Edge Up Sheath

[RVM45]

Does anyone have any experience with a sheath for a relatively large Knife--probably a Bowie--carried horizontally on the Knife hand side; point to the rear; cutting edge up?

I pictured drawing it much the way a Samurai would draw his weak-hand sword.

I've never seen a sheath system for a big Knife that seemed anything but makeshift...

{Except the old "Vorprol" system--anyone know how to do one of those?}

Since it seems a good idea to me; but I've never seen it attempted, I fear that I'm missing something.

Safety? I would think that it would prove most difficult to get either arm in the path of a drawn blade...

But once again, maybe I'm missing something.

.....RVM45

[DCKNIVES]

I make many large knives and sheath mine and many others.I have done quite a few crossdraws and small of back designs.The main problem I have with edge up designs is not so much arm interference but it puts your hand in the wrong position for a good and quick draw.Even in a shoulder type system like the "Vorpal" is , it is still necessary to get the proper grip before extracting the knife.I have seen nuerous examples of quality designed shoulder systems and the only reason the "Vorpal" is a somewhat unique sheath is that its made with Kydex , but the draw is still edge forward allowing proper grip.It also has an open front which is somewhat ok for kydex but highly questionable for leather.Dave

[NoahL]

I guess that my question would be "Why?"

Cross-drawing a sword that is sheathed edge-up has it's benefits--generally in that it is easy to make a fast, smooth cut directly from the draw. What benefit would there be in a strong-side horizontal edge-up sheath? It would be difficult to draw, and probably awkward to get into a comfortable grip once you did.

That said, you could do it very simply just by making a right-handed sheath and putting a horizontal loop in place of the standard loop.

~Noah

[fishguy]

Actually, the samurai carried both swords on the same side (always left), with the short sword more across the front and the long sword along the side. Most only used one sword at a time, so either one was a simple cross draw. If one uses both at once, the long sword is drawn with the right and the short sword with the left (involves a tricky little flip).

Edge up draws also tend to require a lot of practice so you don't cut yourself when drawing or sheathing the blade.

Edited January 26, 2010 by fishguy

[Sixer]

Like the one Denzel uses in "The Book of Eli"? Not sure how practical it would be ... but it would definitely be pretty sweet