Effective Short Lanyards for both Folders & Fixed Blades

Thanks for swinging by – I appreciate it!

There are times when I don’t want a lanyard on my knife at all and other times when I prefer having a lanyard that helps me get the job done more efficiently – it completely depends on the task at hand the specific knife that I’m carrying.  Not every knife or cutting task requires a lanyard, however, lanyards can come in handy when a knife’s handle is too short, and a little extra length of working grip is needed for the job at hand or when a deep pocket clip on a folding knife makes it regularly difficult to draw the knife from a pocket. 

As mentioned in my Fixed Blade Lanyard post, lanyards can be as complex as you want to make them.  Less is more in my opinion, and I prefer simple, effective solutions in everything that I do.  I’ve found that the use of a short lanyard with a stainless-steel bead on folding knives and shorter, more nimble fixed blades can extend their grip providing expanded capabilities.

Here are my two favorite super-simple short lanyards that use paracord and a single stainless-steel bead for a quick option on almost any folding or fixed blade knife with a lanyard hole:

Tied Loop – Take a length of paracord, place one end of the cord through the lanyard hole on the knife’s handle, thread a bead of your choice onto both ends of the cord and tie a secure knot of your choosing to complete the lanyard. 

Take time to adjust the knot’s position for the proper length that fits your grip and specific needs.  Then, cut the unneeded cord after the final position of the knot has been established and use a lighter to melt the ends of the paracord to avoid unravelling.  The two images below show completed examples of the Tied Loop short lanyard for reference.

Pro: Simple and effective short lanyard that’s always handy when needed.

Con: This is a more permanent installation that requires the knot to be un-tied or cut off altogether for knife maintenance and proper cleaning making it a one-and-done solution depending on how tight the knit gets with use.

 

Removable Loop – Take a length of paracord and fold it in half choosing a diameter of cord that fits the knife’s lanyard hole, tie a loose knot of your choosing about 1/3 the length from the two loose ends of cord, thread a bead of your choice that fits the doubled-over cord onto the folded end of the cord and seat it next to the knot opposite of the two loose ends of the cord (top example the included image below), place the folded end of the loop through the lanyard hole on the knife’s handle (middle example on the included image below), and take the two loose ends and the knot through the loop of the lanyard completing the lanyard’s installation on the knife as shown on the installed examples of the included images below.  

Take time to adjust the knot, so that the bead’s position is set for the proper length that fits your grip and specific needs.  Then, after finding the final positioning of the knot, tighten down the knot, cut off the unneeded ends of the cord, and use a lighter to melt the ends of the paracord to avoid unravelling.

Pros: Simple and effective looped lanyard that’s always handy when needed while being easy to remove for knife maintenance and proper cleaning.  And this lanyard is easy to swap out cord colors and/or beads to establish the preferred style and look.

Cons: This lanyard requires the knife lanyard hole and bead hole both to be wide enough to accept a doubled-over cord and is a little more finicky to tie while establishing the proper length.

 

I encourage you to try out both types of these effective short lanyards to see what works best for you and your knives!

Thank you,
Brendon