Fine-Point Knife Sheeth Question

[JoelR]

A member of my IDPA group that I have made holsters for in the past has asked for a leather sheath for a defensive knife he would like to start carrying. It is a Janich/Snody Ronin Spiderco VG10. The issue I am having with it is that the point is very defined (straight edge with the back at a 45 degree angle the edge) and I just know is going to want to punch through any leather holster I make. I was thinking of a rawhide lining. Thoughts/suggestions?

[MADMAX22]

I think the handle is wide enough so that you can make the knife stop just short of the point actually touching the leather.

Make sure to use a good welt.

Its hard to tell exactly from the pictures I saw though.

[Bondurant]

Whats the goal of the sheath, are they wanting fancy, practical, EDC, lightweight? Is it a new knife or something they already carried for a few years? Do you have a picture of the knife? I looked around but could not confirm the exact model in a picture.

I know kydex is sacrilege to many in the leather community but its easy to work with. If they were only concerned about safety and happy with an ugly sheath in this one case it might be looking into. You could also mold a kydex tip to go on the outside of the leather, the inside of the leather, I've seen some kydex covered in leather. Myself I like copper and leather, silver and even steel goes good with leather. If you can make or get a tip made out of steel, you can get paint on blueing from Brownells. The leather and metal goes good with anything western but not so sure about the tactical gear if they don't wear a cowboy hat.

[JoelR]

The goal is to provide a descrete, EDC sheath that matches the rest of the gear used by the individual. My concern with the blade design is that there is no rounded edge to lead the blade into the sheath. A good mental image for the tip configuration is that of the heavy-duty blades used in razor knives (about the same profile and design). The handle is wide enough to create a stop so as not to bottom-out, but the act of inserting the blade would have to be done very carefully so as not to run the blade through the back-side of the sheath into the side of the wearer. The blade currently has a kyndex sheath but the user does not like it - big, bulky, screams Tactical Knife/Armed. I had thought of molding a kyndex sleave and building the leather around it, but was curious about the practicallity of using rawhide. I just don't know how well the rawhide would hold up over time and if it would wear the metal any more/less than kyndex. I'll try to post a picture of the knife tonight.

[JoelR]

Here is a picture of the knife

[NoahL]

You could try leaving a void in the welt at the point so that the sharp tip never actually comes in contact with leather, that way the weight of the knife is along the entire back and edge instead. Crappy MS Paint example:

[Dwight]

Real, honest to goodness rawhide, . . . used for the blade section only and properly fit so that the handle comes down on the rawhide inside the sheath, . . . it will stop the blade from going on and punching through.

Look on my website, there is a fringed, single loop, suede sheath (I think it is on page 2), . . . that is what I had to do with that hog leg of a knife. The hilt of the knife stops on the rawhide if you make it slim enough to just accept the blade only.

Hope this helps, may God bless,

Dwight

Edited May 12, 2010 by Dwight

[JoelR]

To complete this thread, here is the completed sheath. I ended up making an internal sleeve for the blade using some horse hide that had a thick band of rawhide still in it that is stitched to the contours of the blade. The outside layer of leather is also horse hide (of a much better quality) but only serves as eye-candy and the attachment mechanism to the belt.

[NoahL]

To complete this thread, here is the completed sheath. I ended up making an internal sleeve for the blade using some horse hide that had a thick band of rawhide still in it that is stitched to the contours of the blade. The outside layer of leather is also horse hide (of a much better quality) but only serves as eye-candy and the attachment mechanism to the belt.

Very nice! Where did you buy your horsehide that you got some with rawhide in the middle? I'd LOVE some half-tanned horsehide, but mine doesn't come like that--or did you get a piece that was half-tanned by accident?

[JoelR]

Thank you. I'm happy with the end result and the client was thrilled. The leather originally came from Springfield. They had a run of bad horse hide. This was about 6 months ago so I do not know if it is still a problem. Since then I have changed my horse hide supplier to Seigel's. Kevin had offered to make it right, but I told him I would find a use for it.