ive had alot of knives in my time and several have had lanyards, ive always taken them off, they just seemed to be in the way.. i just purchased a used bark river northstar that has a sweet lanyard made from para cord. ive taken it off, but keep thinking i should put it back on, but cant come up with a reason. please help..
Yes...lanyards can be useful A lanyard attached to a knife can be useful to secure your knife against being lost or dropped inconveniently when working at heights or in the vicinity of deep water. The lanyard can be used to help in maintaining a secure grip also. Having a lanyard also means that you have a length of cordage that can be adapted for use in an emergency for other things. Here is a useful website that demonstrates what I mean. It includes pictures and explanations Lanyards
In all my working life, I only ever needed to use a lanyard when working aloft aboard ship in the USN. Nearly beaning the Captain with a dropped wrench one fine day made a believer of me! But have not needed one since.
Lanyard and Welcome First off. Welcome! Glad to see you on the boards here. Great site huh?! Second, The link and info Cheelo gave is great stuff. Lanyards it is! I would say when working in a controlled environment such as the yard or garage, unnecessary. In the bush or on the trail? Yup.
Lay that "purdy" knife down and lay a leaf over it--it disappears. My RAT 7 has a length of bright yellow cordage(@10") for a lanyard. You can spot it ten feet away. Lost a derringer somewhere about three yrs ago from the side pocket of Carhart jeans. If it had that yellow cord on it my baby would still be "home"-lol. If concealment is a concern then smear it with mud or camo sticks.
I think the dumbest thing ever invented is a camo hunting knife. I have owned four of them. Three are gone with an average use time before loss of about 10 minutes. Lay them down and POOF, gone goose.
Lanyards are a personal preference --typically designed to do as was already explained by Chello. In my own estimation, they are only for Navy, Air Force, and homosexuals...and some would say there isn't much difference between any of these today (haha, just kidding). The standard fixed blade knife can be snapped into a sheath, so there's no real reason to have a lanyard in this carry method. Most pocket knives come with strong clips, so I wouldn't bother with a lanyard here unless you are planning on performing for the circus. A lanyard for your keys is not a bad idea. Generally, in my own silly opinion --lanyards for knives is just retarded. It's decoration at best, may help if you are on a boat or in a plane...but who the hell is gonna attack you on a plane or out at sea? Maybe the Black Pearl is comin' to get ya, Arrr!
I put lanyard tubes on all my knives. For what you ask? So I had somewhere to hang them up! LOL I have no idea if anyone uses them for lanyards, I never did.
I kep lanyards on many different things that are vital... compasses, small knives, fire steels... and can speak to their utility... yes i was Airfirce... and following an ejection my important implements were handy and not lost to the fotrce of the ejection... in any E&E situation where you may have to move at any instant a dummy cord keeps the most important things on you ... crosss a river, fall in a ountain side, drop something in the woods while hiding, or dump a pack for more speed to get away... dummy cords can keep a minimum amount of equipment at hand.... Broker just dosen't want you to use one so he can sell more of his off brand knives when you loose the one you have...
I gots Johnny Depp rights down da road. He be a little silly, but mighty dangerous wit a sword, mind ya!
Kinda unrelated, but also related... The dumbest thing ever invented is a pistol lanyard. I sort of understand the original intent with cavalrymen, but some units have since decided that lanyards are mandatory for every soldier carrying a handgun. Anyone who has ever tried to get out of a vehicle in a hurry knows why they suck. They will snag on everything in the vehicle when you are in a hurry. For that reason, I do not wear a lanyard. Even when questioned by LTCs, I adamantly refused, explained my POV, and related that I would gladly wear a lanyard if I had a PSD too. Besides, my Safariland holster isn't letting that handgun go unless I allow it. For the same reason, I am weary on dummy cording everything. This is great for Ranger school where everyone is working on 1-2 hours sleep and M16s and the like are dragging behind people on Zodiacs in the water.... outside of those conditions, they can be liability. I say leave the dummy cords for the dummys in Ranger school or Airborne school. A well packed ruck or good sheath / holster eliminates the need for that sorta BS. You may note a natural cordage lanyard on my avatar- its stiff enough it never hangs far from the handle and its looped in such a way that the loop tightens on the handle leaving only a single tail which is less likely to get snagged than a loop. I think that is as far as I would take a lanyard on a knife. I never left a lanyard on a combat blade. I did have cordage tied around the kydex sheath of my Chris Reeves, but no lanyard on the handle. Lanyards are no good on a fighting blade IMHO.
