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Lanyard? Yes or No?


SoutheastCamper

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Hi, Everybody

My wife purchased a cache kit and it came with a lanyard. My question is "How many folks use it" and "What do you attach to it"  I'm curious as what you would do. 

I'm fairly new to caching and trying to figure what I might need. I've read all the ToTT blog posts and forum posts. I have ideas on what I would do, but?????????

Thx, Dan

 

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1 hour ago, niraD said:

At work, I wear my ID/access badge on a lanyard. When geocaching with a handheld GPS receiver, I usually have it on a lanyard. I never bother when I'm geocaching with a smartphone.

I have a rather large collection of lanyards from conferences/workshops/meetings over the years hanging on the wall in my office so I'd have plenty to choose from. I used to use a lanyard on the Garmin 76Cx I had but haven't used one for my Oregon 450.  The form factor for the 450 is small enough that it fits easily into a pocket.  I generally don't like lanyards on "heavier" items.   They just tend to bounce around a lot. 

One of the coolest swag items that I've every traded for was a lanyard from the Italian Forestry Service in a cache I found in Rome.  

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I always have my gps tethered securely to me because I like long country walks, and would hate to lose the GPS en route, plus I'd have dropped it off boats, down ditches and out of trees plenty of times without ...

However, I dislike hanging it  (or anything else) round my neck on a lanyard or cord, partly because I find it uncomfortable, partly as it dangles annoyingly when bending down to search for or retrieve a cache, and partly because a decade of martial arts training has left me leery of the unlikely but possibly very bad outcome of having it accidentally or maliciously tightened around my neck.

So, my gps goes in a trouser pocket, and has a short paracord lanyard which clips to another similar one which is attatched to my belt, with a carabiner linking the two sections so I can easily unclip the GPS if I need to.

Occasionally when the weather is really cold and I'm wearing bulkier clothes so it would be hard to get at my pocket, and I wouldn't want to keep taking my gloves off either,  I use a longer lanyard clipped to the shoulder strap of my rucsac, with the gps in an open mesh pocket on the side of the 'sac. Paracord lanyards are easy to make to precisely the length you require, there are thousands of 'how to' vids available, and leftover bits of cord can be used to make extras for very nice trade items .

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Similar to hal-an-tow's  similar background issues I guess.  Add in enough close calls with grabbing tree limbs, and the bang into everything when bending over,  that I didn't use it after the first couple days.  Didn't use the lanyard from the tiny blue legend either.

It stays in the swivel belt clip and button mount that came with it.   In cold weather, I clip it to the strap of my camera bag that stays under my jackets.

I have to wear a lanyard or zinger for ID at work, and my gun club now requires members to wear a lanyard with the ID/gate card to access the ranges.

We've seen some wear their Geocaching.com lanyards with IDs made for events, so they didn't have to walk around with a "Hello, I'm..." sticker that may stain their clothes. :)

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Yeah, it's intended to make it easier to carry your GPSr or whatever. It's one of those things that seems very useful, so that's why they put it in a getting started kit. For reasons similar to hal-an-tow, I wouldn't hang a GPSr around my neck, and another reason beyond what hal-an-tow mentioned is that I'd much rather carry my GPSr in my hand, and that's normally inconvenient if it's also hanging around my neck.

But speaking of hands, I'm thinking of the kind of lanyard that's only good for hanging around your neck. My GPSr is equipped with a lanyard-like string that can be tightened around my wrist, and I find that very convenient. You may be able to use your lanyard that way.

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9 minutes ago, dprovan said:

But speaking of hands, I'm thinking of the kind of lanyard that's only good for hanging around your neck. My GPSr is equipped with a lanyard-like string that can be tightened around my wrist, and I find that very convenient. You may be able to use your lanyard that way.

At least one of my lanyards came with a matching wrist strap. The device tether was attached to a small clip that could attach to either the lanyard or to the wrist strap, so it was easy to switch back and forth depending on your preference at the moment.

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I have a wrist lanyard made of 550 cord.  I had a neck lanyard for a very short time when I started, but got tired of the GPSr bumping around on my chest.  I don't hook it to my belt or anything, but I really should; it would probably do less to set off the touch screen than my current practice of sticking it in my caching bag or a cargo pocket.

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A lanyard is such a simple idea and god knows I need one.   Twice I've lost my gps while doing cache maintenance.  Once I left it on a rock and the other time it must have rolled out of my bag somehow.  Both times the next cacher found it and contacted me about it.      Regardless a lanyard would probably solve my problem.   

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2 hours ago, justintim1999 said:

A lanyard is such a simple idea and god knows I need one.   Twice I've lost my gps while doing cache maintenance.  Once I left it on a rock and the other time it must have rolled out of my bag somehow.  Both times the next cacher found it and contacted me about it.      Regardless a lanyard would probably solve my problem.   

Never used a lanyard myself but like you, would have been nice on a few of my exploits. I have a habit of laying the gpsr down when i find a cache which has resulted in me leaving it behind a few times. Betcha i've made at least 10 trips back to ground zero to recover. There were a couple of times that i left it, someone else found it, then contacted me. Luckily i had contact information on the unit.

I guess i'm hardheaded because i still don't use one but i would recommend it for sure if you're as forgetful as me.

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2 minutes ago, Mudfrog said:

Never used a lanyard myself but like you, would have been nice on a few of my exploits. I have a habit of laying the gpsr down when i find a cache which has resulted in me leaving it behind a few times. Betcha i've made at least 10 trips back to ground zero to recover. There were a couple of times that i left it, someone else found it, then contacted me. Luckily i had contact information on the unit.

I guess i'm hardheaded because i still don't use one but i would recommend it for sure if you're as forgetful as me.

Isn't it amazing how good most people are.:)

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I’ve learned from years of sailing that anything near the water will eventually end up in the water.  I tether everything from eyeglasses to binoculars (and even myself at night) when at sea.  I apply the same reasoning to my GPSr where I use an old boot lace threaded through the GPSr and a lanyard breakaway connector (repurposed from a lanyard received at the last Geobash event I attended) to prevent choking hazards.  Using a carabiner attached directly to a GPSr with a built in compass may cause deviation errors due to the steel spring.  All my shirts have breast pockets large enough to hold the GPSr but my body blocks half the sky and attenuates signal acquisition. I only hold the GPSr when on final approach to a waypoint where accuracy is important.  Once there, back into the pocket it goes.  The only problem with this technique is I have no excuses to buy a newer unit.

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Thx for your comments.

I noticed the other day, my wife had on a lanyard for her mini-multi tool and a pen. Then also had a bungee cord around her waist to stop it from flopping.

I ask her about it,  she said " I don't like these things in my pocket and I don't want to carry a purse." 

She does have point. I hate carrying a bag for urban caches, and my pockets are full. Hmmm!

Cache On!

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10 minutes ago, SoutheastCamper said:

Thx for your comments.

I noticed the other day, my wife had on a lanyard for her mini-multi tool and a pen. Then also had a bungee cord around her waist to stop it from flopping.

I ask her about it,  she said " I don't like these things in my pocket and I don't want to carry a purse." 

She does have point. I hate carrying a bag for urban caches, and my pockets are full. Hmmm!

Cache On!

My wife uses a lanyard mainly because ladies clothes rarely have pockets big enough to hold more than a few tissues.

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I started caching in 2007 using the Garmin 60 CSx.  I now own an Oregon 600 and 62 S.  I have always used the small lanyards, more like wrist straps, that came with the unit.  I sometimes attach another longer lanyard that are frequently given out at events to the wrist strap to tether the unit to my belt or life jacket especially when I am kayak caching.  It's saved my unit from going to the bottom more than once.  When I am not caching on the water I attach the unit to the belt clip that is attached to my pocket with the button clip on the unit.  I have noticed while holding the 60 or 62 in my hand with the antenna pointing forward that approaching muggles seem curious about what I am carrying in my hand since the antenna can resemble the barrel of a pistol from a distance.  The wrist strap and lanyard seem to help identify the GPSr as something that is not a firearm.  This might be a good time to mention the importance of putting your contact information on the start up page of the GPS.  Doing that enabled me to have my unit returned after I lost it near a kayak put-in.  There is some difference of opinion as to how much and what type of personal information should be placed on the page.  I put my name, address, cell number, and email.

woodlakekayak.jpg

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Lanyard, yes absolutely!  I have never left a GPSr at a cache, or dropped it out of a pocket on a trail, because it is always hanging around my neck. I don't do activities that would cause this to become a choking hazard, but if I did, it would be zipped inside a backpack or something.  If I'm on a long enough hike that it would become uncomfortable or annoying around my neck, I use a harness made for hunters to carry binoculars.  The lanyard also holds an emergency whistle.

I also have contact info on the start up page--Name, phone number, and email.

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I think a lot depends on the area you live in. If I used a lanyard and had my GPS dangling it would get torn up in no time like my pants do by briars and thorns as well as tree branches. We've always carried our units in a soft canvas carrier worn on our belts.....if my units not in my hand its in the case. As has been said if you sit something on the ground while you grab a cache oft times you will forget it.....I've gone back days later to retrieve a hiking stick or shoulder pack.

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