Tips on making a lanyard

[perow1]

What are your best tips on making a good lanyard? I want to construct a regulation lanyard wich is fairly easy to use and can be used on a belt for no fins. Maybe it is possible to make a lanyard that can be switched from wrist to belt?

 

[fcallagy]

Hi Perow1
don,t know what defines a regulation lanyard but the home made one i use is simply a karabiner type set up on to a surfboard lanyard cheap and reasonably effective if a bit long but they can be got shorter. some one else thats used to competitions may know what the regulation one is.

 

[jome]

I wrote one suggestion to the FDTF website. It's in finnish, but the pictures probably give you the right idea.

Freediving Team of Finland - Lanyard eli yhdysnaru

This is of course but one suggestion, but it has proven to work rather well. I really like the option of being able to switch from short to long to wrist to belt to angle with just one clip. It is also very "tangle resistant" and guaranteed to be strong enough.

I made some rough calculations (which might be off by miles, physics not my strong area). At 3 m/s the combined force of gravity and drag could be us much as 30 kg - and if you want to have a good margin, your lanyard should handle at least double that?

 

[sanso]

from the AIDA regulations v. 11.2 (2007-02-16)

2.2.2
The safety lanyard binds the athlete to the warm-up line or to the official line. It is made up of;
• a karabiner without screws in which the opening (minimum 15mm) is big enough to allow the karabiner
to be placed and hooked to the line without difficulty. The "finger" of the karabiner must function
normally; in other words opening with little pressure and closing automatically.
• a semi-elastic or non elastic link between 30cm (minimum) and 100cm (maximum when stretched) in
length, made up of a material designed to not make knots (e.g. a cord, or a cord covered with plastic).
• a wrist or ankle 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 cannot be removed inadvertently for those wearing the lanyard on the waist, the belt
holding the lanyard must be situated higher than the weight belt. In this last case, the freediver will still
wear a wrist band, which cannot be removed inadvertently, including a lanyard ring of an interior
diameter of a minimum of 26mm.
• the total weight of the safety lanyard may not exceed 500gr.

Obviously it should have a quick-release karabiner at least on one end.

 

[osusim]

Check this out
Lanyard

 

[perow1]

Wow! I wish I had treated my knowledge in the finnish language somwhat better. You guys have a good amount of information on your page! Very informational with the pictures anyway. I like that it can be shortened, but I guess that this can be one of its weak points aswell. I have found out that it is good to have a static/stiff part close to your ankle making it even more resistant to tangeling.

I have made myself a couple of lanyards by now and having had a couple of scarry experiences with this what is supposed to be your safety. Once i stuck at -60 and fought with the 14kg wieght for quite some time and another time I got stuck at -70 doing a free immersion attempt pulling myself up with resistance giving me a seirous rope burn on my leg and making the dive half a minute longer. It is of greatest importance to have the gear perfect.

 

[sanso]

Using a thin tube around the actual line will keep it from tangling. - This tip thanks to Andreas Falkenroth's AIDA ** course.

 

[perow1]

The problem hasn´t been the line tangeling, but the non tangeling line falling down on the line/body because of moving parts on the wrist. making a lock around something on the line. With non moving stiff parts close to the body and wrist this can be avoided.

 

[deep thinker]

Hmm, spearfishing for big game fish comes to mind here...
Why not use a tuna bungee with tuna clips and swivels connecting the lanyard to the karabiner and wrist band. If tied and fixed correctly to the swivels the line should be able to withstand 100Kg+ worth of weight and a 50cm peice of bungee can stretch to +/- 1m... As a added bonus these are pretty rigid so they wont easily tangle

 

[Daić]

This is one easy solution for lanyard. It's in slovenian language but pictures will tel you enough.

Oprema prostega potapljanja na dah - H2O team

Jure

 

[jome]

Damn, I translated the whole thing, but it got lost in bit heaven.

Anyway, the point of the whole article was:
-The lanyard is the most important personal safety item you have
-It does not by default increase safety, in fact if it sucks, it does just the opposite. The very least it makes diving uncomfortable
-A good lanyard will increase both safety AND comfort.
-So you should invest some time to think about it
-Most people don't take the durability of the lanyard very seriously.
-Putting on tube or other coating just for looks is not why it is put on there, it should actually make the thing more rigid.
-Often overlooked part is making also the joint of the carabiner and wire rigid. Usually it "hinges" and makes the most easy part to entangle!
-I like steel carabiners because if weighs enough to keep the line straight. Light, big aluminum carabiners float like a "leaf", especially on turns, and sometimes that has created problems for me.

The snap shackle contraption did not pass "test 1" on my article - it would often open if you give it a good yank.

I strongly believe that velcro is not strong enough. Maybe when done right, but most people don't. And it wears with time, loosing its' stickyness...

All in all, the lanyard is not just a thing you thrown on your wrist for appearances sake. It should not be worn just because "someone said you always have to have one". It's worth putting some time and effort to...