Call lanyard

An improved call holder lanyard comprising an elongated flexible cord having a first end, an intermediate section and a second end, with the first end having a first member thereon for slideably but resistantly engaging a portion of the intermediate section of the flexible cord to allow a hunter to slideably position the first member along the intermediate section and the second end having a second member thereon for slideably but resistantly engaging a further portion of the intermediate section of the flexible cord to allow a hunter to slideably position the second member along the intermediate section with the first end, the second end and the intermediate section coacting to form a loop sufficiently long for placement around a hunter's neck with the loop being contractable by sliding the members in a first direction along the intermediate section and expandable by sliding the members in a second direction along the intermediate section and a plurality of call-holder cords positioned along the call holder lanyard to inhibit entanglement of the call-holder cords.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates generally to a call holder lanyard and, more 
particularly, to an improved call holder lanyard for geese calls, duck 
calls, and the like. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The use of hunting calls to imitate the sound of a fowl such as a duck, 
goose or crow are well known in the art. Typically, the call comprises a 
mouthpiece, an outer hollow housing having a reed or the like that 
vibrates when a person blows into the mouthpiece. By blowing into the 
mouthpiece, a hunter can control the flow of air through the call and 
generate sounds that imitate a particular call of a fowl. To imitate 
different sounds of the fowl, a hunter can use a different call. For 
example, a hunter might have many different calls, with a specific call 
capable of imitating a particular sound, such as a distress call or a 
feeding call. A hunter might use a hunter call to attract the attention of 
the ducks and then use another call to bring the ducks in closer. As the 
opportunity to shoot can be relatively short, the hunter wants the calls 
readily available so that he or she can quickly use the calls and then put 
the call away so the hunter can assume the proper hunting posture. 
One way of holding the calls is to form a loop that is sufficiently long to 
go around the neck of the user. The individual calls are then tied to the 
loop to enable the hunter to have the calls in a ready position a few 
inches from his or her mouth. The prior-art loop holder has been found to 
have shortcomings. One of the problems is that the loop holder may be too 
small for one hunter and too large for another hunter. When a hunter picks 
up one call, he or she picks up all the other calls as the calls are tied 
to the loop by a string or the like; this results in a problem. 
Another problem is that the string that holds the calls to the neck loop 
become entangled as they hang suspended from a user's loop holder. The 
present invention provides an improved call holder that facilitates 
adjustment of the call holder for different sized people as well as call 
holder cords that keep the calls separate both during use and non-use. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Briefly, the invention comprises a call holder lanyard that has members 
which a hunter can slide along the lanyard to expand or contract the size 
of the lanyard, and a plurality of call holder cords extending from the 
lanyard, with the call holder cords spaced from each other on the call 
holder lanyard to inhibit the entanglement of the call holder cords during 
use of the call holder lanyard. The call holder cords are slideably 
adjustable to allow extension or retraction of the call holder cord to 
enable a hunter to position the calls for use.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIG. 1 shows a front view of call holder lanyard 10 of the present 
invention. Call holder lanyard 10 comprises an elongated, flexible, 
braided cord 15 arranged to form a lower single-cord section and an upper 
double-cord section. Lanyard 10 is normally worn around the neck of a 
hunter and hangs down like a necklace. The upper double-cord section of 
braided cord 15 is identified by reference numerals 11a and 14a, while the 
lower single-cord section of braided cord 15 is identified by reference 
numerals 11 and 14. In the preferred embodiment, cord 15 is formed by 
braiding a plurality of two or more separate cords together to form a 
single, braided cord. 
Typically, the individual cords used to form braided cord 15 are made from 
a flexible and durable material such as nylon or the like. FIG. 3 shows a 
detail of a portion 53 of braided cord 15, with braided cord 15 comprised 
of individual flexible cords 15a, 15b, 15c and 15d which are braided 
together to form a single braided cord 15. Located within the braided cord 
15 but not braided thereto is a call-holder cord 31. Call-holder cord 15 
is frictionally held in a central position within cord 15 by the 
individual cords 15a, 15b, 15c and 15d in the braided cord 15. 
FIG. 1 shows that braided cord 15 is a single, continuous braided cord 
which has a first braided end 13 and a second braided end 12. Braided end 
13 is formed around a portion of braided cord 15 and is illustrated in 
greater detail in FIG. 4. That is, braided end 13, which is a part of 
braided portion 14a, extends around the portion of braided cord 15 which 
extends through braided member 13 and is identified as cord 11 below 
braided end 13 and by 11aabove braided end 13. The significance of the 
relationship of braided end 13 and braided cord 15 is that braided end 13 
slideably but resistantly engages a portion of the intermediate section 15 
of the braided, flexible cord to allow a hunter to slideably position the 
braided end 13 along braided cord 15 by pulling on braided end 13 and 
braided cord 15. Similarly, braided end 12 slideably but resistantly 
engages a portion of the intermediate section 15 of the braided flexible 
cord to allow a hunter to slideably position the braided end 12 along 
braided cord 15 by pulling on braided end 12 and braided cord 15. 
The sliding of braided cord 15 within braided ends or members 12 and 13 
allows a hunter to slideably position members 12 and 13 along the 
intermediate cord section with the first end, the second end, and the 
intermediate section coacting to form a loop of sufficient size to be 
comfortably fit around a hunter's neck with the loop being contractable in 
size by sliding the members in a first direction along the intermediate 
section and expandable in size by sliding the members in a second 
direction along the intermediate section. The braided members 12 and 13 
provide sufficient frictional resistance so that the lanyard will retain 
its size under normal use. 
FIG. 1 illustrates that call-holder cord 31 can be displaced with respect 
to cord holder 15 with dotted loop 33' showing the position of one end of 
call-holder cord 31 and dotted loop 30' showing the position of the 
opposite end of call cord after the call-holder cord is slid with respect 
to the braided cord 15. That is, the call-holder cord 31 is adjustable to 
permit the relative positioning of the calls with respect to the person 
wearing the call holder. This feature allows a hunter to locate a 
particular call closer or further from his or her mouth. By doing so, the 
hunter can position the calls in an organized manner so that he or she can 
select the call by the position the call holder occupies on the lanyard. 
Thus, the invention comprises an improved call holder lanyard formed from 
an elongated flexible cord 15 having a first end member 13 and a second 
end member 12 with an intermediate section located therebetween. The first 
end member 12 slideably but resistantly engages a portion of the 
intermediate section of the flexible cord 15 to allow a person to 
slideably position the first member 12 along the intermediate section. 
Similarly, the second end member 13 slideably but resistantly engages a 
further portion of the intermediate section of the flexible cord 15 to 
allow a hunter to slideably position the second member 13 along the 
intermediate section to increase or decrease the size of the loop. FIG. 2 
and FIG. 4 show the intermediate section coacting with the first end 
member 12 and the second end member to 13 form a loop of sufficient length 
to facilitate placement around a hunter's neck with the loop being 
contractable by sliding members 12 and 13 in a first direction along the 
intermediate section and expandable by sliding members 12 and 13 in a 
second direction along the intermediate section. 
FIG. 1 shows that lanyard 15 includes a first call-holder cord 16 having a 
first end secured to flexible cord 15 at a first position with a second 
end with a loop 17 and slip knot 18 for securing a first call thereto and 
a second call-holder cord 19 having a first end secured to flexible cord 
15 at a second position with a second end with a loop 20 and a slip knot 
21 for securing a second call thereto. FIG. 1 shows the first end spaced 
from the second end a distance "x". The distance "x" is of sufficient 
length to inhibit the cords from entangling with one another. In most 
applications two- to three- inch spacing is sufficient. Similarly, lanyard 
15 includes a third call-holder cord 28 having a first end secured to 
flexible cord 15 at a third position with a second end with a loop 30 and 
a slip knot 29 for securing a third call thereto and a fourth call-holder 
cord 31 having a first end secured to flexible cord 15 at a fourth 
position with a second end with a loop 33 and a slip knot 32 for securing 
a fourth call thereto. 
FIG. 1 shows the push-pull arrangement of cord holders 28 and 31. That is, 
cord holders 28 and 31 are made from a single cord which extends through a 
portion of braided cord 15 and can be slid from one position to another by 
merely pulling one of the cord holders. Dotted loop 30' indicates that 
lengthening call holder cord attached to loop 30' shortens call holder 
cord attached to loop 33'. 
FIG. 2 shows call holder lanyard 10 in an extended position with call 40 
attached to call holder loop 33, call 41 attached to call holder loop 30, 
call 42 attached to call holder loop 22 and call 43 attached to call 
holder loop 17. Locating the calls in the spaced condition shown in FIG. 
2, inhibits the calls and call-holder cords from entanglement by the 
spacing from one another. In addition the spacing allows the hunter to 
select the proper call without having to look at the call. For example, 
the hunter will know from his or her placement of calls that the distress 
call is on the left and next to it is a mating call. 
FIG. 1 indicates that the length of call-holder cord 16 is designated by 
L.sub.1 and the length of call-holder cord 19 is 12. In the preferred 
embodiment, lengths L.sub.1 and L.sub.2 are sufficiently long so that when 
the hunter raises a call to his or her mouth, the other calls remain in 
position. That is, one can pick up the calls independently of one another. 
If the invention is made of braidable materials, such as nylon or the like, 
one can use a heat source to cut and seal the end of the braidable 
material within the braided end member. By cutting the end of the 
individual cords inside the braided ends leaves an end member with no 
unsightly protruding ends. FIG. 4 illustrates that the braided end is left 
with a smooth exterior by having the ends of the individual cords 
terminated within the braided end member.