Wedding Ring Neck Lanyard

[kirbysdl]

Hello!  I've been lurking here for a while, but decided to make an account to see if I could get some assistance with a (very) small project.

When I'm not wearing my wedding band, I usually keep it on a cord around my neck.  I'm not interested in a metal chain with a clasp ... such clasps can be fiddly and difficult to manipulate when wearing gloves or when your hands are wet/oily/dirty.

So first I tried a simple loop of cord with a figure eight knot to tie the ends together.  Crude but effective.  I put a bight of the loop through the ring and make a lark's head.  The problem is that the lark's head can unravel in such a way that the ring will slip right off, even while cord is around my neck.  I realized that this was because the loop was larger than the ring. 

To fix this, I tied a second figure eight towards one end of the loop, effectively separating it into two parts: a small loop for the ring and a large loop for my neck.  Now the lark's head can't unravel because the smaller end doesn't slip over and out of the ring.  Hurrah!

As a budding knot enthusiast, aesthetics are important to me.  While my current solution is both secure and functional, I couldn't help but notice that it uses TWO knots.  This leads directly to my current problem:

I'd like to find a single secure, compact, and "pretty" knot that can divide a length of cord into two loops, one for the lark's head over the ring and one for my neck.

Secure, compact, and pretty are my primary goals in that order.  So far the closest thing I've found is a "twice rethreaded" figure 8 knot:


It seems secure, and if it doesn't collapse under stress it should maintain its nice even appearance, but it's anything but compact.  Is this the best bet for what I want to do, or is there a better knot for this purpose?  For example, ABOK#1063 gives a nice, compact loop but it would still need an additional knot to secure the ends of the cord.

Alternately, is there an entirely different way to secure a ring to a lanyard that can be accomplished with only knots (without additional hardware)?  Thanks!

[roo]

Have you seen these threads?:

http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=1554.0

http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=1545.0

[SS369]

Hello kirbysdl and welcome.

Questions: Will you be taking the ring off regularly (tying and untying the double loops knot)?
Are you concerned about safety of having it tied around your neck and the cord fails to break if the load is excessive to the skin?
Does it have to hand from a double loop, at the ring or would a simple single loop, ie., figure eight tied in the bight suffice?

For some examples of some nice looking multi loop knots for the ring end of this lanyard look here > http://www.layhands.com/Knots/Knots_DoubleLoops.htm .

Let us know if any of these gets the vote from you or if you need more help.

SS

[kirbysdl]

Hi, thanks for the replies.  First, a confession: I hadn't done a search, which is obviously a mistake in itself. 

Thread 1554 doesn't seem to be relevant.  It seems that they're tying the ring into the necklace somewhat permanently.  My application will involve me taking the ring on and off depending on the situation at hand.  Because of the frequency of change and the desire to avoid "fiddly" things, I wanted the ring attachment to involve something extremely simple such as a lark's head (a.k.a. cow hitch?) rather than untying and retying a possibly difficult knot in the dark, in the cold, etc. 

Thread 1545 has some neat options.  Tying a bend around the middle of the line wouldn't work unless the knot gripped tightly: if the knot could slide, then the lower loop could get big enough for the lark's head to unravel.  Retracing a knot as suggested in reply 1 and illustrated in reply 3 is certainly an option, and is what I'm currently considering doing.  A more elegant knot would be a MWK as discussed further down the thread.  Unfortunately, these more elegant knots are also bigger!

@SS369 re: safety, I'm using a light cord so this shouldn't be an issue, though I'll certainly keep it in mind.  If I end up using any kind of breakaway, then the available options widen dramatically because I don't need a double loop solution ... the ends of the cord go to the breakaway and form the second loop.  I'd like to try to keep the upper loop "clean" of any such devices because they could snag on the lower loop while creating the lark's head.  Obviously, ease of use isn't worth one's life so I'll have to carefully consider the performance of my intended cord.

Re: single loop, I don't think it would work because a lark's head tied in such a loop could unravel from the ring.  The ring isn't heavy enough to load the knot reliably, especially when jostled. 

Most examples of multi-loop knots have the loops facing the same direction.  In this application, one will face downward towards the ring and the other will face upward towards the neck.  The Spanish Bowline has loops in opposite directions, but the knot can slide.  The Triple Crown has loops that face away from each other at 120 degrees.  While that isn't ideal, it's closer to what I'm looking for, and appears to be a very compact knot.

I think I'll try some rethreaded knots, lanyard/MW knots, and double loop knots and see what works out best.  If I end up using a breakaway device, I'll definitely try the compact and elegant ABOK 1063.  Thanks again for all the ideas!

[roo]

  I put a bight of the loop through the ring and make a lark's head.  The problem is that the lark's head can unravel in such a way that the ring will slip right off, even while cord is around my neck. 

It seems like this is the central issue.  If I had to read your mind, it seems like you might want something quick to attach and detach like the lark's head, but that is more stable.  A Bull Hitch seems like something you'd like.

[SS369]

I just fiddled around with some 1.4 mm cord and tied what Roo suggested, the bull hitch, and I tied it again adding an extra go around. I agree with him on the use of this if you are considering a fixed sling (?) for the lanyard.
The bull hitch resisted coming undone and came undone easy enough to remove my ring and is very easy to tie. Very compact too and looks "decorative..

SS

[aknotter]

Try ABOK#789.  Take a long piece of cord and make the neck loop the size you want. Then strongly seize the cord.  Make the small loop for the ring, and again
strongly seize it in the same place as the other seizing.  With one of the ends, tie a 3 lead 4 bight turks head (single or double).  Very simple and easy to tie, and I think it looks nice. [It looks like a diamond knot with a loop formed at each side of the diamond.]

[skyout]

Bud's tutorial for the Knife lanyard single and double has two loops.
http://khww.net/articles.php?article_id=57

[aknotter]

That is exactly what I'm talking about.  It is tied differently from Ashley's, but the results look the same.

[SaltyCracker]

Way to make a break-away in neck loop. Adjustable and works for me.
Two scaffold knots ABoK #1120 with the loop of one tucked into the noose of the other and the noose drawn up tightly around the tip of the loop.

The loop end is used because if just the end of a line in the noose the burred end caused by fusing hangs up.