When I lived in Spartanburg, SC many years ago, I went into a local sporting goods store to buy my hunting license for that season - after this, I just walked around - ghillie suits had begun to hit the market, but I couldn’t afford one. Another guy came in wearing camo, carrying a BUCK #103 Skinner, and began to shop the store. When he turned to look at something, the knife popped out of its sheath SIDEWAYS - I don’t know if the stitching had rotted or been cut, but I was suddenly looking at 4" of razor-sharp steel. I warned the guy about it, but all he did was slide the knife back, and went about his business. Ever since then, I’ve considered sheaths just as important as the knives they carry, and refuse to buy ANY knife with a crummy SHEATH. FYI
I’ll generally make my knife sheath. Taco style, 8-10 Oz leather. Where it’s sewn along the blade side, I add a leather spacer, so that the blade would ride along that. Along with stitches, I also put brass rivets about an inch apart. I was always worried about the knife cutting the stitches and this exact thing happening.
Side note; I enjoy your knife reviews. A link would be nice, but I don’t have a problem researching the knives. I would do that anyway.
Keep it up ‐——Geno
Do you prefer leather or kydex? I hate kydex and will only use leather due to draw feel and noise. If I buy a knife and it comes with a kydex sheath the first thing I do is buy or make a leather replacement.
I consider leather to be an OBSOLETE material for sheaths, unless it uses a polypropylene or some other plastic material for at least the knife’s blade. OUTDOOR EDGE sheaths for their “Swing” knives are very close to my ideal design - notice the added CHAPE. Only the D-ring, “dangler” feature is missing.
Leather will never be obsolete. Not a big fan of plastic, but I do like the idea of a polypropylene liner. I think I’ll try that on my next sheath.
UNITED CUTLERY - who make some really nice BIG daggers - have lost a couple of $1,000 from me - these are made from modern materials, but they still come with crummy, molded leather sheaths. FYI