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Similar to the carbon steel versus stainless steel debate (which is actually way more complicated), knife owners are divided over whether a knife should or should not have a lanyard.

The thing about the lanyard debate is that people aren’t usually lukewarm about the topic. It gets people riled up more than the sit versus stand debate during the National Anthem.

But is there ever a time and purpose for lanyards on pocket knives? Yes, there is.

Lanyard vs. Fob

Before the wolves come out to correct me, let me clarify something: Lanyards and fobs are different.

Although used interchangeably, lanyards and fobs look and function differently. A lanyard is a longer piece of twine like paracord that ties to the end of a knife and wraps around the wrist for more security when wielding the knife.

A fob, on the other hand, is typically a shorter piece of twine that’s tied at the end so there is no opening to fit your hand in. A fob is there to keep your knife from falling in your pocket and other things (as you’ll soon learn).

There’s also a thong, which is essentially a leather string, that serves a similar function as the fob.

Now onto the reasons to add one of these to your folder.

1. Extra Security

I won’t go into the history and origins of the lanyard, but I believe the original purpose of a lanyard was to keep an item securely tethered to yourself. For example, some in the French military even carried a pistol tethered to their arm so they wouldn’t lose it. You can see Eli Wallach from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” attached to a pistol with a lanyard below.

Since then, people have adopted the lanyard on knives.

The lanyard is especially useful on larger knives that may fall out of your hands during use — though keeping a knife stuck to your wrist when your grip fails you may not always be the wisest idea.

It’s not as necessary on smaller pocket knives unless you’re using it in or around water, but the sentiment and reasoning still stands if you use your folders for hard-core tasks.

2. Personalization

Knife people don’t care too much about looks… OK, so maybe a few of us do and lanyards/fobs add an extra item to accessorize your knives. This is the manly equivalent of bejeweling your smartphone case or matching your nail polish to your socks. And there’s nothing wrong with it.

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As the old edict goes, the piece of survival gear you need the most is whatever you’re carrying at the time.

That same philosophy can also apply to self-defense tools as well.

Retired bounty hunter Fugi Escobido and David Bloch from Outdoor Edge developed a versatile piece of gear that anyone — whether serious survivalist, martial artist, or average Joe — should and could wear at all times.

It’s called the Para-Claw, and it’s a paracord bracelet with a twist.

The paracord bracelet is nothing new. Ken Onion even created his own paracord bracelet for CRKT. So how do you make something so prevalent even better? Add a quick release hawkbill blade.

Here’s how it works.

The bracelet is hand-tied with 550 paracord (14.4 ft for the medium size), but hidden inside the buckle is a 1.5-inch hawkbill blade made from BlackStone finished 8Cr13MoV stainless steel. According to Outdoor Edge, the blade is integrally molded to the glass/nylon guard that attaches to the bracelet.

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