Lanyards on revolvers -- what good are they?

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Cal44

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There was another thread about lanyard pins this morning.

Made me think about the subject, and I'm wonder when (or if) people here actually use a lanyard on a handgun.

I pocket carry and can't see having a lanyard on my pocket gun. If anything, it would get in the way of getting the gun out of the pocket quickly.

Or, if it was dangling from my pocket and belt it might snag on something pulling the gun out of the pocket when I didn't intend to.

Are they used on belt holsters?

Or they leftovers from the M17 WWI days and no longer used.

I can sort of see them in combat in the WWI era where your rifle is your primary weapon, and you are running and jumping into trenches or fox holes and might lose your M17.
 
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Was watching one of the"reality" prison shows on the tube and they showed a officer in a catwalk above the cells. He had a revolver with a lanyard on it. No way should a holstered revolver ever fall, but I suppose if he was playing with it and dropped it. at least it would not drop into the cell area!

That is a guess on my part but as the late Mr Spock might say its logical!
 
NYlakesider said:
Was watching one of the"reality" prison shows on the tube and they showed a officer in a catwalk above the cells. He had a revolver with a lanyard on it. No way should a holstered revolver ever fall, but I suppose if he was playing with it and dropped it. at least it would not drop into the cell area!

That is a guess on my part but as the late Mr Spock might say its logical!
Click to expand...
Guards carrying guns? Inside? That's new!
 
When I was stationed in Alaska, we used lanyards to preclude loss of a 1911A1
and other items of equipment in deep snow. :cool:

edit to add:
Just noticed you said revolvers. The female MP's used .38 special revolvers as did our chopper crews. All used lanyards.
 
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My 340 M&P has a lanyard loop, and I actually pull the pin out (keep it in the factory case) when I got it.

Why pull the pin? I just don't like an chance of the pin getting snagged on something (although, that is, admittedly...slim chance)
 
When I was in the reserves and was issued my M1911A1, I allways used the laynard ring. Last thing I wanted to do was to lose a weapon!

There were times when I would use a "dummy cord" to secure my M16 to my person. Never wanted it liberated during the night when I was sleeping.
 
Afternoon Cal44;

Lanyards are great additions when gun fighting from horseback (OK that doesn't seem to come up very often any more)

One place I have personally used a lanyard in the past is when carrying or shooting from a boat. One slip of the gun & it can fall into the water never to be seen or heard from again. Even if the gun doesn't slip from hand if a personal falls overboard the gun could be gone.
 
Long ago and far away, my nights were spent with a cut-down S&W 1917 attached to me by a short wrist lanyard. It was a time and place where if something woke you up, you wanted a gun in your hand RIGHT NOW. Some people have asked me, "Wasn't that DANGEROUS?" My answer, "That was sort of the point."
 
wolverine said:
Afternoon Cal44;

One place I have personally used a lanyard in the past is when carrying or shooting from a boat. One slip of the gun & it can fall into the water never to be seen or heard from again. Even if the gun doesn't slip from hand if a personal falls overboard the gun could be gone.
Click to expand...

This is good advice because I've read about an extraordinary number of boating accidents here on S&W Forum.
 
When I was in Iraq and Afghanistan we were required to use them. One time one of my men loaned his beretta to another trooper going out on a mission - did not bother with the lanyard and sure enough after extracting a vehicle out of deep heavy mud ( it did rain there at times!) he returned to base to find the pitot missing! Went back to the area and a local kid showed up asked "mista you looking for this?
 
I could imagine that a lanyard could be beneficial to a motorcyclist or police officer on a motorcycle. If involved in an auto accident, the chances of retaining the weapon would be vastly improved.
 
We always used them in Army aviation. I crew member came walking up to me one time and his revolver was hanging by the lanyard dangling by his knees. His mod10 fell out of his holster and he did not know. The lanyard was hooked to his vest.
 
A very well known firearms instructor/training institute owner was known to advocate the use of a lanyard ring and a nylon cord on the primary personal handgun anytime the owner was sleeping in an otherwise unsecured spot, i.e. motel, hotel, campsite or some other impromptu place. He advised his students to place their Colt M 1911 under the pillow and tie the lanyard to their strong hand wrist. Even under extreme measures it wouldn't take too long to get the handgun into the shooting hand.

My father-in-law was an actual horseman in the U.S.Army Cavalry. He didn't much care for horses, but since I raised and trained horses we spent many a hour talking about Cavalry training and the Army's horse equipment. He said the lanyard went around the cavalryman's neck down thru two loaded magazines and then to the Colt M 1911. He said on a horseback charge situation if you couldn't get your empty Colt back into the holster you just let it dangle and then went to your saber. Interesting times.
 
I use them when riding my ATV and sometimes when hunting. I almost lost a Model 66 once while bear hunting in thick laurel underbrush. The 66 was a backup side arm in an old Uncle Mike's holster. The belt strap on the back of the holster broke when I got hung up and the sound of it falling on dry leaves was almost unnoticed. Now my hunting side arms wear neon green grips and sometimes use lanyards.
 
Another use would be on a model 317 or similar (the one with the little pin on the bottom rear corner of the grip frame, secured by the grip panels), to carry it around your neck. Can't say I've tried this...
 
I do believe the most obvious use of the lanyard is with the RCMP. The white lanyard around the neck and running down to the holster is stark contrast with the bright red coat.

rcmp-regina-saskatchewan.jpg
 
I can see the utility of a lanyard on a revolver when hiking, fishing, riding, biking, boating, snow machining, etc.

I remember people using retractable lanyards for military sidearms... a quick internet search came up with a couple of pretty functional retractable lanyards available to secure pistols to vests, webbing, belts, etc. Retractable lanyards make sense because there of less chance of becoming snagged on something...

Sidearm Retracting Tether

Retractable tethers could be useful for other items of equipment besides a revolver... camera, cell phone, knife, multi-tool, handheld radio, flashlight, key ring, etc. One company even sells tethers built into holsters for a variety of tools and equipment items...

http://www.t-reignoutdoor.com/collections/all-products

(I'm not endorsing these particular products -- I just found them on the interweb -- there are probably lots of other brands, too)
 
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