Lanyards do what exactly?

[Xdm9mili]

Just feels plain without one. Never did like lanyards on my bicycles growing up though.

 

[Don Hanson III]

I was field dressing a deer in the woods years ago, laid my knife down to do something and somehow got my foot on the lanyard. Went to pick up the knife and it stayed put as my hand slid over the edge cutting deep. Have also had limbs grab a lanyard and pull the knife out of the sheath... I do like lanyards but haven't used one much since.

 

[r connally]

I was field dressing a deer in the woods years ago, laid my knife down to do something and somehow got my foot on the lanyard. Went to pick up the knife and it stayed put as my hand slid over the edge cutting deep. Have also had limbs grab a lanyard and pull the knife out of the sheath... I do like lanyards but haven't used one much since.

Ouch! Don, glad it apparently didn't do permanent damage to nerves or tendons. A good lesson, thanks for sharing.

Lanyards and fobs are a "right application on right knife" thing for me. As dangling anything tends to get snagged on something (the reason grappling hooks work so well and corded tools are to be handled with care) I don't like them on large belt knives. I do like them on small knives like these nifty little guys I got from Kim Breed. They are functional as an extension of the handle and make these knives quite usable without having disproportionately large handles. They are an easy pocket carry.

 

[Don Hanson III]

Those are great lookin lil knives Rob! Lanyards work very well there.

 

[Pete1977]

How many of you custom knife addicts like lanyard holes on your folders? Why?

I know what the difference between a lanyard and a fob is...I was taking a poll as a knifemaker wondering what the public thought about lanyards on folding knives. Very simple.

Thank you for your input though, I really do appreciate it.

The title of your thread is "Lanyards do what exactly?"

The question you ask is whether people like lanyard holes on their folders in your original post. Then in the second post, that seems to have a somewhat sarcastic tone towards HardH2O's clarification between a lanyard and a fob, you ask what people think about lanyards on folding knives.

I like the option of having a lanyard hole on a folding knife, but I don't put lanyards OR fobs on any knife. I find a fob an annoyance and that it gets in the way if you have to do a lot of cutting. I find a lanyard to be dangerous for what I do. I used to use them when I worked on a deep sea fishing boat but found that they would catch on every rod holder, bench corner, reel handle or exposed screw head every single time. A lanyard on a commercial fishing boat is outright dangerous.

There are times when i might be doing something where i want or need a lanyard and i will make a temporary one out of a piece of twine, so I like having the option of a lanyard hole in a folding knife.

Now, regarding HardH2O's quote

I think what the OP is calling a lanyard is actually a fob. I had on on a Leatherman Juice S2 for quite a while. It was a coil knot that ended in a monkey's fist. The monkey's fist hung out of the pocket so the tool could be readily pulled from the pocket. The fob tended to get int he way when using some of the tools so it is gone now.

A fob is for easy removal of a watch or like item from a pocket.

As Rangerbob describes it he uses a lanyard. A lanyard is used to hang an item around the neck or other wise secure gear from loss.

he is spot on in his differentiating between a lanyard and a fob. A lanyard secures the tool to your person. If you use one, make sure it is longer than your fully extended arm or you can pull the knife through your hand when it comes tight. A fob is good on small handled knives to give sort of an extension for a better grip. I usually just used a hangman's knot that was snugged up tight. I think they call it the Reeve knot when it is used on knives. It's really just a heaving line knot that is tied just like a hangman's knot or a standard whipping.

So, if it comes down to having a lanyard hole on a folding knife or not, I prefer it because it gives the option to put a fob or lanyard on, and doesn't detract from the strength of the knife or (to me) the aesthetics. Although, you can put a lanyard on a knife without a lanyard hole if it has a pocket clip. When I first started commercial fishing I used a full sized Dyad, right about the time they skyrocketed in price and clove hitched a lanyard right to the clip. It wasn't perfect but it did the trick. Adapt and overcome.

 

[Raw Custom]

I build them into many knives because they seem to be popular. Never had much use for them myself.

 

[Pete1977]

One more thought on having a knife tied to your body via a lanyard. It's purpose is to keep the knife from being lost if it falls out of your pocket or you drop it, while working over water or under similar circumstances. I came to the conclusion long ago that I would rather lose the knife than have an open blade swinging around my nether regions by a piece of cord.

Also, what do people who use lanyards clip it to? I used to have a brass clip on one end and clip it to my belt loop. The twine we used had a pretty high breaking strength and the belt loop would definitely part off before the lanyard did so that wasn't a major concern, but I would be wary about securing them to my person anywhere that would not allow them to break free. I fish lobster traps in strings of 10, that are about 750 feet long. If my knife lanyard got caught on a piece of the trap wire or a knot in the line I would prefer it broke free of me instead of taking it with me over the back of the boat.

 

[Dr. Scott]

I do use short "lanyards" (5-6 inches) as loops on certain specialized blades just so I can hang 'em from a peg and keep the knives visible for when needed. But I've never secured a lanyard or tied a knife to my wrist, neck, or belt.

I have admired the lanyard sheaths where a knife fits into a sheath attached to a lanyard around the neck. But frankly, I am like others, more worried about injuries from a lanyard than I am about dropping the knife.

I do tend to buy orange and yellow handles, just to make knives easier to spot when I drop them (because I don't use lanyards).

But I love fobs. If it doesn't interfere with the use of the knife, I'm all for adding a little bling!

 

[Harden Knives]

The title of your thread is "Lanyards do what exactly?"

The question you ask is whether people like lanyard holes on their folders in your original post. Then in the second post, that seems to have a somewhat sarcastic tone towards HardH2O's clarification between a lanyard and a fob, you ask what people think about lanyards on folding knives.

I like the option of having a lanyard hole on a folding knife, but I don't put lanyards OR fobs on any knife. I find a fob an annoyance and that it gets in the way if you have to do a lot of cutting. I find a lanyard to be dangerous for what I do. I used to use them when I worked on a deep sea fishing boat but found that they would catch on every rod holder, bench corner, reel handle or exposed screw head every single time. A lanyard on a commercial fishing boat is outright dangerous.

There are times when i might be doing something where i want or need a lanyard and i will make a temporary one out of a piece of twine, so I like having the option of a lanyard hole in a folding knife.

Now, regarding HardH2O's quote

he is spot on in his differentiating between a lanyard and a fob. A lanyard secures the tool to your person. If you use one, make sure it is longer than your fully extended arm or you can pull the knife through your hand when it comes tight. A fob is good on small handled knives to give sort of an extension for a better grip. I usually just used a hangman's knot that was snugged up tight. I think they call it the Reeve knot when it is used on knives. It's really just a heaving line knot that is tied just like a hangman's knot or a standard whipping.

So, if it comes down to having a lanyard hole on a folding knife or not, I prefer it because it gives the option to put a fob or lanyard on, and doesn't detract from the strength of the knife or (to me) the aesthetics. Although, you can put a lanyard on a knife without a lanyard hole if it has a pocket clip. When I first started commercial fishing I used a full sized Dyad, right about the time they skyrocketed in price and clove hitched a lanyard right to the clip. It wasn't perfect but it did the trick. Adapt and overcome.

Thanks for all the feedback, and if my tone came across as sarcastic please forgive me.

I am indifferent in the world of lanyands/fobs/things that attach to knives. just curious to see what you guys thought and wanted to know if I should put lanyard holes on my new batch of folders.
As for the title I wasn't thinking about wording and just typed whatever I thought would get people to click on the thread or explain why they used lanyards (or fobs as some would say).

Also nice to see a fellow fisherman.