Lanyards, also referred to today as neck-straps, are ropes or cords that are typically worn around the neck (hence the reference to neck-straps) to secure to you something of value or importance.

Historically the “something” would most likely have been a whistle, sword or pistol, which was typically connected to the wearer’s uniform. Lanyards were particularly popular with navy or cavalry officers where there was a much greater risk of losing your weapon or whistle. Clearly not something you wanted to happen!

Over time the functional side of the lanyard within the armed forces has diminished and you’re more like to see them in use today as a decorative attachment with different coloured braids that make up the lanyard denoting rank and affiliation within the armed forces.

Outside of the armed forces lanyards have become incredibly popular within business and academic communities for displaying name badges, ID badges and security tags. Lanyards of this type are typically manufactured from polyester, nylon, silk or PET and will typically be branded in some way.

Lanyard USB

One of the more recent innovations in the world of the lanyard is the development of the USB Lanyard – this novel product combines all the benefits of a lanyard with all of the benefits of a USB flash drive. Essentially it’s a USB flash drive integrated into the “clip” of the lanyard. The fact that you can pre-load data onto the flash memory embedded in the lanyard clip and brand both the “clip” and the lanyard itself makes it an ideal product for seminars, conference, trade shows, large companies with staff who wear ID badges and so on.

Just like any conventional USB flash drive the Lanyard USB is available in a range of different memory sizes starting from 512MB all the way up to 16GB. The width of the lanyard is a little wider than some of the standard ones available because the clip has to be wide enough to accommodate the flash memory and the flash controller chips.

Because of the multiple branding options presented by this product it really does look stunning and shows off a brand or multiple brands incredibly well. For the wearer the benefits are obvious; security, ease of use, simplicity and whether you like wearing them or not (and the world seems to be split on this) they do look pretty stylish!

Whilst lanyard USB flash drives are unlikely to topple the dominance of standard promotional and branded flash drives they are an option that is likely to grow in popularity.