how to tie a lanyard?

Does anyone know of any good resources on how to tie lanyards? I would like to put them on some of my knives and dont have a clue as to how and tie them. What style would you recommend? Any help would be appreciated.
 
B

bald1

Joined
Oct 3, 1998
Messages
1,646
Shootist16,

There was a thread on this but it may have been at KFC and lost as it was a l-o-n-g time ago. Bottom line is that most lanyards we see are really fobs. The difference is that fobs are relatively short and can be used to assist in pocket withdrawal of a folder, etc. A true lanyard is long with provisions for the cord to be secured to your person or wrist at one end and the tool (knife, gun, flashlight, etc) at the other without impediment for use.

The compromise is to tie a "hangmans noose" to your tool. It is used as a fob as tied but can be unraveled and used as a true lanyard when needed. An example is the fob on new Sebenzas from Chris Reeve Knives. If you search the web there are some good knot tying sites that will take you through tying one of these.

We probably ought to have this topic synopsized and placed in the FAQ area too.

------------------
-=[Bob]=-

I did NOT escape from the institution! They gave me a day pass!


[This message has been edited by bald1 (edited 02 May 1999).]
 
Bald1, thanks for the reminder. I saved the link from that thread http://www.lehighgroup.com/KNOTS.htm
biggrin.gif


------------------
James
 
I can't remember the thread I saw, I think it was in the Microtech forum at KFC, but someone there had posted one of the better explanations I saw. This is my attempt at remembering what he said.

1) Get paracord...put paracord through hole, do not center it but leave one side about twice as long as the other (I could be wrong...things are a little foggy before my first cup of coffee)

2) about 1/4 away from the end of the short side, fold the long side over. It should be three wide (cord going down through the hole, back up from the hole, and back down towards, but not in the hole)

3)begin wrapping dangling cord around the three wide section till you get to the end, put end through the loop that was made when it was folded over..Keep tugging and such till everything is nice and tight..takes practice...but I got one on my Cetan...it looks pretty good..

you can feel to shoot me if this only adds confusion..
smile.gif
..

YeK
 
There is another useful link <a href="http://www.ozemail.com.au/~fnq/fishing/index.html">here</a>. I think the Scaffold knot shown would make a neater fob since both ends exit the knot together and parallel.

------------------
Take care,
Clay

"A witty saying proves nothing." Voltaire :)


 
Clay, just tied the scaffold knot onto my Small Sebenza. It is a little tougher to tie than a standard noose, as you have to slip the tail line through the coil to complete it, but the look is much cleaner. I almost got the ends even the first time out, so it is a keeper.

Thanks again, Clay.

------------------
James
 
I wrote the following in the Microtech forum
a few months ago and a few people found it useful:

Thread the cord through the lanyard hole so that one side is at least three quarters longer then the other. Bend the long end back towards the lanyard hole making an "S" shape. You now have three layers of cord: a short length pointing down (away from the knife), a long length pointing up (towards the knife), and a loop, the length of the loop when pinched flat is roughly the length of the finished knot sans the two ends. Make it about one inch for a mini-socom and two inches for a big socom. Okay so far? Pinch the three layers together right at the end of the knife and start wrapping the long (upward pointing) length around all three layers. Keep wrapping downward (away from the knife) in a spiral until you reach the end of the loop. Now thread the last few inches of this cord through the small bit of loop you have left. Carefully tighten the loop by sliding the whole knot away from the knife. Finally, slide the knot back towards the knife while holding the original short end. You want to end up with the knot pretty close to the handle and two ends of equal length. You will probably have to retie it a few times until you get the hang of it, adjusting the length of the various sections so that everything equals out. If you get completely disgusted with the two ends not equaling out, cut the longer end about a 1/16" longer then the short end and hold a flame just close enough to the freshly cut end to cause the cord end to seal.

With this and the other explanations, you should be a lanyard tyin' fool in no time atal.
smile.gif




 
Good page someone posted a long time ago....
http://huizen2.dds.nl/~erpprs/kne/noose.htm
good luck, jeff
 
I`m from Florida, so I have a little something of a maritime/nautical aspect to me. I`m not gonna read the other linked threads to see if someone else suggested this already, so sorry if it`s redundant.

I have a penchant for knots and rope work. I`m not as good as some, but I know some neat stuff. I`ve always loved knives with lanyard holes on account of I can tie all manner lanyards and fobs, combining two intrests. Recently I`ve been experimenting with a monkey`s fist, which is kinda a ball on the end of a string. Gives ya' something to hold on to.

Anyway, if you want some ideas, and clear instructions, I reccomend checking out some books from your library on seamanship and ropework. I believe it`s Abbie`s Knots that has every way ever devised by Man to tie a string. It`s a huge book. I could spend hours with it. Never bought a copy, but it is THE definitive work.
 
I've tied Scaffold knots on my knives before and found it easier (esp with softer line) to use a short piece of tubing down the middle of the coil to insert the last end through. Just remove the tubing before tightening the knot! I quickly went back to the hangmans knot because the look almost identical and the scaffold knot is hard as heck to get untied to use the line as a lanyard. The scaffold knot does not slip around as much though.

------------------
Paul
Keep Em Sharp


 
How do you untie a square not? Hehehe
Chris, www.toptexknives.com

Just another of my dorky posts. Hehehe

------------------
 
Snickersnee,

Is the book you were thinking of "The Ashley Book of Knots". It has 520 pages and 3,900 illustrations, that's a lot of knots. Amazon have it <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385040253/qid=925716947/sr=1-7/002-5616448-1869425">here</a>.

------------------
Take care,
Clay

"A witty saying proves nothing." Voltaire :)


 
Oay, I just tried to do the scaffold knot, and I figgered out a neat trick....when making the wraps, wrap in a separate piece of paracord that will not get wrapped up completely, with an inch or two of extra. when you complete the wraps, melt the end of the cord that did the wrapping and the cord that was wrapped, and stick them together. pull the extra cord through the wrapps, pulling the cord through. makes for pretty tight wraps. If you see the diagrams on the links that have been posted you will get a better idea of what I am saying..

YeK
 
Clay Kesting;

Yup, I do believe that`s it! Been a good while since I last saw it. I knew it was Abbie/Ashley, something like that. Yeah, that`s a great one. I do not believe that there is a single thing a law-abiding citizen would want to do with a rope or piece of string that isn`t in that book! Just the fact that someone was able to amass that much info on one subject and put it into one book boggles the mind. I`m going to have to pick up a copy now. I thinks it was around 30-40 bucks last I saw. Thanks!
 
Coincidently, I just recently E-mailed Chris Reeve's Knives and Anne happily sent me a diagram of how they tie their lanyard for the Sebenza. They were even nice enough to send me some paracord to affix to my recently purchased Al Mar/Reeve limited ed. knife sheath. Very nice people!!
 
The "tube knot" mentioned above works fine if you have a piece of tubing handy. Another way is to wrap over a loop of string, then put the free end through the loop and pull on the other end of the loop to pull the free end under the wrap.

Another way to make a short fob that pulls out into a long lanyard is to braid it into a sennit. If I have time later I'll look for directions on the web and post a link.

There's a wealth of information about knotting on the web -- use any search engine or start at http://huizen2.dds.nl/~erpprs/kne/kroot.htm and follow the links from there. There's also a newsgroup rec.crafts.knots but it didn't have much traffic the last time I looked.

I like to wrap handles with continuous half hitches. Once you learn to throw a half hitch it's almost as fast as a plain wrap and it holds up better. The knots form a spiral that aids grip. Try thin mason's cord for wrapping knives that already have handles on them.

-Cougar Allen :{)
 
Great thread.

I checked out the above links and ended up using the hangman's knot. I found it tied up tighter and didn't slip like the scaffold did.

Where is a good place to buy paracord (sporting goods stores?) Does it come in different thicknesses? If so, what would be a good choice for lanyards?
 
Gentle Posters; a book which I treasure, and refer to frequently, is the 'Ashley Book of Knots.'

It, combined with several lengths of suitable tying rope or cord, is one of the best child and adult diversionary devices in existance. There are over 3,000 different knots in this book, along with history of knots, trick ways of trying knots, knots particular to crafts, knots used in magic tricks, etc. In short, a vast amount of data, presented in an interesting, chatty format, well organized, and FUN. It is an absolutely must-have book.

Take it with you on the next time you know you will be sequestered with children for any time over 10 minutes. You will end up treasuring it as much as I do. Walt
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top