When I was done, I had a pretty beefy lanyard set-up for under $15.00.
I bought a retractable key reel like this and replaced the shiny silver split-ring with a black s-biner:




I velcroed the back and put a square of Velcro in my helmet:









Using the smallest split-ring I could find, passed it through the lanyard hole in the NVS housing. The s-biner hooks into it.











Yeah, it's homebrewed, but it's plenty stout to keep my NVD from hitting the ground. Those folks with bump helmets could likely forego the Velcro and clip the key-reel's clip through one of the ventilation holes on their helmet.
Here's a list of the parts:
$8.94 Keyback #6 Retractable Reel





















 

Let me see here, OP does not want to spend lets say $50 on a lanyard so he makes his own for $15
and now trusts a $3,000 NV device to the holding power of velcro

Actually, I attached a bag with 4 - 12 oz cans of coke to the lanyard, dropped it and the Velcro held well. The NVD weighs 12.3 ounces. It would take a 100' drop to pull the reel loose from the Velcro.



 

Nice to know the reel held together too. I have had a few DIY break when I test them by just pulling with a force that I think is reasonable. Edit: an Airsoft clone broke just about when it hit the reel limit.

I tend to agree here, $60 for the Wilcox makes it just above my "that's a good price" feeling. But that being said I have several.

I love home brewed solutions but I think a lanyard needs to be mechanical in nature. I'm glad your Velcro sticks today but will it one month or one year from now?

I think para cord thru your shroud (not mentioning should based retention) and your s-biner and I would think that is safer. That being said non of these save you when you just plain drop it removing it from the helmet lanyard. Lol

All this is being said in a friendly banter over beers tone.

Double tap

New to NV here but why the retractable lanyard and not just a short piece of cable?

In my fishing gear I have black steel leader cable, crimps/crimping tool, rings, etc that I've thought about using.

My PVS 14 came with a lanyard.

Also a few feet of 550 cord is a lot less than $15, but doesn't retract.

Tie downs are a pain in the ass. I don't feel the need to tie my NVGs down. If I'm not using it, I detach it from the helmet and secure it.

I believe the Wilcox reel needs a compatible shroud to fit. It doesn't appear to fit just any shroud or the universal shroud. That's another hundred bucks on top of the reel.

The Wilcox lanyard for VAS shroud is $55 on Amazon

Damn...I reckon I'll be getting one. I didn't think the fitment was right.

Dummy cords are for when you ARE using the device.  I agree about the simple 550 cord, and that is what I use.

My paracord home-brew.

After my PVS14 took a free fall as I was pulling off my mask I have been looping the 14's cord around the light that is
on the side of the helmet.

Look into 3M dual lock. Way better solution than Velcro where a simple method of detachment is required. It has ridiculous holding power.

I have a Wilcox lanyard on my nightcap. It's 90% overpriced, and no better than the cheap Chinese options. A 25cent price of 550 cord will make the strongest lanyard.

i'm not sure i'd trust velcro to hold it... I think the retention lanyard is fine though. If it is one of those key chain lanyards... just be careful because they extend pretty far, so if your NOD does fall, it may still smack into something.

I'm well versed in dummy cords... I still don't think I need one for my NVG.

Cost me like... $3.  And I'm pretty sure I got ripped off on the S-Biner, which I think I paid $2.89 for off the wall at MCS.  



~Augee

you must really love your cat to give it a $5,000 cat toy.

I've been looking at all of the different helmet lanyard, dumny cords, and neck cords for a few weeks, I was actually in the middle of working up a big post on the subject.

Since this is seemingly "the lanyard thread" I figure I will add my 2 cents here.

So, it seems that there are three different purposes for an NVG lanyard:

-The first, is to tether an NVG device to your helmet for the purposes of not dropping the NVG on the ground from head height. A secondary purpose here is going to be using the lanyard to take slop or wiggle away from the mounting interface.

-The second, is going to be to prevent the loss of NVG's while stowed in your gear - You don't want them falling to the ground, but you DEFINITELY don't want to loose them in a field somewhere.

-The third, is use as a neck cord so that you can walk around with the NVG's seperate from any helmet or head mount, go hands-free when you need to, pass them around with friends, and etc.

It seems that for our "first purpose" -helmet mounted NVG retention, the reel style lanyards offer a distinct advantage; they are relatively low profile, offer minimal opportunity for snags, give out whatever slack you might need to bring the PVS14 into your visual work-space, however, the reels do not maintain enough tension to take out slack in the mounts, nor do they allow for use in the second, or third purposes; you might need bungies, you will need a seperate neck cord, and also a seperate means of clipping in to your NVG stowage pouches.

The more basic Neck-cord is truthfully better at retaining NVG's in gear and for-hand held use, but can be tweaked into a useful helmet system, that can even be used to take out mount-induced wobble.

It is IMPORTANT to note however that if you are in an open vehicle, or navigating serious obstacles that neck cords can pose a neck breakong, strangulation or even decapitation hazard. Parachute cord is called "550 cord" for a reason - 550lbs of required break force. So if you are going to use P-cord for all of your tethering needs, you will want to build in some sort of break-point into your design.

What i've come up with so far:


You make a small loop of milspec shock cord, maybe 3" and then loop your gutted cord through that. Then, pass the parachute cord ends around either side of the friction bar, creating a loop. This loop is important for retention.

All of the 3/4 inch buckles I could find had a small lanyard hole in them. Push the Paracord through amd tie off in an overhand knot.

The shock cord or buckle should each break at well under 100lb's of force.



This demonstrates how to mount a 3/4" buckle to your helmet. You can use the suspension bolts, or the shroud bolts.

Where I stuff the extra neck cord:


So after all of this, you can use the male buckle side just like a cord loc, for adjusting the length of it all.

I'm looking at ordering up some barrel cord locs and passing the ends through the cord loc, tying each end into its own overhand knot, preventing the creation of a completely tied together loop of 550 cord which is what presents the greatest snag hazard.

You could shorten this whole assembly and put the neck cord on a seperate female side buckle if you don't like stuffing the excess.

Currently $15, has been less than $10 in the past year

T-Reign

And they even have accessories for it.

I think the t-reign is the best clip system. It is way easier than the Wilcox/surefire hook clip. I think anyone looking for a cheap retractable system they won't go wrong with the t-reign. I have one on my ops core base / pvs14 rig.

Could you post a pic? I'm interested in how/where it's mounted to the helmet. Thanks.

 

I have it mounted with a zip tie thru 2 of the vents. To further keep it in place I have a piece of Velcro. The zip tie keeps it secure, the Velcro keeps it in position.

I have the steel cable piece looped around the bolt on the j-arm.

You have no idea how spoiled she is...  

That cat tree that the $5,000 cat toy is hanging off of is as tall as I am, and we don't have a guest room - it's her room - and her queen sized bed.  Occasionally, she will deign to allow guests to borrow it.  

More to the topic -

Re: retractable lanywards - to be honest, I've got to say that I actually prefer the "S-biner" and 550 cord solution - and it's not really even a question of price, I have a Wilcox lanyard, but as has already been brought up, the retractable lanyards don't provide enough tension to really do anything in terms of stability, so I always need (or want) bungees as well.  

Besides that, I find the S-biner to be much easier to manipulate compared to the small clip on the Wilcox lanyard, and the dangling 550 cord, if measured right, is just long enough not to get in the way even if it's not retractable, but long enough so that if the NOD detaches inadvertently, it won't swing directly into my face.  

Of course, the best thing about it is that it's dirt cheap.  

Never really had the need personally for the neck-lanyard, as my use of the NOD is pretty much either exclusively head mounted, or stowed in a pouch, but I can see the utility for other uses.  

~Augee

I like the retract so you can pull the nods off and take pictures with them and put them back up without having to worry too much.

I have a piece of shock cord running from the shroud of my nightcap to the strap attachment behind my left ear.  A piece of paracord with a small clip is able to slide freely on the shock cord.  It attaches to a small paracord loop on the PVS-14.  I will try to post pics soon if anyone is interested

At the risk of derailing the OPs thread, I would like to see your setup. I'm planning to rig mine up soon, & appreciate the concepts thus far.

 

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I just use paracord and a S binder clip

Same here