# Knot for a lanyard?



## jskeen (Feb 7, 2011)

I've been beating my last few surviving brain cells up on this question for weeks, and I think I'll just give them a rest and see if somebody else knows the answer.

I've been making paracord lanyards for my frames, and want to know how to attach them somehow that can be slid open to fit over the hand, and then slid tight so that the lanyard takes some of the stress off the fingers. The way I make my lanyards leaves two tails on one end and a loop on the other. What I wanted to do is feed the tails through the loop, then through a hole in the frame, and leave enough slack hanging off the front of the frame that I can just slide the frame up to the end of the tails to open the lanyard, then pull the tails back through till the lanyard is where I want it, and then lock the cables at the front of the frame. Now I can do that by just tying a hard knot in them, but that's a bear to untie one handed. I could put a plastic cable lock on it, but that's a last resort, as I really want to have just the cord and some knotwork hold it together. I can tie a turks head around the tails, and it will slide back and forth, but won;t hold. I've tried a Chinese sliding knot (like on a bracelet or necklace) and it doesn't lock either. I'm out of ideas, so if one of you guys has figured out how to make this work, I'd love to hear it.

If I was still in the AF I'd just go ask the 'chute riggers, they can do stuff with knots and cable that would make a chief bosun's mate cry. but I have been a civilian now for almost 20 years. Don't have one handy anymore.

Thanks for any help.
James


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## zip (Feb 27, 2011)

Midshipman's Hitch?

http://www.troop7.or...Midshipman.html

It is my understanding that there are dozens of...slip and lock...knots.


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## playful (Apr 2, 2011)

Hi James,

I came here to learn about slingshots, but then I stumble on your question about knots, which I love....
One suggestion which is not exactly what you ask (feeding the tails through the hole): using an "adjustable grip hitch".
There are several ways you could use it. That hitch could go around the wrist; or around the hole in the frame. 
I use that a lot in camping. Awesome to adjust tension.
If that's not quite it, someone at the IGKT (international guild of knot tyers) will be able to help you out.


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## jskeen (Feb 7, 2011)

Ok, was not sure if I made it clear what I was working with on this, so I took a pic to try to clarify some. What I am hoping for is some type of slide/lock hitch that I can tie between, around or onto the two running tails that will allow me to slide it forward to pull some slack through the hole and open the wristband, and then pull it back through the hole to tighten the wristband, then slide the knot back up tight to the frame to lock the length. I'm beginning to think that i'm going to have to break down and use some sort of cord lock, but would really prefer a knot.

Btw, the lanyard is made from one single 14 foot length of 550 paracord, and can be unraveled by just pulling the tails back through their individual loops on the end and then pulling them to unravel the band. It's not like a normal king cobra that has to be undone one hitch at a time. Little trick one of the riggers showed me back during desert storm.

James


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## slingshot_sniper (Feb 20, 2011)

[EDIT} Sorry this was not what you're looking for,I should read more carefully


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## playful (Apr 2, 2011)

Hi James,

You say "slide lock"...

Hmmm... Two things come to mind:
1. Tensioning ajustable loops (such as the adjustable grip hitch I mentioned earlier). But you'd need to modify your design, for instance having a single cord come out of your lanyard, passing it through the hole, and coming back to make the adjustable hitch. There are other knots in this category, I like this one.
2. Knots in the "Prusik" family. That would work directly with your design. These are knots for climbing a rope. You would take another piece of paracord and make the knot around the two tails. Normally the Prusik goes around a single strand, so I'm not sure how good it would be with two strands. You'd have to find the right orientation for it. Here is a standard Prusik, but be aware that there are many knots in this family, and there's bound to be one that also fits your esthetic requirements. For instance when I was a teenager the one we used for caving made very tidy coils around the rope.

Would love to know what you choose in the end!


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## drgreen (Feb 21, 2011)

jskeen, I dont have a suggestion for you here I'm sorry, but it would be great to see what you end up doing and post some pics! I'm looking for something that is self tensioning too.

http://www.realknots.com/knots/

lol you probably came across this already, but perhaps there is a knot or hitch here that is helpful to you. good luck


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## jskeen (Feb 7, 2011)

this is still not the solution I am hoping for, but it does work for now. Kind of fiddley to get to work right, but it does the job. Still looking for a knot-work solution thought.

This is made from a couple of scraps of whitetail antler. The inner lock is sorta lollypop shaped and is made from the antler tip as that's the most dense part, and the body is from a fork in the beam to take advantage of the naturally y shaped pith section that was easier to clean out. it's tied together with a bit of waxed artificial sinew, and a dot or two of superglue.

To lock you just grab the tail along with both cords, and pull, and the tail fits into the hole in the frame. To release just back the frame off enough to press the tail in, and the cords slide through.


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## bikermikearchery (Sep 30, 2010)

I have been tring to figure out the same thing. Made tha lanyard loops large enough to go over my big hands but than there to slack.


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## EdB (Mar 17, 2011)

You might try making a paracord combat bracelet, see wikiHow. The bracelet can be sized for the amount of snug you need. Then you can size a separate loop through the sling. Thread the bracelet through the sling loop to hold the sling to your wrist. Bill Hays uses a bracelet and loop lanyard on his Polymer Ranger only his bracelets use nylon buckles instead of a loop and button. They are very nice. There might be a way to configure the loop and button through the sling handle and just button it around your wrist. No sliding so sizing would be important.

The combat bracelet uses of 1 continuous length of cord, about 9 meters. Handy access to a length of cord could be handy in a pinch. You can use your imagination for the button. If you really don't like buttons a sufficient size knot or monkey fist would probably work.

Another option would be a leather tab like they use on hats as a cinch. The 2 hole version might not hold strong enough, but a 4 hole might act like a rope break and still be adjustable.



jskeen said:


> I've been beating my last few surviving brain cells up on this question for weeks, and I think I'll just give them a rest and see if somebody else knows the answer.
> 
> I've been making paracord lanyards for my frames, and want to know how to attach them somehow that can be slid open to fit over the hand, and then slid tight so that the lanyard takes some of the stress off the fingers. The way I make my lanyards leaves two tails on one end and a loop on the other. What I wanted to do is feed the tails through the loop, then through a hole in the frame, and leave enough slack hanging off the front of the frame that I can just slide the frame up to the end of the tails to open the lanyard, then pull the tails back through till the lanyard is where I want it, and then lock the cables at the front of the frame. Now I can do that by just tying a hard knot in them, but that's a bear to untie one handed. I could put a plastic cable lock on it, but that's a last resort, as I really want to have just the cord and some knotwork hold it together. I can tie a turks head around the tails, and it will slide back and forth, but won;t hold. I've tried a Chinese sliding knot (like on a bracelet or necklace) and it doesn't lock either. I'm out of ideas, so if one of you guys has figured out how to make this work, I'd love to hear it.
> 
> ...


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## orcrender (Sep 11, 2010)

here is a link I found for making your own lanyard. Hope it helps. http://www.yankeefist.net/Lanyards.html


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