Lanyards...

[Donna]

Hi everyone,

I'm about to sort out a lanyard for training at Saltfree, the Nationals in May and for Cyprus in June....

Questions are:

1. What is the min length it can be?
2. What is the max length?
3. Best cord to use?
4. What sort of carabina is best to use?

Presumably, whilst there is a minimum and maximum length, is there an optiumum length?

Any helpful suggestions would be very much appreciated....

Thank you in advance

Donna

 

[DeepThought]

Another question I'de like to add (though not about to use a lanyard in the near future) is where is it best to attach it?
My guess is arm.
Either wrist which feels natural but might restrict hand movment (equalisation, changing hand positions, grabbing that 100m tag)
Or between elbow and shoulder to try and avoid those problems. has anybody tried that?

Did anybody try attaching it to the weightbelt?

 

[Donna]

I know when I've borrowed one at Saltfree, we've always worn them on the wrist, but I don't know how that effects equalization, as I'm lucky and can do it hands free. Elbow might be a good option though......

Have heard a story about someone attaching on their weightbelt and getting tangled at the turn point..... Not something I'd like to experience.

 

[Longfins]

Hi Donna,

I believe the current rule says .3m to 1m.

Optimum length, I don't know, since I prefer 2m myself! I wear mine on my right wrist, since I'm right-handed and grab the rope for the turn with my right hand and reach for the tag with my left. I do dolphin kick and that seems to be fine. Wrist or waist, it seems to come down to personal preference.

Don't know about the legality of wearing it near the elbow or shoulder since the current rule only says only wrist OR waist, but it's sounds worthwhile to ask the organizer and safety (Sam? Laura?) If it's safe, why not?

By the way, attaching to the weight belt is not a good idea as the whole point is to bring you up whole without inadvertantly losing you if the belt comes open.

The optimum carabiner should be the smallest you can buy (minimize weight & drag) that you can still open the gate to unclip it from the rope quickly. If you can't unclip easily, then the gate opening's probably too small for the rope diameter. So you don't need the honking-big D-shaped ones climbers use, the teardrop shape ones work just fine.

Martin Stepanek uses kevlar line, which is pretty stiff (minimize kinking and twisting) and small diameter (to reduce drag) given the same strength. I just bought some too to try. Expensive, but pretty cool stuff.


Hope you're putting a lot of big numbers on your D3!


Peter S.

 

[tanteh]

Pictures

Hi,

I have some pictures of Lanyards made by AIDA-Officials. If you send me an e-mail I will pass them over to you.

Cheers,
Carsten

PS: Unfortunately they are at home and it will take until tomorrow...

 

[samdive]

Hi Donna
needs to be max 1m - I prefer it as long as possible. It can be elastic.. or not but max stretch is one metre.

If you are using rope, you need to wrap it in something (tubing or some of our saltfree ones have that stuff you put around reg hoses) to stop it kinking up.

Here is an extract from the rules we are using for the comp - based on AIDA and approved by then that tells you about lanyards. The full rules will be up on the saltfree open site soon

"Safety Lanyard
The use of a lanyard is mandatory for all depth events. The lanyard binds the freediver to the warm up line or the competition line.

It is made up of:
A) a karabiner without screws in which the opening (minimum 15mm) is big enough to allow the karabiner to be placed on and removed from the line without difficulty. The finger of the karabiner must function normally, opening with little pressure and closing automatically.
B) B) a semi-elastic or non elastic link between 30cm and 100cm in length, made up of a material designed not to make knots (e.g. a cord sheathed with plastic)
C) A wrist band which cannot be removed inadvertently, which includes a ring having an interior diameter of a minimum of 26mm for athletes wearing the lanyard on the wrist OR a belt other than the weight belt, which can not be removed inadvertently. For those wearing the lanyard on the waist, the belt holding the lanyard must be situated higher than the weight belt.

The lanyard will be systematically checked by the safety freediver and must not be removed by the competitor during the performance, unless necessary or he will be penalised."