Design a neck lanyard with paracord (or similar) having a breakaway knot that’s relatively simple and elegant. The breakaway knot is intended to be a safety feature to prevent injury or strangulation (e.g., if the lanyard gets caught in a machine, or if the lanyard gets caught on a tree branch, etc.).
The breakaway…
allows the lanyard to stay put under normal conditions.
comes apart at the knot when a substantially higher forced is applied.
does NOT have to be pure rope (e.g., elegant integration of a keyring or other common device is acceptable).
must not take forever to untie and retie when the user changes items on the lanyard (e.g., a whipping connection is probably unacceptable).
I’ve used lanyard “breakaways” - 2 small plastic cones which snap together. They have a hole through each end so after threading the cord, overhand knots act as stoppers (buried within the fitting when closed) - these will take cord up to about 2mm but no thicker and are easily re-attached if they come apart. Paracord can be attached to thinner pieces at the fitting without looking too clumsy - in effect the plastic bit replaces the weak thread in the example shown in KnotMe’s paper.
I have used in the past what I call a “wrong” fisherman’s with the two overhands apposed on the opposite side, so that the ends will just slide out when under tension.
you will find that over time, the key rings will discolour your paracord. this may or may not matter to you, after all it’s not like you don’t have more paracord. 8)
the rings may also abrade the fibres of your cord, but in this situation, it’s certainly not critical.
out of curiosity, what have you got there? flashlight, whistle, firesteel, … other side of firesteel?
Under excessive tension, the end of neck loop simply pulls out of fisherman’s knot. The smaller loop remains intact, so multiple items on it would not be lost.
I liked this arrangement, as there was no uncomfortable knot at the back of your neck, and the whole thing is very simple and neat. However, this arrangement only seems effective if tied in fairly solid climbing accessory cord. In my experiments, softer cordage (such as 550 paracord) does not appear to ‘breakaway’ as the bulkier sealed (melted) end of the cord jams in the fisherman’s. I guess it may work if you left the breakaway end unsealed, but it would obviously then fray and look messy, and make retying difficult.
Thank you for reviving this thread. On a survival forum, the users explained to me that the breakaway should be at the back of the neck for maximum safety.
The main reason for the breakaway is to save you when your gear and lanyard get wrapped in a machine or whatever. If the breakaway is down at your gear, then you can instantly be in serious danger. The machine and the lanyard (probably 550 paracord) can easily form a strong loop around your neck. Another scenario is you’re in a struggle with somebody, and they grab your lanyard and gear. If your breakaway is down by your gear, then you have provided the assailant with a convenient way to have control over your head and neck, and thus your body.
Those are two major reasons I went through the trouble of making a breakaway in the first place. Here’s an idea of improvements I made…
By the way, I have not found an acceptable all rope solution. When I really need the breakaway, it is going to be a life-or-death situation. I need a breakaway that is absolutely going to work 100% of the time, not a breakaway that will probably work if set correctly.
The option I’m using with 550 cord at the moment is a simple cordlock (as often used on clothing, backpacks, etc), which seems to work really well, and allows very easy adjustment of the size of the neck loop as well.
I’ve started using cat collar breakaways (all cat collars have them of one sort or another). They are a small version of the usual squeeze-the-sides-to-open buckle but the prongs are rounded at the side so a sharp tug and the buckle opens (it can also be opened by squeezing the sides as usual). I find that these take quite a pull to break open (it hurts!) but they are not resistant enough to do real harm.
I found some o-rings at home last night, so had a play with the aim of finding a neater way of integrating one into a 550-cord lanyard. Pics aren’t great, but how about a couple of double sheet bends, like this:
It depends on the O-ring of course. I’ve tested the O-rings in my pic. It breaks with a moderate yank. I don’t know the exact force. It could hold a 5 pound weight. It probably couldn’t hold a 25 pound weight. So, somewhere between 5 and 25 pounds I’m guessing. I’ve also tested it around my neck. It won’t break in casual use, but it will break if the force is deliberate. The O-rings in my pic have the correct level of weakness for me.
I’ve done a bit of research and testing. At least one supplier in the UK shows the breaking strength for rubber O rings and that is
14N(ewtons) per sq millimetre of the cross section of the ring (if the ring were silicone for food use the strength is about half that). So for a 1 mill cross section the breaking strength is about 44N or 4.4Kg (9.7 pounds) which is consistent with that found by Knot4U.
By contrast I tried a cat collar breakaway using a (not very accurate at this load) luggage scale and the thing broke apart at about 3.2 - 3.5 pounds.
Whether either or both of these is within acceptable limits depends on the user and the weight of the attachment to the lanyard but personally I would not want to use an O ring with a cross section greater than 1mm.
Yeah, there’s a sweet spot. I want the O-ring neither too weak nor too strong. An advantage of using a weak O-ring is you can use two or more O-rings for increasingly more strength.
Looking again at the attachment of an O-ring if I (or any competent knot tyer) used one attaching another one is simplicity but for a user who has a problem with knots I wonder if 2 small split rings securely attached to the cord would work? The split rings have the O-ring between them so replacing it is made easy by inserting it into each split ring. Might look a bit clumsy but as it’s around the back of the neck it is actually not much bigger than the cat collar breakaway (and a whole lot cheaper). I have been regularly asked for a simple lanyard for an ID card (more distinctive than a plain commercial one but nothing too fancy) - last weekend someone asked for a better one than he had as every time he lost his ID it cost him 20 GBP to have it replaced and his car seat belt regularly plucked them off without his realising it. With a 9lb pull he would not be unaware of it coming off!
I’m sure you all know there are plastic breakaways that are designed specifically for paracord. I don’t like them because I can’t control the strength of breakage. Also, they loosen after continued use. However, they are an option for people who are not interested in fiddling with knots.
I’ve tried split rings in various configurations. I prefer no metal back there, but if the user doesn’t mind, then a split ring does open up a world of possibilities. Regarding the cat collar breakaway, this is the second time you mentioned it, Sweeney. So, you’re going to have to provide a pic of (or link to) exactly what you mean, thanks.