Page 47 - Des Pawson "Des Pawson's Knot Craft" 2 edit.

KNOTCRAFT 2009:Layout 1 23/10/09 12:17 Page 46

A Simple Lanyard

TOOL DROPPED WHEN working aloft is bad news – at best a
A damaged deck, at worst serious injury to a fellow crew mem-
ber. If it falls over the side it’s gone forever and at sea there is no
local chandlery to take more of your hard-earned cash for a
replacement. The best and safest thing to do is to keep your tools
on a lead, then they cannot run away. Fit them with a lanyard!
Here is a simple lanyard with just a little decorative detail, that
goes round the neck and allows the knife or other tool to slip
into a pocket or sheath. Make the lanyard long enough so that
you can stretch your arm out fully, with a loop that will fit easily
over your head. It is possible to make the knots sliding so as to
adjust the loop, but a sliding knot on this kind of lanyard is not
a good idea. In fact it is a better idea to have a weak link between
tool and lanyard, as it is no good saving your tool at the expense
of strangling yourself. Made a little longer and adjustable, if you
wish, the whole lanyard can go right round the waist with a clasp
knife on its end that slips neatly into a pocket.
The same style of lanyard, perhaps with a whistle on its end,
can go round the shoulder and into the breast pocket of a
uniform. By using heavier rope, say 10mm with a clip fixed to the
smaller loop and making the other loop just big enough to put
your hand through, you will have a dog lead, or is it a dog lanyard?

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