Wrist lanyard

[Stuart]

Hi, I am making a lanyard and I have cord, plastic tubing, carribiner and a quick release thingy with a toggle but have come stuck when trying to make the velcro wrist leash. What do others use? Advice please!

[bgill]

Here's what I use...

BD Injury and Treatment Prevention - Product Information

It is strapped on your arm or leg with velcro AND that little "pressure strap thingy" I attach to the lanyard to with a very small lightweight carabiner. I use a heavier stainless carabiner to atach to the downline. A good pull of the arm or leg will easily release you from the lanyard in an emergency.

I don't like to be attached or tied to anything I can't get untied from really quickly if I'm underwater!

Good luck and be safe!

[TheDude]

Originally Posted by bgill

A good pull of the arm or leg will easily release you from the lanyard in an emergency.

This ain't exactly how it should work - as you describe it a counter ballast pulling the line up would just release it and bring only the lanyard to the surface, leaving you in the deep enjoying the fish party . Maybe I just misunderstood it?

I use this one:
http://www.divefit.com/nastaveni/shop/lanyard.jpg
but would not recommend it as it is, because it has no tubing. The velcro strap is just a band with velcro, it goes roughly twice around your wrist, the velcro should cover most of its surface, so that it attaches firmly. It should not be able to release by pulling on the cord in any direction, even if you pull extremely hard. Ok, maybe just before you arm/leg tears of .

You can put it down pretty fast by opening the velcro with your hand. The one I have has the end of the velcro marked with a bright yellow ribbon so that its easy to spot where you have to grab it.

[bgill]

Sorry...We aint fortunate enough to have a counter balance system around here...YET!

Our down lines are usually attached to a 15 pound boat anchor and a boat, a float or to the ice. No one is gonna bring you "up" with the lanyards we typically use around here...Mainly in ice diving or in green water freediving for depth is the only time I use one.

If I was diving with a ballast type system or a retreival system then obviously I would want to STAY attached to the "down line."

[monkeyhatfork]

what about using the velcro attachment from a surf or bodyboard leash?

[Stuart]

I had thought about that so I spoke to a surfing friend but he said that they don't have a D ring as per AIDA rules. My only conclusion now is to find someone with an industrial sewing machine to make one up for me.

[sanso]

Originally Posted by Stuart

I had thought about that so I spoke to a surfing friend but he said that they don't have a D ring as per AIDA rules. My only conclusion now is to find someone with an industrial sewing machine to make one up for me.

Nah, not necessary. search the forum a bit, there are some threads on this already. I made the wrist part of my lanyard with a bit of 25mm webbing, a buckle (that works the same way as those for weightbelts), a D-ring, a needle and some thread.
Allow for a visit at the hardware store (webbing, buckle and D-ring ~7€ max) and 15 minutes of time for the sewing and You're set.

A lanyard that will release on a "good pull" is not worth the material used for it. When the carabiner hits the bottom plate during freefall You'll feel quite a good pull - and that at the end of the rope! You don't want to try that! Make sure that You have quick release carabiner / snap shackle on the wrist end and practise releasing it with Your eyes closed (best: while drunk and on a roller coaster )
You will find good examples and pictures when searching the forums.

BTW: AIDA will not let You dive with a lanyard that loosens on a "good pull". They have Herbert test all of the lanyards on the night before.

[marc25]

hi

i agree with monkeyhatafork,
i use a bodyboard/waveboarding-leash from a surfshop.

these are very strong and durable.
works well,
marc

[Whopperhead]

I made a couple Lanyards for the Freeze-A-Palooza here in WI. For the Wrist Velcro I took it off my 5mm gloves. It made my gloves too bulky anyways. Now my suit goes OVER my gloves alot easier. I picked up a couple D rings from the local hardware store for about .50 cents a piece and for the line I used 200# Test cord I had lying around. I'll have to take a pic and post. They seemed to work for what we were doing.

[BennyB]

If you're using a lanyard for an AIDA competition then the rules are fairly rigid in what you can and cannot do when making a lanyard. At a competition expect your lanyard to be strength tested by the Judges, and some judges give them a real workout - i've seen a couple snap before.

This is of course for safety reasons - if a guy can yank a 1m cord apart using his arms only then it's not going to be much use when about 40kg of lift hits the lanyard... think about it - say you blackout somewhere on the way back up and stop kicking, on the surface they hit the counterbalance and you have about 30-50kg pulling a 20kg weight towards you, it's going to get some speed by the time it reaches you and your lanyard must be able to take that hit (along with your elbow and shoulder joints presumably).

All AIDA lanyards have to fix firmly around the wrist and not come off, but have a quick-release mechanism so they can be released if need be.

That's for all AIDA comps and training conditions where you might use a counterweight system or need a lanyard that has to bear a lot of weight, but for the recreational guys with no need of AIDA regulations, that dive in ice or murky kelpy conditions then I guess you're the best ones to know a) why you need a lanyard and b) what's the best lanyard setup for your conditions. In those sorts of environments the best use of a lanyard is so your buddy knows where to look for you.

Cheers,
Ben

[jome]

I think the competition rules are approaching lanyards a little wrong.

It would be much simpler, better and safer to just have one lanyard attached to the rope permanently and everybody uses that. No more weird constructions, wasted resources, broken windows and tears. Just one official lanyard and that's it. It would be safe, of good quality and same for everyone.

It's the most important piece of safety equipment after the descent line. And we don't have people bringing their own line, buoy and plate - I don't think the lanyard should be different.

Anyone is of course welcome to use what ever they like in training...

[sanso]

Now, that is an entierly different discussion and has already been covered in other threads.
We'll see if anything comes out of those.
Have You voiced Your opinion on the official AIDA forum? Maybe (I sure hope) they'd value the input..