Knife lanyards and water in the car...

2 questions, what are people's thoughts about having a lanyard on a fixed blade knife? I can see where you would want to avoid dropping it but I'm also thinking of those times when it might not be such a good thing to have a very sharp fixed blade being tossed about at the end of a piece of paracord, ie, while in a boat/kayak, if one should slip and take a fall, wouldn't it be better to risk losing the knife rather than risk having it become very attached to your body, blade first so to speak?

Next, pretty obvious but I'm always willing to take good advice, what's an ideal way to store a couple of gallons of water in a vehicle? Tried using the sealed plastic bottles it came in but they started leaking. I want something that can be well sealed, will hold at least a gallon ea. and that I can store easily.

John E

A sheath is a good way to store a knife so it's not so pointy. Lanyard can still be attached.

It kinda depends on how you use the lanyard. The only fixed blade I have right now with a lanyard is my Randall Model 5. The loop of paracord is adjusted so that I can put my thumb thru it, then have the lanyard go across the back of my hand to the butt of the knife in my hand. If I let go of the knife, it will hang by the lanyard, but if I want/need to get rid of the blade, all I have to do is shake my hand, or just point my fingers down, and it will slide off. That method is a hold over from the old police sap and lanyard on a baton days, where you didn't want an object tied to your wrist. Some badguy could get hold of the sap/baton and swing you all over the place...

John,

I don't store gallons but I store a dozen or so 1/2 liter bottles of water in a cooler in the car. Provides leakage protection and when I am on long trips I just throw a bag of ice in there and have cool water for the trip.

-Kurt

John,
For home water storage I use and really like the GI Runt. Holds 2.5 gallons, very sturdy, the water tastes fine even after six months. Cost about $19 per container but well worth the money IMO. Brigade Quartermasters carries it (sorry, I haven't yet learned how to post a link).

Some good ideas, thanks all.

One point, I know that a knife resides in it's sheath when it's not being used, I was talking about the possibility of accident when using it attached to a lanyard. Might be worrying about nothing but I have a mental picture of using the knife and then something happening, tripping, boat moves, etc. and suddenly you've got a very sharp knife dangling at the end of a tether where one could easily roll onto it or end up impaled on it.

Like I wrote, it might be worrying about nothing that's why I'm asking.

John E

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.

I ocassionally use a lanyard of a fixed blade knife if I am using it in a situation where I may loose it, but usually I find they get in the way.

I do have another use for a lanyard though, to get my folding knife out of my coat pocket in the winter. I find that in the winter when I am bundled-up in heavy clothes it is hard to draw your knife from a belt sheath, so I keep a folding knife in my coat pocket. Then the trouble is that my big pockets are full of other stuff and it is hard to find the knife, expecially with gloves on. So what I do is attach a 2 foot (arms length) piece of paracord to my knife (lately a German Military SAK) and to the button-hole of my right chest parka pocket. It makes it easy to withdraw the knife with one hand (even without opening the pocket), and I don't loose it. The added benefit is that people rarely ask to borrow your knife because it is attached to you. A fixed-blade knife carried in a sheath suspended by a neck lanyard (like Mors Kochanski) would serve the same purpose, but would draw a lot more attention (unwanted in my case).

I have another very small knife that I keep in a new EDC mini-kit I am working on, the knife fits in a slim pocket and was hard to draw, so I attached a small figure-8 knot of paracord to it and now it is much easier to get it out of the pouch. I have been working on this new kit for a couple months but started carrying it before I completed it, thats why I have not posted it on the forum, maybe I will finish it soon.

Mike

Thanks "Nurit" for this referral. It's a bit more money than I was planning on spending but it looks like it will fit just about perfectly in the space I've got.

It's tough trying to organise a Subaru wagon with what I need to work as well as with the emergency/survival stuff I need. I work as an onsite medic and have to bring my own kit of supplies/equipment to every job. A full size backboard takes up a fair amount of space in a car for those who don't know...;^)

John E

Runts are tough. I have carried one in the back of our vehicle for several years now. It has a few dings in it now, but never leaks. They are worth the money, in my opinion. If you have the room, go for the five gallon size.

Here is a link to the BQM site...

Ah, I've been looking for a tough, food-grade, 2.5 gallon water container for a long time! This looks perfect! Thanks for the tip, Nurit.

You're welcome, John and Arney. As OBG said, these are tough and durable.

"Buy the best, cry only once."

Nurit

Is the mouth on a Runt big enough to fit a hand through to give it an occasional scrubbing?

As long as you don't have a huge hand, yes...

SwampDonkey: I too like the figure-eight knot, tied within an inch or two of the lanyard hole to help get a knife in hand. Orange paracord is great for this purpose.

On some knives, I make the remaining cord long enough to tie at the ends and create an "over the thumb and across the back of the hand" lanyard as described in another post here.

When not tied, the free ends are less likely to snag on branches etc.

Bear

The benefit of a lanyard partly depends on the size of the handle. I have one fixed-blade with a small handle, and that is definitely easier to use with a round-the-thumb lanyard. I also have an RSK MK3 which has a handle big enough not to need it. I've just given it a small loop which I can clip to a carabiner if I need to.

If you drop it, I suspect the lanyard is a net gain in safety as it will prevent it falling far enough to build up the speed needed to do more damage. Plus you are less likely to drop it in first place, plus it may make you less tempted to try to catch it.

Heres a link to the GI Runt Water Cans .

Lee

In normal EDC I don't like a lanyard on my mini-Rittergrip because it looks goofy and gets in the way in my way.

When out camping I almost ALWAYS add a lanyard to either the mini-Rittergrip or the fullsize one. I use a length of orange paracord from countycom.com - long enough for the knife to not quite hit the ground if dropped. I run one end through the lanyard hole and tie a figure-8 knot on one end, and then tie a small bowline just large enough to slip the knife through on the other end, and then use that to loop through a beltloop. When the knife is pocketed I just stuff the lanyard in my front pocket. At first I need to keep an eye on the figure-8 knot to make sure it doesn't come undone with constant hand-brushings across the pocket area. That might be fixed by putting the knot on the "inside".

I don't lanyard my fixed-Rittergrip, BUT if I were in a survival situation - a real one - that would be one of the first things I'd do. Last thing I would want is to loose my knife.

I've stored water in the car for years, summer and winter. No leaks, ever. Use 2 liter soda bottles. Soda bottles have thicker plastic to handle the pressures. Clean them good and bleach them. Fill with water and add two drops of bleach for storage. That's it.

Brigade is out of the Runt cans except in black. Found something similiar at REI yesterday for 10 bucks. Holds 3 gallons with a screw on cap/spout.

I'm gonna give it a try, it's gotta work better than what I had.

John E

KenK talked about a lanyard to prevent knife loss and I have 2 stories on that topic.

My hunting partner had a Grohman #3 Boat Knife (also known as the Canadian Forces "Jump Knife") in an open-topped sheath with a lanyard. He would knot the lanyard to his belt but one day, about 25 years ago, we were hunting grouse in heavy cover and the knife must have been pulled from the sheath and it was lost. We looked hard for it, but never found it.

The same hunting partner surprised me at Christmas in 1981 with a custom-made drop-point hunting knife that I carry when hunting to this day. It has a leather lanyard on it that I clip into a snap on my belt, it is one of my most prized possessions and to me is irreplaceable.

This post has made me think that I should replace my hunting partners lost knife, only this time with the model that has the overlapping sheath, seen here http://www.grohmannknives.com/pages/r3s.html .

Mike