Goofy, but gotta ask: Are lanyards purely cosmetic?

[Wunderbar]

I needed one as a paratrooper. I definitly would have lost my share of folders without the lanyard.

 

[SAKguy]

I like them very much. I find that when working outside or hiking it helps you not to lose your knife.

Plus, the thing about having some extra cord with you is always good.

 

[Psychopomp]

I do NOT like lanyards on knives, at all. They irritate me to no end. I have used one on the end of my RTAK just because it had a hole and I thought it would be good if I ever accidentally let go of the knife. Then I realized that if I let go of that knife with a lanyard around my wrist, it was gonna swing around and get me... so off came the lanyard.

I do like lanyards on compasses though. I put a paracord lanyard on my Sylva Polaris with a keyring at the end. Makes it easy to keep the compass in my pocket and the keyring attaches nicely to the carabiner on a belt loop.

EDIT: For keeping extra cord handy, I usually cord wrap a sheath.

 

[zippy]

Good question.

My very limited experience is that it greatly increases the grip
on a knife. That is, if a knife had a questionable gripping surface,
then a loop over the thumb, then taught around the knuckles,
in forward grip, will make the knife very solid in the hand. In
fact, the knife would have to pivot out of your hand before
your hand could go onto the blade (assuming the cord did not
break).

So, a knife without a hilt, could be made very solid in the hand
for forward grip stabbing, by using a thumb loop lanyard. This
assumes though (IMO) that the knife will be retreaved preemptively
(i.e. you have to set the grip up), and then that hand is the
dedicated knife hand for the duration of your activites (you could
drop a loose loop pretty quick, I think, but it might also dangle
around a bit).

That's my take FWIW
Zippy

 

[qqqqqqqman]

Thanks for the good answers! Good variation, many uses, some like, some don't LOL Maybe I'll try one to see if it suits my tastes...."Ohhh, Mr. Macleash....!"