Do you use paracord locks/clamps/toggles/barrels (plastic)

EDC Gear for Flashlight Carriers
1

I like gadgets and things like that to do with paracord. Recently Ive seen some pics where people use plastic toggles on their paracord lanyards. You can slide the toggle up on your wrist when in use, then slide it down after, or many some other uses.

Id like to get some but there are so many different types…what do you prefer, or what should I get etc.

I mean things like this…

Or any other type of thing you like to use like zipper pulls, etc…

2

Where appropriate, I prefer the double barrel type. Being wide / flat with a large button its easier to press.

3

If you’re anywhere near a Mountain Equipment Co-op, they usually have a ton of things like that. Fastex is the rolls-royce brand; anything else will probably be fine as well.

4


Ball lock looks nice where you don’t need a double.

This “low profile” one is interesting.

Not a fan of these (original type).

5

I’ll just leave this here.

:bigsmile:

6

Thanks, there is a MEC about 25min away from me. They charge for parking now, the store has really changed. Literally everything they sell is now Made in China.

I remember 20 years ago it was all quality North America MEC brand. Its really changed.

But they do have a harness/climbing section which would sell the Fastex and climbing gear you mentioned.

To save money though Id like to order something Ebay, just something cheap for fun.

Thanks to all for the comments and pics.

7

I might go ahead and order these, qty-6 for $2 shipped and they come in colors.

Its the cheapest I could find on Ebay.

Plus Im going to look for double barrel as Helios mentioned.

8

If you’re ready to get serious, especially if you have “loose ends” of cordage lying about, why not tie a small Turk’s Head Knot (THK) around your lanyard loop, passing one Lead through the loop to retain the THK, then tightening sufficiently to keep the THK from distorting in use?

Here’s a simple one:
http://www.troop54.com/knots/TurksHeadKnot/TurksHeadKnot.htm

This one might work better for you:
http://www.golden-knots.com/tie7x8.html

Use a small-ish, hard-laid cord and only “double” once (meaning two times around the knot) for best results as a slider.

Just my 0.2 cents…

Dim

9

Yep .

10

Thanks for the advice on the turk knot, I will look into that.

11

I've been using some cheap lanyards, but I need more. I'm going out put my own together this time. I like this whistle cord end. That will make tactical.

http://www.lighthound.com/Fastex-Aerowave-Cord-Lock--Black-Cord-Lock-with-Orange-Whistle-Insert-from-ITW-Nexus_p_2589.html

I want a double hole cord lock, but I'm not sure what I'll settle on yet. I want to try the SL-188 because the weight savings may make it very attractive in other applications.

http://www.zimmerbuilt.com/hardware.html

I'll probably use dyneema cord with reflective tracers if it works well enough in the cord end, or black so I can be tacticool.

12

“Ranger Beads” from Youtube may work also, depending on how strong of a lock you want. Worth trying and they will be hand made in your own country, too. 8)

13

I’m not a big fan of those plastic things on my lanyards, so I usually just make a knot with a piece of paracord that can slide up and down somewhat like this:

It doesn’t have the blocking capabilities of the plastic locks, but it’s good enough to secure the lanyard on my wrist or other things.
(And I’m confident that one could also make it a little more pretty if he wanted :P)

14

Beware of smaller double barrel locks and low profile locks as it can be almost impossible to get the paracord ends through the holes. YMMV.

15

No problem. I'll be using thinner cord. It's okay if my lanyard isn't tactical.

16

Do you use a special kind of thinner cord?
I sometime use climbing accessory cord since it’s quite strong, relatively cheap and available in signal colors.
But its quite stiff stuff, doesn’t feel as soft and nice as decent paracord imo.

17

Anything is dyneema is my preference if I want a strong cord. Kelty Triptease may be the most popular, and it's a very good cord. I've tried an older orange version of Glowire, but now I'll probably go with black.

http://lawsonequipment.com/Reflective-Glowire-50-Black-p972.html

Or his Ironwire. Or 2.2 Z-line if I want it in black.

It's over kill like almost any kind of cord is for a lanyard, but I can use the rest for my tents and tarps where it's perfect. I hate paracord for that application because it's harder to untie, doesn't do hitch knots as nicely, and is too big for LineLoc 3's. I'm a big fan of LineLoc 3's. They add a little weight and bulk, but give back some flexibility and a lot of convenience.

18

So the beads are certainly useful tools, but it’s disrespectful to Rangers to use that name. One of my few friends is a Ranger - tops in his class in Recondo School. If you know what L.R.R.P. (“Lurp”) stands for, he was one of the first - he wrote a book about it here if you’re interested. I won’t repeat publicly what he said about “Ranger Beads”, but I won’t be calling them that ever again.

Back to reading…

19

i know what you mean, i really like MEC but i don’t like cheapening of quality

charging for parking is silly though, i bet they lost a lot of business because of it

20

Perhaps you might find this useful.

I hate to keep pushing “brickmason’s cord”, (“BMC” for now) which is aka #18 braided Nylon cord, but this works great for me:

Lead an end of the BMC through your lock as I’ve done through the wee eye here:

Then take that end around a bight of your paracord:

Then pass the BMC end back through the lock, grab both BMC ends and haul away:

I hope this helps!

Dim