How do you feel about lanyards?

[Skimo]

I use fobs on small traditionals that I keep in my watch pocket.

 

[prime77]

I like them if the placement of the lanyard hole is good. I like them on my Sebenzas with a bead. I used to be on a long lanyard kick just because I liked the look of them and I enjoyed tying them. But the longer ones just got in the way. I like short ones now and have them on some of my knives.

 

[goodeyesniper]

I want to like then, but generally I don't. They just get in the way. If I'm on a boat or something where I think the knife could be jostled out and lost, I might put a lanyard on and tuck it into my belt as a safety backup.

I did used to keep a small Paracord lanyard on my sak, ended up coming in handy having to tie some things off a few times.

 

[blade4sell]

I think of Lanyard like being a tail...dragon's tail...

 

[T.L.]

I would be indifferent about lanyards if it weren't for the ones with skull beads - to me, they look terrible. Makes a great knife look almost mall ninja. Can't stand 'em

 

[FordFan]

Of the six knives I carry most two have lanyards and four do not. I carry all the knives about equally. Although not sure I have ever decided to carry one on a specific day based on whether or not it had a lanyard.

 

[clockman]

I've never understood why you need a laynard on a knife.

I have a small piece of rawhide on my Dragonfly SE to hold on to the handle better. I don't carry it anymore.

 

[streak]

I have a very short lanyard 1" made of the thin tether cord hanging off my Delica and just sticking out of my pocket.
Often my hands are dirty and I just give a quick tug on the lanyard to get the knife to hand.
Having said this, the lanyard is so short that it does not get in the way and if I choose to deploy the knife as originally designed I just bypass the lanyard.

 

[Poez]

They are very good at collecting dirt.

 

[Goosey]

Hate them. I don't like stuff hanging off my gear and I also don't like reaching for something and then having to fiddle with a lanyard to get it out of the way of my grip.

This is how I feel, exactly.

And something which REALLY confounds me is people who put lanyards on machetes and chopping knives! Do they really want that thing to swing straight into their body if their grip slips?

 

[Jastab]

I don't use any lanyards on any of my knives, but I do have a spyderco lady bug tied to my hiking stick. That's about as close to using a lanyard for me.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

This is how I feel, exactly.

And something which REALLY confounds me is people who put lanyards on machetes and chopping knives! Do they really want that thing to swing straight into their body if their grip slips?

I don't see how that what would happen.

 

[Goosey]

I don't see how that what would happen.

I dunno, but I wouldn't want something long and sharp tied onto my body, just seems to be asking for an accident.

 

[marthinus]

After dropping my Sebenza 3m while working on the roof I tend to have a lanyard handy. IMO lanyards are a good practical thing. Tie it in a hangman's noose and if required untie it and use it. Some see it as accessories, fine with that, but for me it is purely practical.

You might find this interesting from a practical point of view:

http://bill-hay.com/Lanyard.htm

 

[Jaytaylor]

There is a distinction between practical lanyards and decorative lanyards.

I use lanyards on fixed blades up to larger choppers - just a piece of paracord long enough for a thumb lanyard. This adds a few practical uses but the main advantage is safety.

I only use a wrist lanyard on a Para2 used for short bush walks. The main advantage is that I don't drop & lose the knife.

I've tried to dabble with the shorter beaded type on Hinderer XMs, the metal beads tend to whack into the knife causing nicks and scratches and sometimes gets in the way.

On smaller folders a short lanyard does add more grip where the handle does not fill the palm, a short lanyard effectively adds more grip real estate to the back of the knife.

Overall I'm not a fan of decorative lanyards, they tend to remind me of a child's bracelet full of beads and trinkets and those silly lanyard attached to cells phones popularised by Japanese girls.

 

[phillipsted]

I use "fob-style" lanyards on small knives to give the hand a little more to grip. Here are a few of my knives with fobs I've tied, and many of them have LanSlides from Peter Atwood.

TedP

 

[parbajtor]

I use lanyards on folders because I hate clips. I don't see much reason for having both, though. They can make retrieval from a pocket easier and help with orienting the knife. If they are too long they can get in the way, most of mine are about 1" long. They can also give extra grip/rigidity on very small knives (like 2 finger knives).
Lanyards are also very handy on scandi's and bushcrafters where the sheath only allows 2 finger extraction. They are simply there to help you get the knife out of the sheath easier (and also allow you to recognise your knife from someone elses).
The safety lanyard on a competition cutter for example is an entirely different animal. These should be attached to a forward mounted hole in/around the bolster area, for safety reasons. Butt mounted lanyards I consider to be unsafe and the only reason for them is protection of bystanders, they are likely to cause you injury if the knife slips from your grip.

 

[NjHart]

It's interesting. I started out dead against lanyards not very long ago, got my Sebenza and actually found it rather useful, became tired of that specific lanyard for a few reasons and took it off, and started thinking about what makes a lanyard desirable versus undesirable for me which prompted the starting of this thread. Last night I actually broke down and ordered a little paracord and a hinderer bead. I think I can find the right balance between the additional utility I want (ease of retrieval and even just a small space to tie/hang/clip on anything I may need) and a fairly nice simple look.

I think what finally sold it for me was, oddly enough, not a knife at all, but my sunglasses. I keep croakies on my sunglasses at all times. By far their greatest utility comes from boating, being in or around the water, or just in situations where there is no convenient or safe place to store your sunglasses other than on your person. They may not be universally necessary, but their specific utility and overall neutrality outweighs most of the cons they could have for me. I think for me a well done lanyard may be useful enough often enough that if executed in such a way that it isn't a negative the rest of the time the potential gain makes it worthwhile. I know that may be far too much OCD consideration of a relatively minor thing, but this seems to be a rather divisive question and that generally leads to interesting points on both sides.

 

[bld522]

I EDC lightweight folders and I hate pocket clips, so lanyards sometimes become a necessity. I actually carry some of my EDCs in the change compartment of my tri-fold wallet (e.g., Kershaw Damascus Leek, William Henry B7-FT, CRKT Eros, etc.). Using a lanyard is the only way to extract them easily.

 

[GioFlores]

While I enjoy the snake-knot with a lanyard bead I do not find it to be the the most useful. As seen on my Star-Tac Umnumzaan.

The monkey fist is my favorite knot to use on my Large 21. I use a double knot, one close to the pin to keep the lanyard from moving too much and one just far enough away to create a space for my fingers to fall between to easy pull the knife out of my pocket. Reference my poor quality picture.