ArcLite Sheath Problem

Bugs3x

Bugs3x

Joined
Feb 21, 2001
Messages
1,981
Hi all. First time I've visited this forum. Am barely able to monitor those I'm a regular on. But, own 2 Camillus, and possibly a 3rd pretty soon.

Am posting because of a problem with my ArcLite sheath that I just discovered yesterday. Rather, I should say my ankle discovered it. As I returned home from an errand, I bent over to pet our faithful hound. At that point, my ArcLite slipped from under my T-shirt, did a 180, and attempted to stick in my ankle bone. Since the bone is so near the surface, this effort failed and the knife ended up on the floor.

Then, last night, I think when I was getting out of my car, I moved my left hand across my chest -- with the seatbelt, as I recall. My thumb hung up on the point of the ArcLite which was poking out the chest area of my shirt.

Needless to say, this is not a welcome development. I recently wrapped the handle with parachute cord, or a cord just slightly less in diameter. So far as I could tell, the cord didn't interfere with the lip of the sheath. I recognized that could be a problem. SInce the knife is carried under my T-shirt, I've never noticed when it came out of the sheath, what positions it occupied before falling or sticking me.

Candidly, I have always thought the handle of the ArcLite to be quite uncomfortable. And, it is so thin, I worried about it turning in my hand under significant stresses. The wrap made it perfect! I love the way it feels with the wrap. I put my other 3 neckers aside, and have worn nothing else since the wrapping.

Any similar circumstances out there? Any advice? I have checked, and the knife is no far easier to pull from the sheath than it was before I wrapped the handle. But, I still don't believe the wrap is exerting undue force on the lip of the sheat, tho that may indeed be the truth.

I know I can order a great sheath from Normark, I have before on my CRKT Companion. But, I confess a reluctance to buying a sheath that costs more than the knife which it will carry.

Any ideas guys/gals? What am I to do? I don't want to go back to my CRKT Stiff KISS. I like the ArcLite more. My REKAT Fand shares a similar problem with my ArcLite. It dropped out once when I was on asphalt, making a nice couple scratches on the edge.

Help please. Thanks in advance,

EDIT: No need for a new thread, or to step on someone else's. Have any of you tried neck sheaths for your EDC's? Strikes me that with its relatively light weight, it might be a great knife for that treatment. Would sure appreciate any feedback on this, whether Normark, Sastre, or the outfit in Spokane, or Blade-Tech. I'm not coordinated enough to do it myself. TIF,
 
Bugs3x,
We would VERY MUCH like to take a look at your/our knife/sheath. We have not had any trouble like this reported, and we want to make sure that you are not hurt. Please don't wear your knife until we get a chance to take a look at it, or we at least get a chance to talk.

If you email me your phone #, day or nite, I will give you a call on our nickel, and we will figure the best way to take care of this. I susupect that the cord wrap must be interfering with the lockup of the sheath, but if you say its not, I have to defer to you. I look forward to talking to you.
My email is....

wfennell@rjsonline.net
 
I put an X wrap on mine with 550 cord and haven't had any problem. There are so many different ways to wrap it, though.... I suspect the wrap might be interfering only occasionally. Wrap can shift back and forth a little, depending on how you wrap it ... it might be that only one time in a hundred when you sheath the knife it doesn't quite lock in the way it should. The dreaded 99% factor -- working 99% of the time is not good enough! It can drive you nuts trying to figure out what's going wrong when it only happens one time in a hundred, too -- I've spent more time on pistols that stovepipe one shot in a hundred....

I suggest trying your best to push the wrap up toward the point of the knife, and then try sheathing it in a half-hearted way without really pushing it into the sheath forcefully, and see if you can shake it out of the sheath. If you can get it to fail then you'll know what's wrong and fixing it will probably be easy -- just alter the wrap a little, or push it well back out of the way and use a drop of superglue to keep it there.

On the other hand it might be the sheath is too loose and the wrap has nothing to do with it. Then you can use a blowdrier to heat and form the kydex -- cautiously -- or let Camillus take care of it.
 
Thanks, Cougar. I appreciate the input. Looking where the cord and lip of the sheath intersect, it appears like the cord is dented a bit. I see no indication of the lips of the sheath being wedged open any farther than normal.

I didn't do exactly as you suggested, but I pulled the knife out of the sheath, and just the way it was, inserted it into the sheath as I normally would do. I then shook the sheath mightily for a couple minutes, and was totally unable to dislodge the knife from the sheath.

I've e-mailed Ron. I think the problem may be related to the knife bumping into my fanny pack, when I drive my new car. It is comfortable for me, but am sure my driving posture is different than in either of my other cars. I'll wait to hear from Ron, and probably mail them my knife, whatever we decide.

Appreciate your interest and advice,
 
Cougar, can you tell me more about using a blow dryer to heat up and shrink a Kydex sheath? I have a new Cuda Jr CQB that came out of the box with a very sloppy sheath. Being in Canada its a pain to send anything across the border for repair. I would like to get some pointers on what tempature to use, how long to heat it, and any other tips you might have.

Thanks.
 
I'm probably not the best guy to answer that because I haven't tried it, only read posts about it. You could run a search ... but I don't recall reading any weird secrets.... They say if you put it in a toaster oven or use a heat gun you're likely to overheat it and ruin it. Use a blowdrier and heat only the part you want to reshape, and don't let it get too hot....

I see posts from sheathmakers suggesting their customers try that before sending it back and promising to replace it if they ruin it -- and so far I haven't seen any reports of ruining a sheath with a blowdrier -- everybody seems to be successful first try. I have seen posts about ruining sheaths in a toaster oven.

I get the impression it's easy enough, less hassle than sending a sheath back. That way you can get it exactly the way you want it, too; a lot of the problems with kydex seem to be that some people want it tight and others don't, so it's hard for a sheathmaker to please everybody.
 
Bugs, that idea that your fanny pack might be pulling the knife out of the sheath in your new car sounds reasonable to me. It doesn't sound like the sheath is defective, but maybe if it were made especially tight that would solve the problem. See above, about some people wanting tighter sheaths than others.... Maybe that's because some people have smaller cars? :)
 
Thanks, Cougar. The more I thought about this, the more convinced I am there is nothing wrong with the sheath. I cannot shake the knife loose from the sheath, no matter how hard I try.

The thing I didn't think about, or pay any attention to is the hangman's noose lanyard I have on the end of the handle. I'm pretty sure the seatbelt on the new car comes up higher onto my body. I think that when I've sort of leaned forward, that the lanyard gets between me and the seat belt. Then, when I straighten up, the lanyard is trapped, and pulls the knife from the sheath.

I was so proud of my first noose too, but reckon it has to go. I don't think the handle of the knife itself will get caught that way, if I cut off the tail. Darn.

I apologize for any implications that it was the fault of the sheath. Simply wasn't thinking clearly -- I can blame that on my meds, can't I? I really do take a lot in a vain effort towards giving the illusion of normalcy.

I did switch to my Fang today. No tail, tho the handle is wrapped. Of course, it is shorter than the ArcLite also, but I think it is the lack of the dangling cord. Anyhow, no problems with it being pulled out at all. Not conclusive proof, but evidence nonetheless.
 
i left mine in the back of the car parked in the sun, it got cooked now its too loose, can i fix this, i have thought about ironing it or something
 
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