*Lanyards For Small Items*
By: GVI
30 August 2022

If you're anything like me (God help you!), you have the belief that if an artifact has the potential for a capability, then it must utilize that capability. For example, if any of my rifles can accept a bayonet, I feel obligated to put a bayonet on it. Never mind that I have no legitimate use for a bayonet on the end of my Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle-Musket - it can accept a bayonet, therefore it must have one.

So it is with anything capable of accepting a lanyard for me. The problem with lanyards as we typically think of them is that we often put them around our necks. Sometimes this is ideal but sometimes it's not.

I can't take credit for what I'm showing here, as I'm certain others have come up with the idea, but for small items that can take a lanyard, using a button seems to recommend itself.

Figure out what size button you're likeliest to need

If you put the button in like so and just let it slide into your pocket...

It stays out of the way of the button that closes the pocket.

To my thinking, this has the advantage of being "fail safe" in that should the lanyard get caught on, for example, a wayward branch, the absolute worst that will happen is a ripped pocket; whereas a lanyard around our necks could have worse consequences (think Isadora Duncan...).

Ask yourself - "Is it worth it?"

It's not for everything - and I'm sure the comments will list every possible place where it's NOT appropriate ("But GVI - what about anvils? What about post-hole diggers? What about my Lucky Elephant's Foot?! You need to start thinking these things through!") - but for small items that would logically go in a pocket anyway, it seems to make sense.

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