An alternative to the Esee MOLLE back

[lancerd-1138]

Hi all

I've been on this forum for a while, but not posted, so mods feel free to move it if you think it should be in a particular sub-forum.

I love my Esee knives. They are really great for my purposes, and I have no complaints about my Esee 4's kydex sheath. I do however hat the belt clip is comes with, as it rides far too high on the hip. I tried a soft belt loop made from webbing attached via the holes in the sheath, but the knife has so much weight in the handle that it keeps trying to tip over. Esee does sell a MOLLE back which works fine, and which I use along with their survival pouch when I'm hiking, but I wanted a lightweight, low profile system for general use. Anyway, I came up with the following design made from sheet metal.

Today I had some time off work, so after locating some scrap I went to work cutting and bending, with this as the result.

I chose to blue it to match the sheath, but it could be finished any other way that takes your fancy, painted, brushed or even polished. I've found it works very well, holding the knife in a stable and comfortable position. I suppose it could just as easily be made from kydex too, but I don't have any Anyway hopefully this will give others some ideas for different ways to carry their favourite knives.

 

[hunter55]

Well done!!!

 

[jdk1]

Very nice! One issue with metal is that it can eat at your belt, but not all do. I'd like to see your design in HD plastic with a universal or adaptable sheath attachment system. Good job.

 

[lancerd-1138]

Thanks for the feedback

I think you could reduce the possibility of tearing up a belt by using sheet metal of a reasonable thickness and being careful to clean up and round off all the edges. Making the loop fairly broad could also help by reducing the point load and the amount of swing going on. I don't generally work in plastic as I'm more familiar with wood and metal (to the point of using balsa in preference to styrofoam), and I'm still developing my metalworking skills. However I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work in plastic, so if that's your thing, go for it and let me know how it goes.

The problem with an adaptable attachment system is that it has the same issue I have with the off the shelf MOLLE back, which is that the more options it has, the more you add weight and bulk. I made this clip to the contours and measurements of the sheath, but the design is not to scale and left without measurements so it should work with any sheath that uses screws or can be drilled for them by plugging in the appropriate numbers. I'm not a designer, I just figured it might get the ball rolling for some other folks to come up with their own carry solutions to suit their particular purposes rather than just relying on what's commercially available. Especially if it means using up some scrap material instead of shelling out $30 for a functional carry system. Times are tough after all.

 

[MatthewSB]

That looks great, anything that costs little more than time and functions is a win.

Very nice! One issue with metal is that it can eat at your belt, but not all do. I'd like to see your design in HD plastic with a universal or adaptable sheath attachment system. Good job.

This ^

Every metal clip, from ESEE or Tops or whoever, ate my belt and pants and pack and anything else it got near enough to rub against.

Spartan Blades' kydex sheaths come with a very thick (and stiff) nylon doohickey ( <- my computer spellchecked and corrected 'doohickey') that works as a belt loop and drops the knife farther down while being rigid enough to keep it from flopping around. It's the lightest, cheapest, and most functional solution I've seen.