Defective Knife Sheath Kills man at Rendezvous

[ArcherBen]

This serves as a sobering reminder to all of us to think through the safetly aspects of a design before building.

Fatal stabbing was accidental

May 28th, 2009 @ 7:35am

HYRUM, Utah (AP) -- The Cache County sheriff's office says the stabbing death of a Wyoming man during a mountain man rendezvous over the weekend in northern Utah was an accident.

Cache County sheriff's Lt. Matt Bilodeau says 33-year-old Tim Andrus, of La Barge, Wyo., was accidentally killed when his own knife pierced his chest while he was wrestling with an acquaintance at the Old Ephraim's Mountain Man Rendezvous in Blacksmith Fork Canyon.

Reports say the homemade knife entered Andrus' body at a 45-degree angle, penetrating his heart. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators say Andrus also had a defective over-the-shoulder sheath for the knife.

Bilodeau says the incident didn't happen during an official rendezvous activity. ------

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=6630516

[Jim]

Enough cannot be said about safety.

[UKRay]

The safety aspect of sheath building probably doesn't occur to most people, outside of the obvious stopping the blade from cutting things it shouldn't.

What do you feel are the important things to consider when building a sheath?

Ray

[TwinOaks]

A sad, unfortunate accident.

Not only is the sheath design to be considered, but also any activities in which the wearer may engage.

Though the sheath was described as "defective", which could lead to serious problems for the maker, I have to wonder if there was simply enough force involved to destroy the sheath. After all, it says the two men were wrestling. I don't know of anyone who makes over the shoulder sheaths to be used during wrestling matches. There's more to this story than what's being told, I think.

[UKRay]

The circumstances are certainly very unfortunate but how could anyone design a sheath that was proof against all events. The report claims that the sheath was defective - okay but IMHO that could mean almost anything.

My big concern is that anyone who makes a knife sheath could now be held responsible if that sheath is involved in an incident and deemed defective by a police officer.

So what are the criteria for effective? Who is setting out the rules?

This guy was wrestling whilst wearing a knife. Do we need to specify that the sheath we make is not suitable for wearing whilst wrestling? The guy who made the 'defective' sheath is possibly facing all kinds of harrassment from relatives and police but is it his fault the poor guy died? I don't think so... unless maybe the dead guy made his own sheath.

[Jordan]

Sad thing for all concerned, I am struck by two things, first, it seems the last few incidents with weapons happened here (Utah) ie. accidental restaurant discharge of a gun, an equally disturbing shooting of a toilet and now a knife death. And second, The article does state the knife was homemade, so chances are the sheath was also. It behooves everyone to consider both public and personal safety whenever and wherever potentially dangerous tools are carried or used. I agree that the details are sketchy and perhaps more than meets the eye is in play here.

[Ian]

I've seen some pretty rough looking sheathes used in mountain man and Native American regalia - often just thin leather folded and laced down one side. I'm thinking that most sheaths made of heavy veg tan and made with a welt, where the knife fits snugly and the stitching is re-inforced with rivets would prevent the knife from going beyond the guard and be safe for most normal activities - but wrestling with a sharp knife in a flimsy sheath wouldn't count as a normal activity. Sad though, none-the-less.

Edited May 30, 2009 by Ian

[TexasJack]

I don't know - I might file this under Darwin Awards. Didn't his mother tell him to be careful with sharp, pointy things? I love the way the story reads - like the knife jumped out and did the deed and the two idiots wrestling had nothing to do with it.

A friend made a great knife for a soldier going over to the Sandbox. The sheath was not structured for such a solid knife and cut through it. As I recall, damages included: the seat of a Humvee, a pair of Kevlar gloves, a boot, some socks, and a large portion of the soldier's hand when he reached in his bag and discovered the knife had come loose in transit.

Chuck Burrows makes sheaths and other leather goods for these type of events and I suspect you won't find many 'failures' among them. There's something to be said for making quality products.

And don't run with scissors....

[Suze]

From the non'knife carrying woman here (swiss army knife aside)

I would think that just about any sheath would fail if you fell on the handle "just right"

sad to say but a Darwin for sure

but I agree I have seen some at Ren Fairs that look like tissue paper.

[UKRay]

"...shooting of a toilet."

I didn't know toilets were in season! Do you need a special permit?