An alternative to a sheath

Howard Wallace

Howard Wallace

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I find that many times I am carrying a khukuri in a vehicle or in a pack, and I do not need a sheath. But I do need a guard of some sort to keep the point and sharp edge from damaging other objects or me. The sheath thread started me thinking about the minimal amount of material and weight that would fulfil these requirements. Possibly a thin folded strip of kydex, molded to form to the edge of the knife, with retention straps? Or something flexible like a slit garden hose, with something on the end that would shield the tip? One requirement is that the guard must be secure and not likely to jostle off during travel.

Any design ideas?
 
Howard, I know you've been there but don't know if you've seen it but sometimes a khukuri is carried without a scabbard and a split section of bamboo is placed over the blade and held in place with some cord. This allows carry in a duffle bag, a doka, or just about anything without the khukuri damaging its neighbors. But, the bamboo will not stand up to heavy hits.

Uncle Bill
 
I did Bill`s idea with a piece of split garden hose on a Hudson`s Bay axe.

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Bill,

I never saw the bamboo solution in Nepal. Thanks for bringing it up. I would be a little nervous with bamboo, as a fall could easily result in the bamboo splitting and the khukuri causing damage to the person carrying it. I can't forget the story I read some time ago on one of these forums about the fellow that unsheathed his khukuri by smacking it, sheath and all, on a tiger's head.

Ghost,

I have also used the hose solution in the past. I suspect that's one that I will be relying on. Some drawbacks are that if it is wrapped in cord it takes a moment or two to get to the blade. Also, protection from the tip is minimal, although the hose can be folded over at the end to provide some protection.

I will continue to think of materials that will provide protection and a quick release also. The long thin strip of kydex I suggested in my first post may be too fragile.

 
Kydex would be do-able, but not a thin strip. What I would do is mold a piece around the entire blade and trim it up a bit. That's it. That way the open half could be pried open slightly and slipped off the blade, but all the finish work and hardware would not be there. It'd take like 10 minutes to do!
 
If you go with the split hose,rubber cement a solid piece of rubber or leather on the tip end.Use G.I. rubber bands to secure it.Rangers use them for odd stuff.

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Go to:
www.invis.com/kriscutlery/barong.html

Then note the wood scabbard wrapped with 3 bands of cotton cord. I believe the page used to say that it was done that way so that a good whack would cut thru the cord in an emergency.

( Note: Have never bought from Kris cutlery, but understand they have a decent reputation, carry a sundata similar to a keri, and also put out a catalog of real keris 2x yearly for those interested. )

The interesting thing is that on the 3 wooden scabbarded villagers I have, there are 3 narrow brass strips holding them together in roughly the same place.
 
:
With all due respect the hose may be fine on some of the smaller lighter blades. I also think that a reinforced rubber hose would be better. Some of these hoses although fairly tough might fail like the bamboo in a fall.
We used to make a rubber ice skate blade protector that was held on with some small coiled springs. The skates were super sharp,but at 90*. They would eventually cut in and chew up the inside if you twisted your ankles a lot.The were made to walk on the skates without hurtng them on surfaces besides ice.= and were fairly thick,3/8" below the edge.

Chiro,I was wondering about reinforcing the kydex sheath with some brass? You could use a piece of 1/8" thick by however wide where the edge would be and overlap (or wrap) it around the point. That would keep it from cutting through the kydex without dulling the blade. I have been pondering this for the leather scabbard I am thinking about.



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>>>>---¥vsa---->®
The civilized man sleeps behind locked doors in the city while the naked savage sleeps (with a knife) in a open hut in the jungle.
 
I just used the hose to put the axe in the PU safely.Other uses are untested by me.

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