Lanyards on knives

I like them. I have a short leather lanyard on my Fiddleback nessie, that pretty much lives on my hip. I use it to pull the the knife from the sheath. I also have a braided paracord lanyard on my SAK Trekker (which is ALWAYS in my pocket). I like it on the SAK because it allows me to orient the knife in my hand by touch...
 
Lanyards can be useful, but they can be dangerous.

I fish from a kayak sometimes. I had a knife tied to the kayak. I was using it when I suddenly moved my hand in an unthinking response to something that happened. The knife was pulled through my closed hand because of the lanyard. Now I just keep the knife jammed in a bit of plastic pipe which is tied to the kayak. I generally keep a spare knife on hand in case I lose the other.

So I reckon if you are using a knife with an attached lanyard, you have to be careful that the lanyard doesn't catch on anything as you move your hand.

I enjoy having a small 'Trout and Bird' knife which I keep around my neck sometimes. The lanyard, of course, is just fastened to the plastic sheath. The knife pulls free like most neck knives.
 
I have some with lanyards for looks. I cut myself really bad using a lanyard with a machete. The handle slipped out of my sweaty hand and the blade flew around wildly catching my leg. I still don't know exactly how it happened, but it did. And my machetes are sharp. My back porch is still blood-stained from that little mistake.
 
I didn't have time to read the whole thread so I don't know if this was mentioned. I have taken the compass off a wrist band and threaded it through the lanyard on one of my folders, which also served to tighten slack.
 
I've got a trick I've added to a few lanyards. I take a piece of 1/8 inch shock cord and tie it into the end knot on the lanyard so I've got a bit hanging down as another loop. I can stretch that over the bottom of a pouch sheath for extra security.
 
koyote said:
I've got a trick I've added to a few lanyards. I take a piece of 1/8 inch shock cord and tie it into the end knot on the lanyard so I've got a bit hanging down as another loop. I can stretch that over the bottom of a pouch sheath for extra security.
Click to expand...

Christof thats a good idea.
 
All this talk of lanyards made me want to try another different type. Undo just the end knot and the rest comes apart just like a daisy chain.

newlanyard.jpg


It's just a little too big (length and diameter) for such a small knife.

Doc
 
That's a nice braid Doc. Got a diagram for us? Thanks in advance good buddy.....
 
Actually, I posted the technique quite awhile ago. I called it the Poser's braid - a reference to a post by somebody that said anybody that uses carabiners but doesn't climb, is a poser. It seems that I deleted them from my Photobucket account, so here they are reloaded:

Poserbraid-step1.jpg


Poserbraid-step2.jpg


Poserbraid-step3.jpg


Poserbraid-step4.jpg


Poserbraid-step5.jpg


Poserbraid-step6.jpg


Continue for the length required, then pull the loose ends through.

Doc
 
Ahhh...thanks for that. I guess I'm mostly a poser.

Nice photo of your knife with the red braid by the way.
 
I use lanyards on flashlights, SAK's and large fixed blades, but never on folders.
For chopping, proper lanyard would be tied around guard/choil/front hole and around the wrist, so the knife will be stick to the hand.
 
koyote said:
I've got a trick I've added to a few lanyards. I take a piece of 1/8 inch shock cord and tie it into the end knot on the lanyard so I've got a bit hanging down as another loop. I can stretch that over the bottom of a pouch sheath for extra security.
Click to expand...

I do this very same thing with all my diving knives now. I didn't use to do it before and I lost a number of them. Since I started doing this I haven't lost any more. It also reduces rattling out of the water.
Mikel
 
what is the best material for a lanyard? would 550 cord work best? I really do like the fancy knot design i may add something like that to my A1 :thumbup: I also like the fact that when you knot the lanyard like that its so much cord that it doubles as not only a lanyard but also a nice long piece of material you can string stuff up with, build a camp or tie some gear togeter with. just my .02
 
Mikel_24 said:
I do this very same thing with all my diving knives now. I didn't use to do it before and I lost a number of them. Since I started doing this I haven't lost any more. It also reduces rattling out of the water.
Mikel
Click to expand...

I have an order in in September for a rafting knife that's going to be deep pouch on a vest with the shock cord safety. I've been playing with it bouncing around and trying to knock it loose and so far it's good and fast with the right pull tab.
 
Some good points and uses. :thumbup:

I'm with Andrew Colglazier on having a lanyard to assist with extracting a knife from a deep pouch sheath.

I tend to only put lanyards on my smaller blades. None of my choppers have lanyards....if they did they would be the forward style. I just don't like the idea of having a huge blade attached to my arm.

Most of the time I don't keep a lanyard around my wrist. Usually it is just used in times when I don't want to set the knife down. So for me it is mostly used to hang off the wrist or hang up on a tree or something. I also like the added security it can provide if it can be connected to the sheath somehow. I'd like to see a picture of the method Koyote described with the shock cord. :thumbup:
 
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