Lanyards have become a very common accessory nowadays. A lanyard, or boondoggle as it is sometimes called, is a piece of rope, fabric, or cord, that may be woven into a particular shape, or may just hang lose, tied to an object to ensure that the objects stays in sight and does not get lost. For example, a lifeguard or soccer coach’s whistle hangs around his neck on a lanyard. A lanyard helps alleviate the need to hold the object in the owner’s hand at all times, at the same time making the object easily accessible within hand’s reach.
Historically, lanyards have been used in the military to fasten pistols and swords to uniform belts and to denote the ranks or affiliation of officers by using different colors and sizes of material, and by cowboys to secure their hats and lassos to their clothes. Lanyards have also been used by craftsmen and artisans to tether their tools and equipment to their bodies so that they could work more efficiently.
Lanyards are made from a variety of materials. Traditionally, rope, leather, and fabric were used to create basic lanyards. Today, lanyards can be made out of satin, silk, nylon, polyester, and plastic. Plastic lanyards have become quite popular since the 1980s, after the use of plastic spread to general everyday items.
Modern lanyards are available in a variety of sizes, shapes, and styles. Simple plastic lanyards may be just a long strip of plastic forming a ring, rather like a keychain, that allows the user to secure one or more objects simultaneously into the ring. Layered or braided lanyards are usually decorated with interlacing and intertwining plastic strips or fibers. Plastic lanyards of this category are made from fibers of different colors to give them an attractive look and feel.
Plastic lanyards are the most common form of lanyard used today, second only to fabric. This is because they are easier and cheaper to manufacture, can be molded into an assortment of shapes and sizes, and can be modified to suit almost any object, from the smallest keychain to a fair-sized electronic gadget.
Lanyards manufactured from plastic are soft but durable, easily cleaned, and long-lasting. A single lanyard can also be used for multiple purposes over and over again. They are therefore used today for numerous different objects. For example, the name tags/ID badge holders of workers, students, corporate delegates, and exhibition stall owners, can all be easily secured by plastic lanyards that come with safety breakaways and a variety of badge clips and swivel hooks. Another use of plastic lanyards is securing small and delicate electronic gadgets like mp3 players, earphones, digital cameras, and USB drives, to prevent dropping or losing them. These devices usually have a small hole on one end that the lanyard can be secured to using a cow hitch knot.
Some lanyards may also be worn around the wrist, for purely practical purposes, like key rings, or merely for fashion, like fluorescent lanyards at a disco. Some people may also choose to customize their lanyards in various ways, including painting, lacing, and offset printing onto the plastic.