D0 you use a lanyard on your handgun...??? Have you ever used a "retractable" lanyard on a handgun...???

I use lanyards a lot when I am doing more rigorous.

Like ride ATVs Motorcycle rock climbing.

Never have used a retractable one.

I have a lanyard ring on my 2nd model S+W 44spl. + have had them on many 1917s. I recall the passage in Hemingways "For Whom The Bells Toll" where Robert Jordan carried his revolver with lanyard + the old man said "You know, some day someones going to strangle you with that."

quote:

Robert Jordan carried his revolver with lanyard + the old man said "You know, some day someones going to strangle you with that."

More useless old wife's tales.

I was showing a new lock back folding knife with a 3 inch blade to some fellow officers.

One said how would you like that stuffed where the sun doesn't shine.

I looked at him and said how many holes do want want in your lungs.

Same for the idiot who thinks he can strangle someone with the lanyard. While they hold a loaded handgun.

More bull shit by and author who needs words on a paper.

quote:

Originally posted by Alaskan Sourdough:
D0 you use a lanyard on your handgun...??? Have you ever used a "retractable" lanyard on a handgun...???

Now that I have the Freedom Arms 4 3/4" .475 LINEBAUGH ready to go to work, the lanyard will keep it from getting very far away.

When my Bowen .45 Colt goes afield with me (especially if I'm horseback), it's tied to me with a lanyard.

quote:

Originally posted by 218 Bee:
When my Bowen .45 Colt goes afield with me (especially if I'm horseback), it's tied to me with a lanyard.

And the reason is?

[/QUOTE]

And the reason is?[/QUOTE]

Gravity.

In fifty-some-odd years afield, I've never lost control of a handgun (either from my hand or from a holster) but there's always a first time, I reckon. Should that revolver ever come loose from either me or that holster, that lanyard will help keep it (and those Roy Fishpaw French Walnut stocks!) from the dirt and rocks.

"Belt and suspenders" overkill? You bet.

Besides, it'll give somebody something to strangle me with. I like the idea of getting the opportunity to shoot at somebody that read Hemingway...

Mark

Nice set up. On some of my rigs I like the flap holster. I like the idea of the lanyard, but haven't put any together yet...hope I don't wait too long! There's times on water and snow I think if I dropped something it'd be gone forever.

quote:

Originally posted by rcraig:

quote:

Originally posted by 218 Bee:
When my Bowen .45 Colt goes afield with me (especially if I'm horseback), it's tied to me with a lanyard.

And the reason is?

I don't like when I cry, or get real pissed at myself. Loosing a $3,000.00 plus handgun would damage the quality of my day.

quote:

Originally posted by Alaskan Sourdough:

quote:

Originally posted by rcraig:

quote:

Originally posted by 218 Bee:
When my Bowen .45 Colt goes afield with me (especially if I'm horseback), it's tied to me with a lanyard.

And the reason is?

I don't like when I cry, or get real pissed at myself. Loosing a $3,000.00 plus handgun would damage the quality of my day.

Exactly. I see the utility. However, as I get older, I need more things tethered to me; sun glasses, readers (mostly in my pocket), binocs. Still, that’s a beautiful gun that warrants the lanyard. Was that an option you requested for being horseback a bit? I suppose Bowen will do whatever is wanted.

quote:

Exactly. I see the utility. However, as I get older, I need more things tethered to me; sun glasses, readers (mostly in my pocket), binocs. Still, that’s a beautiful gun that warrants the lanyard. Was that an option you requested for being horseback a bit? I suppose Bowen will do whatever is wanted.

Isn't that the truth.

Even losing a few hundred dollar handgun is a PITA.

I was hunting with fellow poster.

We spent half an hour looking for his Zeiss binoculars. After they came out of his case on a stalk.

After wards we hooked up his attachment straps that came with the case.

quote:

Originally posted by DCS Member:

quote:

Originally posted by Alaskan Sourdough:

quote:

Originally posted by rcraig:

quote:

Originally posted by 218 Bee:
When my Bowen .45 Colt goes afield with me (especially if I'm horseback), it's tied to me with a lanyard.

And the reason is?

I don't like when I cry, or get real pissed at myself. Loosing a $3,000.00 plus handgun would damage the quality of my day.

Exactly. I see the utility. However, as I get older, I need more things tethered to me; sun glasses, readers (mostly in my pocket), binocs. Still, that’s a beautiful gun that warrants the lanyard. Was that an option you requested for being horseback a bit? I suppose Bowen will do whatever is wanted.

Marcus,

Yes, I asked Bowen to install the lanyard ring as part of the conversion work on this revolver and my being horseback with it was certainly going to be a possibility. Bowen still offers various rings today (link attached) https://parts.bowenclassicarms...n_page=index&cPath=7

Mark

I've a friend with an SRH Alaskan in 44 Mag. Being a short barrel and he has had knee and shoulder surgeries I wonder if it would be a good thing to be on his SRH. He likes to fish and I am thinking if your foot catches a rock walking up or down the pond bank the gun may go in its own direction. I would like to install one on his gun for him if he would take it as a gift from a friend. I would install one on my own SRH first to get the initial experience. Be Well, Packy.

I braided some high tec fish line and just looped and tied it around the frame. So the loop came out the bottom of the grips.

By about a half of inch.

The fish line was 30lb test 3 strands braid gives 90lbs plenty to hold a handgun.

There was an article in one of the gun magazines many years ago about handgun lanyards used to stabilize two hand shooting. Looped around your neck and extended out at the proper length so you could push against the lanyard.

Supposededly it helped with accuracy.

Hey Mike,

I did what you describe when I was handgun hunting exclusively back in the 80s. A single big loop of parachute cord, with my neck on one end and my shooting thumb stuck through the other...so that it rested in the web of my hand and between it and the backstrap. It worked well enough I guess, but it always seemed as just another thing to have to manage when it was time to shoot! If memory serves, the late Bob Milek used the method from time to time.

While I've never tried it, I can't see using a "security" lanyard like mine pictured above as being very helpful to shooting as the line of tension is so much lower than the line of bore. But, as I say, I haven't tried it...heck, it might be wonderful!

Mark

I recall seeing an old photo of some of Pershing's troops on horseback in Mexico after Villa that were festooned by scores of 1911 mags. hanging by their lanyards. Don't you just know that made reloading on horseback a breeze after revolvers?

quote:

Originally posted by NormanConquest:
I recall seeing an old photo of some of Pershing's troops on horseback in Mexico after Villa that were festooned by scores of 1911 mags. hanging by their lanyards. Don't you just know that made reloading on horseback a breeze after revolvers?

Magazines have become some what a disposable item over the years.

That is why one has to have a lot of them.


Especially for a defensive/combat arm.

I hadn't noticed the mags hanging. Now I will look. The wife would say, "How did you miss that Mr Awareness?" I usually tell her about those things I see. Movies or otherwise. Be
Well, Packy.

Packy, oh how I can relate! I used to be the worlds worst movie commentator to an uninterested audience. Hey, they didn't make that revolver until 1917, or they didn't make that rifle until 1873, etc., ad nauseum. Most folks don't care so I don't say anything now (even when I know they're wrong)

quote:

Originally posted by NormanConquest:
Packy, oh how I can relate! I used to be the worlds worst movie commentator to an uninterested audience. Hey, they didn't make that revolver until 1917, or they didn't make that rifle until 1873, etc., ad nauseum. Most folks don't care so I don't say anything now (even when I know they're wrong)

Went to see some early 1970 biker movie with my then collage girl friend.

She got mad at me with my commentary. She didn't like the fact when I said the whole thing would be over.

With less then one mag full.

It is a waste of breath! Be Well, Packy.

Not only will one save getting a fine gun lost
or banged up.
How about the safety potential of one that don't have the Ruger safely plate under the hammer.

Drop one on the hammer and pop a cap it might blow holes in your legs, ass or head. Back in '99 elk hunting it was dry and no elk so I came home. A few days later I read of a guy in the same area stepped out of his truck and dropped his gun, it went off and killed him.

I took a friend & his son to the range as he was headed to Korea for years. Only had a cheap Comanche. Unloading it he dropped it on the hammer and broke the spur off.

Right then he said: "I was just going to say I'd sell you this gun for $200, now the hammers broken if you want it for $125 ---"

I paid him and had the gunsmith put a steel S&W hammer on it for $20. Drove to Dad's and his friend saw it and insisted I sell it to him. $200. I never shot it with the new hammer. Just maybe that twine would have kept it off the ground.

I don't have one on any of my guns, never dropped one so far either.

George

My primary motivation is that in a Bear Mauling, the victim is shaken violently like a ragdoll, and one of the first things to go away from the victim is any firearm. Next is generally one or both boots. Often the bear breaks off the attack when it feels the victim is subdued. But the bear will often just go a short distance and watch. If the victim moves the bear attacks again. It is often reported by survivors they were attacked repeatedly, each time then tried to reach their firearm. Often they can see the bear watching them, they can also see their firearm, which is well out of reach. Enter the value of a lanyard.

I was never enrolled in the value of lanyards, till I had a large Brown Bear on top of me down at "Wide Bay" on the Alaska Peninsula. You suddenly realize how massive they are when you are helpless beneath them. Then last fall my friend and neighbor of 22 years was mauled to death and eaten by a Alaska Coastal Brown Bear in our backyard. That was the point where I felt I needed to make some changes in how I was going to continue living with those semi-predictable monsters. I upsized my everyday carry hand cannon to .475 LINEBAUGH, and installed retractable lanyard on it and four other hand cannons. Over the last 52 years, I have had to shoot a lot of bears, but have never had to shoot one with a handgun, I figure I have been very lucky.

Was this the case you are referring to.

Read more: https://www.ammoland.com/2020/...trail/#ixzz72r1rzEm5
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
Follow us: @Ammoland on Twitter | Ammoland on Facebook

On 29 July, 2020, Daniel Schilling went to clear trail about a mile from his cabin in Alaska. His dog returned home without him. His wife was very concerned. Searchers found his body, killed by a bear, where he was working. An empty can of bear spray, with the safety off, which had been discharged at the site, was also found.

https://www.ammoland.com/2020/...d%20Clearing%20Trail

YES......Dan was my friend and neighbor till his death. His wife still live here. He was a "master" hunter and extremely skilled Alaska outdoorsman. We have about 38 Grizzly Bears and about 51 Black Bears here in the area with eleven total residents (now). We are on the mouth of Six Mile Creek, with massive salmon runs.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
Was this the case you are referring to.

Read more: https://www.ammoland.com/2020/...trail/#ixzz72r1rzEm5
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
Follow us: @Ammoland on Twitter | Ammoland on Facebook

On 29 July, 2020, Daniel Schilling went to clear trail about a mile from his cabin in Alaska. His dog returned home without him. His wife was very concerned. Searchers found his body, killed by a bear, where he was working. An empty can of bear spray, with the safety off, which had been discharged at the site, was also found.

https://www.ammoland.com/2020/...d%20Clearing%20Trail

Do you have any idea why he took spray instead of a handgun that day?

I wonder how many people have been injured or died because of the myth.

That spray is better then a firearm.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
Do you have any idea why he took spray instead of a handgun that day?

I wonder how many people have been injured or died because of the myth.

That spray is better then a firearm.

I can never ever explain to people about why people who live that lifestyle make the decisions they do. People who don't live this lifestyle in this environment, "BUT" occasionally enter it, come with a different mindset. They "Come" prepared for danger, they "come" with some degree of focus on bear attack, because this is outside their "Everyday" reality. This is different then living immersed in living with a lot of bears, and still "having" to do the daily work and chores.

Here is one way to try and explain. I go to town (Anchorage, Alaska) once a year for supplies, generally the very end of October. That is "not" my immersion reality, so I spend days and weeks prepping to enter that reality, and the different risks. Those who live in Anchorage, Alaska and are immersed in that, have different assessment of the everyday risks. In Anchorage I have never seen a carpenter up on the roof setting rafters or roof trusses, wearing any firearm. I have never seen a vehicle mechanic working wearing a firearm, especially crawling under a vehicle. Never seen an "Iron Worker" erecting a steel bridge or office building wearing a firearm.

When a person is immersed in homestead life in the Alaska wilderness, they will often be wearing a firearm, but there are many chores and hard labors that make wearing a firearm a greater danger then "not" wearing one. If I am setting out for a day of logging for firewood, or clearing overgrown brush, I will typically start with all the tools I expect to need that day, and generally that will include a firearm. But as the day get going, the labor make the firearm and inconvenience, and a noticeable danger to free movement in the work environment. Typically I end up removing the firearm and leaving it next to the work tools. It is near but not on me. If I am reroofing the or repairing a building I will typically have a firearm but not wearing it.

Side note, I find the only place I can wear a hand gun is in my back pocket, when working, and that is far from perfect, but better then other options. I have many hand cannons, but 99% of the time I have a Glock 19X in the back pocket of my everyday wear Carhartt Logger Pants. Why......because it is out of the way, and not getting filled with sawdust, or woodchips, etc.. Is that perfect for bear encounters......hell no. But it is "light" and small and drops down into the back pocket. If I am going out to chase a bear out of the yard or away from the livestock.....sure I grab a hand cannon. You are constantly (unconsciously) assessing the risks and the tools needed to mitigate those risks. Yep sometimes you screw-up the assessment, which is "exactly" how I found myself underneath a large Alaska Coastal Brown Bear, at the hear of "Wide Bay", on the Alaska Peninsula.

Why did Dan Schilling only have a can of bear spray and not one of his hand cannons.....??? I don't know, I suspect he figured carrying "sharp" brush clearing tools, plus the bear spray, and have the dog along was a acceptable calculated risk assessment, and wearing a hand cannon would not likely be needed. Yes, it turned out he was wrong in his assessment. We will never know what happened. But to me, that the bear eat on him, after killing him, at "least" indicates this was "maybe" a predatory attack for food, and not a surprised the bear type encounter. My wild'ass guess is Dan was "working" hard at manual labor and focused on the clearing of brush, the dog was off chasing the scent trail of snowshoe hare or other game. And likely the bear stalked Dan from behind him, without his being aware of being stalked.

The more interesting question is......if your "FIRST" awareness that you are being killed by any animal, is "AFTER" you have been knocked down and are being mauled to death. It is very easy to sit in the living room and visualize how you will handle a charging bear attack (I don't have to visualize it, I've stopped many over the last 55 years) I giggle about guys on forums, talking about their "perfect" bear defense firearms, and how skilled thy are at operating them. Very few of my attacks have come from the front, or with much or "any" warning. Many of the bears I have had to shoot, the first shot, the muzzle was touching some part of the bear, and I was generally falling away from the attack and the recoil of the firearm.

My "Wide Bay" encounter was "NOT" even a true bear attack, it was a dominate and enforce submission encounter. But it happened in a second (maybe a second and a half) I had only time to assume the fully dominated, none challenging position, and in terror hold that position for twelve or fifteen minutes, knowing that the least movement my me would trigger a horrific death.

Thanks just looking for insight.

Interesting topic, but let me ask a question: Where is the other end of the lanyard?
Peter.

well, if one was in uniform then it would be under the epaulet; civilians sometimes wear it around their neck; thus my comment from "For Whom The Bells Toll" about Robert Jordan being informed that someday someone is going to choke you with that.

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
Interesting topic, but let me ask a question: Where is the other end of the lanyard?
Peter.

I attach it to my belt, out of the way for drawing the firearm. It is important to test that the length of the extended lanyard allows for full use of the firearm. I have five "retractable" lanyards with 52" reach.

218, that is a nice looking revolver!

quote:

My primary motivation is that in a Bear Mauling, the victim is shaken violently like a ragdoll, and one of the first things to go away from the victim is any firearm.

It's been a while, but I also recall reading that in the infamous Miami FBI shoutout in 86 one of the officers placed his revolver on the seat beside him after spotting the suspects, then was unable to find it under fire after their vehicles collided.

I've got lanyards on two pistol and only have one story where they would have been really really handy. 17 years ago I went on an overnight kayaking trip, about 15 miles of river then 30 miles of ocean. I took a stainless redhawk secured behind my seat. As it was a hot sunny day my dry suit was rolled up in the bow compartment (mistake 1). Just near the mouth I came around a bend and saw 7 musk ox on the bank. I popped the spray skirt and placed the ruger in my lap and paddled by uneventfully as they starred at me 20 yards away. I reholstered the gun (haphazardly, mistake 2), replaced the skirt and continued.

In the ocean I stayed about 200 yard off shore to avoid the surf zone. After about a mile I saw some sort of carcass on the beach but couldn't tell if it was a walrus (or what was left of one). I paddled in (mistake 3) to get a better look with the binos and got dumped by a wave about 50 yards from shore in about 4' of water. First thing I checked when I got the water filled boat upright was that the pistol was gone. Got everything to the beach and got a fire going and hung my clothes up on driftwood and warmed up. There were bear tracks everywhere around the rotting meat so I kept a constant lookout! After I got warm enough I waded into the surf and attempted to waddle in a vaguely systematic way until I was too cold. It took a few attempts but eventually I stepped on it, took a breath, and got it and then went back to huddle over the fire.

It already had enough sand in it that the cylinder would rotate a notch or two, then would want to bind, and I had no idea about the ammo. As soon as my clothes were dry I started repacking (this time wearing the dry suit!) to get away from the bait. During this I finally spotted a bear walking about 1 mile inland, and watched him change direction to head my way once he was directly down wind. I paddled well off shore and never looked back. I went 21 more miles before going back to land to camp.

After I got back I disassembled and rinsed and scrubbed the parts with dish soap and a toothbrush then left them in a pan of clean water for a day to try to dissolve any unseen salt. Scrubbed and rinsed again in very hot water followed by lots of WD40. Other than rebluing the rear sight that had rusted it was none the worse.

And then I closed the barn door and added a lanyard!

I can relate. In the early 70s I had a house out in the country + one evening I was late to work so I was hauling ass around this curve that went into a little one-lane bridge. My rear tires skidded, the car hit a bridge pilon on the passenger side, my head hit the windshield, passenger door flew open + my S+W revolver (+ lunch) that was sitting on the seat next to me went out the door + teetered on the edge of the bridge over the river. I GENTLY got out + picked it up + then walked to town with a bloody face to use someones phone (no cel phones then). I knew the wrecker driver so I called him 1st + he called the S.O. but he got there 1st, + even though I had not been drinking, there was a case of beer in the car so we loaded it into the wrecker just to save potential problems. When the deputy got there he noticed a plastic bag floating in the river + asked me what it was, to which I replied, "It WAS my lunch". I would have missed that revolver much more than the missing sandwich.

So, you guys have got me thinking.

How do I attach a lanyard to my S&W 629 wit Hogues on it? A picture anyone? All I see pictures of is old single action thumb busters. Nylon cord makes for a lanyard, but how-to?

quote:

Originally posted by swarf:
So, you guys have got me thinking.

How do I attach a lanyard to my S&W 629 wit Hogues on it? A picture anyone? All I see pictures of is old single action thumb busters. Nylon cord makes for a lanyard, but how-to?

Take some good Strout line wrap in around the bottom screw of the Hogues and tighten down

call Hogue. They have a lanyard stud that replaces the grip screw. You have to call them it is not shown on their website.

quote:

Originally posted by paul105:
call Hogue. They have a lanyard stud that replaces the grip screw. You have to call them it is not shown on their website.

Good to know

Thanks Paul. That is a great idea. Be Well. Packy.