Personally John, I'd take my chances. Getting a cut minor cut, which will heal, is way better than having to go it alone in the bush without any knives. A dangling knife isn't likely to do much damage unless you're swinging it madly and it happens to hit something edge first.

A proper lanyard is going to be short enough that you could re-grip the knife without much thought...if it's hanging a foot away from your hand where it can be swung or kicked it's too long.

I go back and forth with lanyards with a typical love/hate relationship. I like them but sometimes they get in the way. I've been thinking about trying to weave a bit of a keychain thing out of bright (para)cord. I get the advantages of the bright color so I can see it if I drop it, I get something to suppliment my grip and help protect from slips but I can drop it if I have to and it's less likely to snag on stuff.

I've also tried using elastic bungee cord for lanyards. Holds it to your hand when you need to but a stiff flick of the wrist will set it free. It's also less prone to snags because there's less actual loop to catch on things when it's not stretched.

Bottom line is that there are lots of options and you really need to test them out to be sure. I have some knives that I love using with a lanyard and some that I would never put a lanyard on. Either because of the way I use them or the way I carry them.