NooneOfConsequence
|
This little guy is a solution to a very specific problem:
Several years ago, I was running with my dog, and three strays started harassing her and nipping at her heels. I was helpless to do much except run faster and attempt a kick once in a while to keep the stray dogs from landing a good chomp on her back legs. I decided I needed a better way to keep the strays at bay if it ever happened again, and after a very unpleasant attempt at running with a steel baton, followed by several prototypes and iterations of the monkey fist, I settled on this design as a solution for protecting Jules while jogging. It weighs 111g, so it’s not too heavy to jog with. 80g of that is in the monkeys fist with a 1” steel ball inside. The whole thing wraps comfortably around the hand and holds my house key on the key ring while I run. I usually jog at night, and my other hand carries a flashlight that weighs ~90g, so I stay pretty well balanced.
It’s only half a meter or so long, but looks are deceiving. Pull the hitch pin that’s attached to the key ring and the paracord monkey chain unravels to reveal a 80g ball swinging at the end of about 1.5m of cord. Add my arm’s reach to that, and I can reach out further than my foot ever could without losing balance. Plus, it deploys really fast. Fortunately it’s never been necessary as anything but a key ring and a counterbalance to my flashlight.
It takes some practice to control it. Very similar to a chain rope or perhaps a very short meteor hammer.
It needs a good name.
|