Lanyards ...

[Adi007]

A few recent threads on lanyards got me thinking (yes, it does happen ... occasionally ...) ... does anyone actually USE lanyards? :?:

Personally, I like the concept but in reality find they get in the way.

Thoughts ...

:chill:

 

[TheViking]

I agree. They're no use other than annoying. :roll: Only lanyards I use is when securing the SAK to a pocket, so a string will save it from being lost, should it fall out of the pocket.

 

[Stew]

I like them for the look, something else to make and for pulling them out of the sheath! I think they help finish a knife off and make them look more individual.

As long as they're not too long they don't get in the way for me but I don't actually use them in the "normal" manner.

 

[Squidders]

Adi,

I use a lanyard on my folding knife... I leave it hanging out of my pocket so I can get it out without fumbling with lose change or my lighter or phone.

For other impliments like Axes or machete's I don't think i'll be using one, If there's a risk of something slipping out of my hand I'm trying too hard or i'm too tired and shouldn't be doing it anyway.

The lanyard does get in the way but I find the pro outweighs the cons in the knife instance.

Other than that for somethings like ice axes I use leashes.

 

[Schwert]

I use mine all the time. Mostly as sheath pulling devices, but since I have several rather short handled knives the lanyard serves as a handle extension. I usually snug either a knot or sliding piece up against my palm edge when I think the lanyard is serving as a handle extension.

Some of mine are decorative, but even then I tend to tuck the lanyard up under my belt as a secondary means of securing the knife when carried.

Overall I find a lanyard much more useful than a hinderance. I however rarely (never) do tie my knife on with one.

 

[JakeR]

Both! When chopping small bits of wood with the northstar, i find that if you hold half the handle with your hand, the other half down the lanyard, you get good choppage!

 

[RovingArcher]

I don't think they are practical for carving spoons or any of the other finer wood working uses in bushcraft. Like was said, they would just be in the way most of the time.

Using a lanyard strap to secure a blade to your body can be very dangerous. That is, unless you have experimented and found the best ways to use them and have practiced with them. There was a fairly good tutorial on the use of lanyard straps at Ron Hoods site

If I am doing some robust chopping with a blade, I will secure the tool to my hand with the lanyard strap. In effect making the blade and my hand one unit. No chance of the blade slipping in wet weather or from hand fatigue. Nothing worse than losing your grip on your favorite chopping tool and have it go flying from your hand. I'll also use the lanyard strap if I am working up high or over a river, abyss, etc. I sure don't want to drop my blade when in that situation. Having a lanyard strap on my knife also gives me a bit of usable cordage, which is why I use 7 strand parachute shroud line for my lanyard straps.

 

[jakunen]

I do use one as I have an old folder I use when I go fishing (infact its still on my old service lanyard...) I lost a few knives into the water when fishing lakes and you bend over the bank, so now I always keep that one on a lanyard.

I don't find them to be a hinderance. Maybe just beacuse I'm used to them...

 

[JakeR]

On other knives i found them slighty irritating, but my new lanyard and the NS make a good pair. imo.

 

[Hoodoo]

Sometimes lanyards get in the way but I do use them. Like others here, I like them for pulling a knife out of a secure sheath. And I also like them on larger knives and will use them while chopping.

 

[MartiniDave]

I use them on my GB Wildlife and on my Bahco folding saw, but generally not on anything else. Although in summer (if we get one) I'll have a pocket knife on a paracord loop round my neck then tucked into my shirt top pocket.

Dave

 

[gurthang]

I use a lanyard on my penknife so it doesnt end up falling down the back of the sofa and so I dont leave it behind anywhere if it falls out of my pocket etc.... but on all my fixed blade knives I dont use a lanyard, I do however have one on my hatchet so it doesnt get left behind if it becomes un-attatched from my rucksac

(is un-attatched a word?)

 

[RovingArcher]

I use them on my GB Wildlife and on my Bahco folding saw, but generally not on anything else. Although in summer (if we get one) I'll have a pocket knife on a paracord loop round my neck then tucked into my shirt top pocket.

Dave

Dave, I used to wear paracord around my neck, much for the same reason that you do. Then one day while in bush, I slipped while walking down a slope and slid about 15'. What stopped me was the paracord catching on an exposed root. It yanked (no pun intended ) my neck pretty good. I thought I was going to die right then from a broken neck. I was lucky and only put a strain on everything.

Have you considered a break-a-way lanyard strap for your pocket knife?

 

[MartiniDave]

Ouch! I'd not considered a breakaway, until now. Thanks for the warning, glad you got away with it!

Dave

 

[Martyn]

I use short lanyards on knives with deep pouch sheaths (eg the woodlore) as sheath pullers, but that's about it.

If I need to chop with a knife, I prefer a batton, I find it less fatigueing, more powerful and easier to control that trying to get some inertia going with a little knife by hanging onto the cord at the back.

 

[tenbears10]

Dave, I used to wear paracord around my neck, much for the same reason that you do. Then one day while in bush, I slipped while walking down a slope and slid about 15'. What stopped me was the paracord catching on an exposed root. It yanked (no pun intended ) my neck pretty good. I thought I was going to die right then from a broken neck. I was lucky and only put a strain on everything.

Have you considered a break-a-way lanyard strap for your pocket knife?

Same reason you shouldn't wear a compass round your neck with the string they often come with. Some sighting compasses are designed to be held at the distance from your eye that the neck cord allows but you should take it off when you have sighted and put it in a pocket. Especially true when the trail you are on includes styles over fences or walls, slip on the top of a style and catch the lanyard on the way down and you will know about it.

Bill

 

[Danceswithhelicopters]

I think one of the things is that alot of people don't use them correctly or have them too long. Try a loop of cord, or whatever, attached to your knife and hang the knife from your thumb by the loop. Pass the loop over the back of your hand via the thumbside and hold the blade. It should be tight in your hand and if you let go you have it on your thumb but if it goes wrong and you need to let go you can just let it fall. Around your wrist is asking for trouble.

 

[TheViking]

Everybody who dislike or likes lanyards should take a look here:
http://bill-hay.com/Lanyard.htm

Effective guide with good pictures as well. Well worth a read.

 

[alick]

Andy - each to their own but with only a couple of exceptions I don't like the look of those lanyard examples in your link. Most of them look either little use or downright dangerous.

I especially dislike anything that puts a loop around your wrist, if you drop the knife, it stays attached but with no control whatsoever.

I was on the Cuillin mountains on the Isle of Skye in Scotland when some kid had a good attempt at killing himself when he slipped and slid 1000 feet down a snow slope with an ice axe flailing all about still fastened to his wrist. It's a miracle he didn't kill himself !

The method described a couple of posts ago of using a short lanyard from the thumb across the back of the hand to the lanyard hole is far and away the best I've ever used after seeing it described by the french martial artist Fred Perrin. On a heavy knife like the EVO1, it keeps the knife firmly in place even if you lose grip in the middle of a swing.

That said - there is one example in your link designed to stop the hand sliding foward onto the blade when piercing that I'd not seen before and looks to have real value as a safety measure. Thanks for that :biggthump

 

[Adi007]

Good point Alick. Something looped around your wrist tends to stay there no matter what.