Lanyard on a Handgun

lanyard, yes

I use a lanyard when waltzing about in the boonies with my G20, and occasionally my G17 (if I carry it) when doing same. The Glock pistols have a convenient hole in the butt to use as an attachment point. I have a USGI style M9 (?) flap holster, but the lanyard is further comfort. I putt about on an ATV more than ever these days and stuff can get snatched easily from you or your ride.

I started thinking about lanyards when taking the G20 deer hunting from a climbing treestand. I've never dropped a firearm or bow from a stand, but I've dropped about everything else. Some stuff can be retrieved using a hook formed from a fish snap stringer (very handy), but some of the stuff either stays down, or you climb back down (then up) to get it. A real pain.

There are commercial lanyards available, but I made my own. Took about a 4-1/2 ft length of paracord, and a common dog snap. Tied the cord into a loop, end to end, then tied a loop using a simple overhand knot at the mid point, , to which I fitted the small ring end of the dog snap. More complicated than it sounds.
The dog snap fits through the hole in the butt of the Glock. I wear the lanyard by putting my head/shoulders through the loop, and allowing the cord to fall across my back and chest diagonally. The cord rides across my body much like an ammo bandoleer. There is enough slack in the cord to allow a draw and presentation without a hassle. I have also experimented with the cord , and tensioning the pistol with cord in a braced sitting position across my knees, and also kneeling with my walking staff. Works pretty good.

Lanyards on pistols are still common in the military. Watch a few SEAL or Spec Forces videos with handguns, you will see the commercial phone cord type lanyards.
 
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The SIG P series have an attachment point for a lanyard on their butt as well. One of our guys had fitted a small split ring on the butt, and to that had attached a commercial lanyard.

Stuff happens. I've never lost a pistol in the boonies. But I lost 1 set of handcuffs, and one P220 mag, (separate episodes) both of which somehow got popped out of a flapped pouch on a duty rig, while busting brush and marking boundary. When I came up with the paracord lanyard, I started using it on my issue P220 pistol when busting brush. In addition, I've lost a decent Spyderco Endura , clipped to the interior of my front pocket, snatched by brush. I also lost a Gerber LST which had about a 6" length of paracord looped through the grip. The LST was deep in my rear pocket, with about an inch of the loop sticking out the top. Brush snatched that too. You get hot, tired, pre-occupied, and back at the truck........it's not there.

I found the loaded P220 mag........the rest of the stuff was gone. If you're everin AR and see a deer with a Gerber knife on a loop, a Spyderco serrated knife, or a set of handcuff's in the central TN/AL boundary area, their mine.
 
My CZ52 came with one. I messed with it for a day, but it seemed like a major snag hazard. But the design was a little screwy. It was kind of like a really awful and short dog leash, with a hand sized loop closed with a single staple on one end, and a cheesy keychain snap on the other.

I tried it attached to a shoulder epaulet, as well as my belt. I think if I were going to use it, I'd either attach it to my belt or holster, and stuff as much of it into my holster as I could. That's probably wrong, though.

If I were concerned about retention, I'd be happy with the leather full flap holster that came with it. Seems quite secure.
 
T.O'heir says around the shoulder like TUCO (Eli Wallach) in "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" :) just snatched the lanyard off the wall looped it through the ring and over his shoulder!

No need for a holster, eh?... he sure was a good shot, though :)
 
It is interesting that most use a lanyard so that the gun won't be "snagged" out of the holster, but why isn't the lanyard itself going to snag?
I mean, you'd still have the gun, dragging on the end of the lanyard, but if you are out in the snaggy sticks, wouldn't a "chest holster" keep the gun out of harm's way?
I've seen a few holsters marketed specifically to fishermen and Alaskans, but the old M3 military shoulder holster would work as well.

There's a fairly common pic of a WWI "raiding party", with their M1911s lanyarded (see, lanyard is a verb!) to their epaulets, even to the buttons on their shirts.
The M1917 lanyard is not long enough to wear diagonally from one shoulder to the opposite armpit, as was the WWII-era Hickok lanyard, so the '17 had to be attached somewhere on the gun side.
 
I would not remove a lanyard ring if the gun came with one......I don't use one now but if I was outside a lot, on a boat, or in the woods, or.......if artillery or mortar attack was expected, I'd use one then.
 
equipment

Not about leaving the handgun behind, but it not being there when you need it!
And if your're carrying a carbine, maybe a SAW or LMG, and need your handgun, you probably REALLY need it.
 
At times in the service of Uncle Sam I toted a M9 in a flap holster and used a lanyard. We had two lanyard options.

This first was the issue lanyard, a loop of cord with a couple stays and a metal snap hook on one end. Like this:
3760259_02_wtb_9mm_beretta_m9_or_92fs_or__640.jpg


Weapon's lanyard loop got the snappy bit, the other end attached to the web belt.

The other sort was constructed out of 550 cord. One end of the cord had a bowline, and this was used as a sort of slip knot around the web belt. Other end was attached to the lanyard loop and knotted securely. The body of the line was not some fancy braid of 550 cord art, just line.

I never even wanted to use the issue lanyard. I did not trust the snap hook or swivel not to fail when put to the test. 550 cord can fail, but I know what that would take for a single jerk. The 550 cord also could wear, usually near/about the lanyard loop. Not a biggie. That end gets cut/burned off and re-tied because I made the lanyard about 6 inched too long, which allowed for that. Or a complete replacement was cheap, too.

Snagging was an issue, but largely mitigated with some forethought. The issue flap holster was generously proportioned. If you attached your lanyard to you belt immediately in front of the holster, you could make a small coil of the lanyard and it was stuffed into the inner (closer to body) side inside the holster along with the M9. There was very little of the lanyard exposed to be snagged, and what there was, was against or facing your body. Nowadays, with a snug/boned holster, I would coil the lanyard and stuff it down my pants a bit. Or in my front or back pocket.

I much prefer a holster with a thumb snap and miss the lanyard when in the woods. I really ought to look into getting one for my woods carry pistols.

I would not use one of those coiled lanyards.
 
If you attached your lanyard to you belt immediately in front of the holster, you could make a small coil of the lanyard and it was stuffed into the inner (closer to body) side inside the holster along with the M9.
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Ever have an issue with grabbing the lanyard along with the gun?
The times I've used a lanyard, I attached it to the belt behind the holster, so there was "no chance" (never say never) that the lanyard would be riding against the grip frame where it could end up between gun and hand.

Stuffing the lanyard into the holster, or the belt, does seem like a better idea than trailing a phone cord behind the gun wherever you go.
 
Take this story for the possible urban legend it just might be. Some of my friends have been known to occasionally embellish.

A new 2nd lieutenant checked out a 1911 .45 ACP for duty as the unit payroll officer. When the armorer handed it over it had a long lanyard attached. The 2LT put the pistol in his holster attached the lanyard to his belt and was quite displeased at the untidy amount of lanyard hanging down. He adjusted the lanyard so it hung precisely down to the bottom edge of the holster. The armorer was about to say something when the Captain arrived and took in the situation.

“Looks like you're ready to guard that payroll LT,” he supposedly said. “Let’s see your firing stance.”

The 2LT quickly drew the pistol and after a foot of travel toward eye level the shortened lanyard snatched the .45 right out his hand. Lucky for him the lanyard was so short the pistol didn’t hit the ground but just swung around at about knee level height.

The Captain let the moment drag on for a bit and then said to the armorer, “I think I made the right decision going with direct deposit,” and left the room without another word to the LT.
 
A new 2nd lieutenant checked out a 1911 .45 ACP for duty as the unit payroll officer. When the armorer handed it over it had a long lanyard attached. The 2LT put the pistol in his holster attached the lanyard to his belt and was quite displeased at the untidy amount of lanyard hanging down. He adjusted the lanyard so it hung precisely down to the bottom edge of the holster. The armorer was about to say something when the Captain arrived and took in the situation.

“Looks like you're ready to guard that payroll LT,” he supposedly said. “Let’s see your firing stance.”

The 2LT quickly drew the pistol and after a foot of travel toward eye level the shortened lanyard snatched the .45 right out his hand. Lucky for him the lanyard was so short the pistol didn’t hit the ground but just swung around at about knee level height.

The Captain let the moment drag on for a bit and then said to the armorer, “I think I made the right decision going with direct deposit,” and left the room without another word to the LT.
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Yep, dats wut I'm talking about ... The classic Wannabe-Commando moment. :rolleyes:
 
I never even wanted to use the issue lanyard. I did not trust the snap hook or swivel not to fail when put to the test.
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That's interesting. The keychain snap and single-stapled loop of my CZ52 lanyard are even wimpier.

I wonder if the flimsiness is actually a feature. Do you think it could be intended as a breakaway safety feature? I'm pretty sure it would fail real quick if a significant portion of my body weight was hung from it.
 
Had one attached to the Beretta I carried while in the Navy. Never thought about attaching one to my CCW's. If I lived in an open carry state(and decided to carry that way), I'd consider it.
 
RickB said:
Ever have an issue with grabbing the lanyard along with the gun?
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Nope.

By the nature of the gear, a draw from a secured flap holster is deliberate. And pretty slow. We're not talking quick draw in IDPA or IPSC. I practiced for proficiency, but it is still a slow movement relative to IPSC and IDPA draws.

Oh, I am sure it could happen, but when the draw "stroke" is several discrete actions with a flap holster, what is one more thought "keep my thumb along the butt/grip to push out lanyard line."

And if it did, not a big whoop. The lanyard was long enough that I could get a grip & operate the weapon even if my hand had captured some lanyard between hand & weapon. And if you got a bit of lanyard close to the anchor point, I bet the lanyard line would slip out from under your grip.

In any case, "in front of holster" does not mean under my belly button. From the side, the holster covered the anchor point from view. Anchor point was touching the holster-to-belt attachment hardware.

kozak6 said:
That's interesting. The keychain snap and single-stapled loop of my CZ52 lanyard are even wimpier.

I wonder if the flimsiness is actually a feature. Do you think it could be intended as a breakaway safety feature? I'm pretty sure it would fail real quick if a significant portion of my body weight was hung from it.
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Not a feature in my eyes, safety or otherwise. Just because it is USGI doesn't mean it is not a POS.

I had instilled in me a morbid dread of losing my weapon. "Breakaway safety feature" my olive-drab fourth point of contact, which (along with the rest of me) is going along with my weapon. Its a package deal.

Another wrinkle is airborne operations. Anything loose & floppy in the plane or while going out the door is a BAD THING. I want that shinola wired down tight. Secured inside the holster with the M9 was as secure as I could make it. And of the M9 did get loose, I did not want it falling down on top of the heads of my buddies, punching through their chutes, or suchlike.
 
That old issued lanyard worked well one way: ditch the first two retainers and wear it cross body, over the top of your weak side shoulder then snug the last retainer fairly close to the pistol. This only works when you are wearing zero gear for the landyard loop wrapped around your body to get hung up on ie: standing OOD/SDNCO/CDO or any of the other kind of duties that keep you up all night in garrison. This is retaining the pistol to your body, not the belt.

The only time I ever came close to drawing while OOD was when a raccoon jumped out of a dumpster in the general vicinity of way too close to me. Luckily my brain worked faster than my hand, the pistol stayed in its holster and I did not have to go through the agony of turning in 14 rounds instead of 15 at duty changeover the next morning, not to mention logging a dead raccoon into the logbook. That would not have ended well. At least not on Pendleton, maybe the LeJuene guys could get away with it.

I typically wore one of the telephone cord type ones when I was kitted up.
 
I have 1911 (Argentine clone)made in the 50's that has one and a Ruger 89 I purchased in the early 90's. My Argy 1911 looks to be a commercial product as their are no police or armed services markings on it. Perhaps it was made so for the gauchos? I think I had read somewhere that the Ruger was a contender for the Army 1911 switch over to the 9MM.
 
I did a stint in the MPs while in the Army, first with the 82nd, then after I came back from Vietnam with the 67th MP company, FT Devens MA, where of course the lanyard was part of the uniform.

When I got out of the Army I joined the AK NG, first in a Special Forces Company for 3 years then when it was disbanned I stayed on jump status with a Recon Unit. (Arctic light Recon).

I was also on the Anchorage Police Dept where we were required to carry off duty anywhere in the State so I carried my Model 28 Smith on guard drills. Even while jumping. I was worried about loosing my '28 after I stepped from the plane do I modified the grips so I could use a lanyard when jumping. I was a good idea because a couple times it was ripped out of the holster by the parachute harness.

On the ground I would disconnect the lanyard and stow it. If you're gonna jump out of an airplane with a hand gun I would sugest attaching a lanyard.
 
Some of the XM17 submissions had a lanyard ring even though one was not requested. Throughout the process I do not believe it was suggested one be added to the Sig submission. The first unit to receive the pistol was 101st Airborne and it doesn't seem to be a point of complaint. Special forces must have had some input. I have not seen anything about magazines having a ring. A quick google search provided no info or products related to attaching a lanyard to one.
Seems odd it would be omitted and no product developed if a lanyard is so important in modern combat.

I feel pretty comfortable upside down with a level two retention holster.
 
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