Not too far into my stitching life, I was introduced to the scissor fob, an often-decorative Something that is looped or hooked to the handles of a pair of scissors.

I don’t remember how or when or why the introduction was made. But I remember being told that the scissor fob, besides being decorative, has a very useful purpose, and that I should “always keep a fob on my scissors.”

I never used scissor fobs much – and truthfully, I still don’t use them much in action. I have some that adorn some of my favorite scissors so that I can see at a glance where a particular pair is. But once I have a pair of scissors in play on a project, if it has a fob, I usually remove the fob. I find that it gets in my way when I’m intensely working.

Don’t get me wrong! I love the fob’s decorative aspect and I love the fact that a fob can help me hone in on a pair of scissors quickly. But these are not the reasons that I was told “You should always have a fob on your scissors…”

And the reason I was told this, in fact, isn’t even true. So here comes a little debunking.

I have some beautiful scissor fobs! Some were made by friends (Sara Zander made the fob in the photo above – she makes beautiful beaded fobs) and some were made by me.

Mine are usually stitched.

I like the idea of fobs, for two reasons: one, they are decorative, and I like decorative things around my needlework; and two, they are useful in that they make a pair of scissors easy to see.

This is a fob that I made from my Thousand Flowers designs. I loved this little thing! I gave it away to a friend, to use as an ornament.

Once upon a time, I was told “You should always use a fob because it will save the tips of your scissors.”

And this point is the one that I can’t really get behind.

This little fob (or ornament, too) is from my Lavender Honey & Other Little Things projects. At first, I used it as a fob, but then I came across a little zipper bag perfect for tools and decorated with bunnies. I attached this fob to the zipper as the zipper pull. Fobs, you see, are so versatile!

But do they protect your scissor tips when you drop a pair of scissors?

For a while, I entertained the possibility. After all, lots of people say that this is the primary use of a scissor fob. And at one point, I briefly assumed that it must be so, because lots of people say it.

But then common sense got the better of me.

Just because a lot of people say something, doesn’t make it true. Sometimes, we hear a thing so frequently that we just take it for granted as fact. But that doesn’t necessarily make it fact, does it?

This is a double-sided Fiesta Fob that I made once upon a time, when I was writing for Craftsy.

It’s a rather large and fat fob – better, perhaps for larger sewing scissors than for smaller embroidery scissors.

And look – there’s a little party going on, on each side!

But even this relatively gargantuan fob doesn’t keep the point of my scissors from hitting the floor first.

Why not?

Well, gravity is the force that causes objects to fall to earth at the same speed (regardless of weight). Scissors, though, have a more streamlined shape than most fobs (especially embroidered ones) and are therefore less susceptible to the force of air resistance working against gravity. With most embroidered scissor fobs, your scissors will most likely hit the ground first. With beaded scissor fobs, they might hit the ground simultaneously. Will the tips hit first? You’d have to work out the aerodynamics of the particular scissors and the particular fob.

Most fobs are not aerodynamically engineered for a particular pair of scissors, or visa-versa.

The upshot: the majority of fobs are really just for decoration or for recognizing or finding a pair of scissors easily – don’t rely on them to protect the tips of your scissors if you drop them!

If you’re prone to knocking your scissors off your work table or to dropping them, consider a scissor pull or a chatelaine or something similar, to help keep your scissors from hitting the floor.

But even in those cases, scissor sheaths – which is what we were talking about Friday (or, as some suggested, the rubber tips used on knitting needle tips) – are a good idea, because they will save you from the tips of your scissors!