A revelation in cheap sheath material!

Leather diamond chisel. Like these:

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I have a roll of the 60 mil material showing up today. I expect it'll actually be overkill for most stuff, but we'll see how it performs. I've been enjoying the 30 mil immensely so far.
 
Some of the places that sell root barriers have 30, 40, 60 and even 100 mil rolls in different widths. Commonly used to restrict bamboo. 40 mil isn't as common but might be a good compromise.
 
40+ years ago in Thailand, I was a Peace Corps volunteer. One day I was invited to "speak Engrish" to some kids at a grade school, maybe 5th grade. There was a farmer kid near the back row who had a little farmer knife/machete sort of thing. Maybe 8-10" blade, sort of thick. He didn't need no sheath. Probably had the family water buffalo parked outside, eating grass. No one but me paid any attention.
 
Basp2005 said:
I'll stick with kydex, for now.
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The emphasis was on cheap. Kydex is nice, but it's not dirt cheap like this stuff is, and it's more leather-like in terms of its flexibility. It's working nicely, and costs a song and a dance in materials costs, even for very large sheaths. Nicer sheaths are nicer sheaths, but this stuff is great for "good enough" sheaths. :)
 
Here's my first experiment with the 60-mil material. It's frickin' heavy duty and I think it's really overkill for most stuff. Figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and make a sheath for my prototype Kingfisher Machete. The belt loop pivots, Condor-style, and the tuck-away tab is a tension lock for using a piece of paracord tied to the belt (or belt loop) to affix it at a specific angle, if desired. Improvements to a final version will be to move the top set of rivets down by about 1/8" to account for the "pinch" of the material so the fit isn't quite as tight, and to add one extra set of rivets so they're spaced just a tad closer together.

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Eventually, yes. As sheath patterns are developed for different items, they'll get added. I've also got more materials on the way that will be facilitating with making them for more than just myself.
 
Well, I took the plunge and invested in a nice rivet/snap press and appropriate dies. That'll cut down on the labor a lot and give a more professional look to the fasteners. Guess this is a thing I'll be doing now. :p
 
dirc said:
Check out this drop wallet... it sounds like they made some wallets out of this stuff and are trying to get $50 for them
(2nd option - high density or UHD + $5)
LOL :)
https://drop.com/buy/pioneer-molecule-cardholder
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Nah--not the same thing. The sheath material is solid sheet and they made the wallets out of fabric using either nylon or UHMW fibers. UHMW polyethylene is a different material from HDPE and is manufactured and processed using different means. Even in solid block format it would be a different material entirely than what's being discussed in this thread.
 
dirc said:
yes, true, apologies - I read it and instantly thought of your sheath material : )

... both of them ARE polyethylene
good article about the differences here:
https://www.curbellplastics.com/Research-Solutions/Plastic-Properties/HDPE-vs-UHMW
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Yes, they're both polyethylene but they're manufactured in totally different ways and have different characteristics. For instance, UHMW isn't thermoformed, which means there are certain kinds of applications that it's better or worse for. Typically it gets extruded or machined to shape instead.
 
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