Knife Lanyard Use Revisited

[Leo James Mitchell]

I am going to post this for a second time because I think I can do a better job this time and also because it is a very misunderstood subject and because it is misunderstood, there is the possibility of serious injury if used incorrectly.
The major problem is that people think the lanyard should go around the wrist, so that if you are chopping or batoning and the knife slips from your grip, it can be easily recovered and controlled. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you doubt this try an experiment, but do it carefully and do it with not much vigour. Go through the action of chopping with the lanyard around your wrist and then let go…not on the back swing please…shudder. If you are careful you will note that the knife swings dangerously with its WEPS sharpened edge going places you don’t want. Now try the following way.
Loop the lanyard over your thumb as you see in the first shot. Make sure the back of the handle is facing in as seen here.

then rotate your hand down to wrap around the handle of the knife keeping the lanyard looped over your thumb.


Now snug down the lanyard slide button until you have the lanyard firmly wrapped around your hand.
If you do the exercise again with this grip, you will find when you let go of the knife, that your control is greatly enhanced and once you get it just right, you can make the knife swing back right into the palm of your hand. Done this way, you will never lose your knife flying off into the brush or worse, the snow and the chances of you injuring yourself is almost nil.
So if you have not used a lanyard because you don’t trust them, now you are free to put one on your knife. I have a friend who does a lot of wilderness winter camping and he has a lanyard on each of his knives when out there and he ues this method, which I am happy to say I taught him. For my part I must credit Mike Stewart of Bark River fame for revealing this method to me…a wise man.

Cheers
Leo

[Mark76]

Thanks Leo! Very useful you point this out. Even though I know it, I don’t always do it the way you describe it. Which is stupid, because the way you describe it simply makes handling a knife easier. And safer!

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Fred Hermann]

Leo, thank you. I have used lanyards around the wrist for years, never comfortably. Mostly to keep the blade from flying randomly. At least it kept others from being hurt. Yours looks KISS easy.
+1 for this one!

[Geocyclist]

Thanks, it is also good to point out the toggle slider clip (plastic thing that grips cord and you squeeze to release). With this you can adjust the length, for gloves, etc.

[Leo James Mitchell]

The proper use of a lanyard when battoning, especially in the Winter time when there is a chance of losing your knife in a survival situation, is an important skill. When your hands are cold, you are stressed to the max and building a fire is of paramount importance, the use of a lanyard, as depicted here, can mean the difference between making it home and not. Also, when chopping with a knife in the presence of others, it is nice to know that you are going to be chopping just the wood! :blink:
Most of my knives have lanyards even though I don’t get into survival situations anymore. They are a good thing if used wisely.

Cheers
Leo

[Author]

Posts