that are about making "survival bracelets" can be modified to produce a lanyard with a little trial and error.

Personally I like to make mine with a separate piece of cable for the loop and tails that go through the center of the braid, and I use a modified chain sennet knot rather than a solomon bar or "king cobra" knot. That way the loop and tails that take all the wear from being used as a lanyard are not in the middle of your useable length of paracord should you ever need to unravel it. And if you need to do that, you can unravel mine by pulling on the ends rather than having to unloop every knot individually.


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## orcrender (Sep 11, 2010)

I have one on a slingshot from Shawnr5. I had a little trouble with that one slipping in my hand. Now I am not afraid it will twist on me. One is on my first Bill has Resin Hathcock sniper. They really work great.


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## CAS14 (Jul 17, 2012)

jskeen said:


> Most everybody has their own preferred pattern/method for making these. There are a ton of video's on youtube on how to tie knots with paracord. Most of the ones that are about making "survival bracelets" can be modified to produce a lanyard with a little trial and error.


I just received two of James' lanyards. One is now on my first homemade fork, and the other will soon adorn my SimpleShot Scout. This thread left no doubt regarding how to attach them. Many thanks.


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## drfrancov (Sep 29, 2012)

jskeen said:


> Hey Charles, Glad it worked out for you. I'll check in with you in a couple of months to see if your still using it and how it's working. Don't worry about the timing. Technically, the gizmo is called a cl 194 cable lock. I've used them since I was in the Air Force lo' these many years ago. It's the only cable lock design that I know of that WILL NOT slip, up to the point that the weight actually breaks the shell. Don't know how much that would take, but it's a heck of a lot more than those little push-on-the-top spring tension type widgits will hold. Works great for keeping the top of your Alice pack closed too!
> 
> Anyway, Enjoy!


James,

How can we get one of this lanyards? What's the asking price (plus shipping of course).


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## jskeen (Feb 7, 2011)

drfrancov said:


> jskeen said:
> 
> 
> > Hey Charles, Glad it worked out for you. I'll check in with you in a couple of months to see if your still using it and how it's working. Don't worry about the timing. Technically, the gizmo is called a cl 194 cable lock. I've used them since I was in the Air Force lo' these many years ago. It's the only cable lock design that I know of that WILL NOT slip, up to the point that the weight actually breaks the shell. Don't know how much that would take, but it's a heck of a lot more than those little push-on-the-top spring tension type widgits will hold. Works great for keeping the top of your Alice pack closed too!
> ...


I make them to your size in standard colors for $15 each or 2 for $25 + $5 for priority shipping. Custom color combo's can be ordered by arrangement, as can matching lanyard/ammo pouch sets.


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

jskeen said:


> drfrancov said:
> 
> 
> > jskeen said:
> ...


Well worth the money, in my opinion.

Cheers ...... Charles


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## jazz (May 15, 2012)

Hi Charles and all,

Great lanyard and great post which for me is also practical - my hands hurt more and more too...

Since I did macrame years ago I will give it a try.

cheers,

jazz


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## CAS14 (Jul 17, 2012)

James, I suppose it depends on the length of a walking stick, and how you use it, but what are your thoughts about that use?

I'm enjoying Aaron's new walking stick forum too. I may have found a location where I can look for a Bois D'arc stick.

Thanks,

Vance


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## Adirondack Kyle (Aug 20, 2012)

I use the lanyard as wrist support as well, great point charles.


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