No
That phone cord that could stretch and get longer is, to me, both questionable and unnecessary. You have plenty of good ideas here that are cheaper and probably safer. (I don't at all like that phone cord thing for a paddle-leash either.)
By the way, if you love clips you can purchase just the clip from good outfitters and some places online, then tie off a cord to your preferred length from the PFD.
Whistle
I have one on the zipper (it should NOT be there because it does tent to work the zipper down:) And one on a thin Bungee in my pocket. That bungee is designed to break if I haul hard or get it hooked.
I have another whistle on my dry suit collar.
All Fox 40’s and I loose the odd whistle.
Coast Guard, the RCMP, the Office of Boating Safety and the off supplier give these whistles out as promo stuff.
They only sost $4.00 Cdn. anyway.
But Thanks CCG, OBS, and RCMP.
Get a lanyard
And loop it around the shoulder of your pfd so that it hangs in front. Whistle goes on the clip part.
As it moves to around your neck…
Doesn't sound good if I am understanding it right.
I have a storm whistle
so it is kinda big. I would’ve gone with a fox 40, but since I already had a storm, I figure I’ll keep it. I’ll try a thin cord around a buckle or shoulder strap (not on the zipper).
thanks for all the suggestions!
I use the retractable lanyard from
a tackle shop, maybe it was Gander Mountain. Probably have to replace it every five years or so.
I have it pinned inside a PFD pocket and have a spare car key attached to it.
SYOTW
Randy
Zipper problems
I caught my zipper-mounted whistle on a perimeter line while heaving up onto the back deck during rescue practice a few years back - it unzipped my pfd all the way open, and it essentially came off, not good.
Since then I’ve got a new pfd with buckles in addition to the zipper and moved the whistle to a light lanyard tucked inside the top of a pocket. Works well, but the retractable thingy for fishing vests sounds like a good idea.
Something like this?
Is this what you were talking about?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FASO52
zipper safety
My zippered PFDs have a little loop of bungee at the top that you tuck the zipper pull down into. That prevents them from getting pulled down when you drag yourself up on deck.
Not sure how universal it is, but I’ve got it on MTI and Stohlquist vests.
As for the whistle, I can’t imagine paying $25 for whistle lanyard. I’d recommend simply tying a 10" piece of cord or light bungie on it, and tucking it in your vest pocket. I’ve got lash tabs in my PFD pockets, and I just loop gear on those to keep them accessible but secure. If it only reaches your chin it can’t strangle you, so no worries about that.
Another good place to tuck a whistle is inside the shoulder loops that some vests have enclosing the shoulder straps. Tie a very short cord on it, and stuff it up in that little tunnel.
badge clip
We have these retractable badge clips that they gave us with our security badges that work great for this application. Not sure where you buy them though.
staples
You can find these at staples or other office supply store, but they’ll rust in salt water, and I don’t think I’d trust them with a piece of safety equipment I didn’t want popping off unexpectedly.
Whistle on bungie cord
Marine supply store. Bungie cord @ 59 cents/ft.
Works for me.
most places that require
their employees to wear ID badges, you will always find some who are hanging their car-key from a retractable lanyard.
Hardware stores sell the heavy-duty ones for keys. I use that for my Multi-Tool.
But if you go to an office supplu store, you will find smaller versions for offices.
I hang my whistle from that smaller retractable lanyard.
sure
if you want to spend $23 for soemthing that can be done as well for $2.
plastic pony tail holders (really)
What the heck - no one mentioned this as an option, so I’ll share what I and several in my area do!
I use the small clear pony tail holders (Goody’s “ouchless” but there’s probably many brands/styles). These are small plastic/elastic looking clear loops, about 1 inch diameter. I loop a few together to attach the whistle to the shoulder webbing on my pfd. They are a little elastic, so I think with just using 2 looped together my whistle can easily reach my mouth from where it’s on the pfd shoulder, but doesn’t dangle very far either.
The reason for using this as opposed to something like say para-cord, etc. is that with a really good hard yank, these elastic loops will break. Sea kayakers probably don’t worry so much about snag potential, but I mostly paddle whitewater, and so this way if I swim and my whistle gets snagged on something enough to cause me trouble, the elastic will break before I’m stuck. It actually takes an amazing amount of force to break even just thin diameter para-cord, so it’s a bit of a safety thing. Might be overkill safety wise…but it actually makes a very cheap and handy way to attach the whistle anyway!!!
PS - my whistle has been on the same vest for 3+ years this way and is holding strong, although the clear plastic has become yellowed. Since I think I got 50 pony tail loops for about 50 cents, maybe I’ll just go ahead and put fresh loops on there soon!
Cheers
awesome idea!
I had never considered that!
Thanks!
Simple, Cheap, Effective
Take 18-inches or so of nylon gros-grain tape (or a similarly-long nylon shoe-lace).
Pass a small loop through the whistle’s ring and sew it shut with needle and thread.
Sew the other end of the line to just inside of your zippered PFD pocket (assuming you have one.)
Fini.
It is out of the way, always in your pocket when you want it, has just enough length to reach your mouth, cannot be lost, and will not strangle you.
Works for me.
NOT TO A ZIPPER
It can catch on the deck during re-entries and unzip your pfd
whistle location
My pfd has buckles in the front. My whistle is attached to the top buckle.
Emergency Whistle Side Release Buckle
Bought this nifty little guy from seattle fabrics. It’s like a regular side release buckle, but part of ti is a very low profile emergency whistle, I slipped it on the 1" webbing coming down from my shoulder strap. you can find them online.