Portugese lanyard ?

[Vlim]

There is actually some documentation that proves that lanyards were available in the German army, but they were only used where needed, so they were not standard issue. Since these are rather fragile pieces of kit, and since they could be used for a multitude of purposes, including use as sewing machine drive belts, their survival rate is limited at best.

Lanyards like yours most likely came from Portugal when they cleaned out their arsenals in the 1970s and 1980s. A nice example is shown in a 1977 article in 'Guns & Ammo', they also showed up in German magazine articles and Frankonia advertisements, being offered for sale along with other Portuguese equipment.

I purchased a similar lanyard together with a Portuguese holster and cleaning rod in Germany last year.

So I am pretty sure that most of the luger lanyards on today's market actually are Portuguese, but as Jerry rightfully stated in another thread, no conclusive archival evidence is available at the moment, other than the sources mentioned here.