Beltless Sheath Revisited

I got to check out the prototype, version 8.0 (or what have you :) ) and Kens work as well. I'm kicking myself for not having tried one on, but they look like a cool design, both Dave and Kens.

Ken, about how long does it take you to put one of those together?
 
Omega Leather Works said:
I got to check out the prototype, version 8.0 (or what have you :) ) and Kens work as well. I'm kicking myself for not having tried one on, but they look like a cool design, both Dave and Kens.

Ken, about how long does it take you to put one of those together?
Click to expand...

Did you get to visit Dave's place ?
If you did then I'm mighty jealous .
To answer your question about time , I honestly don't know .
I only ever make one sheath at a time , I don't have numerous sheaths at various stages of completion , I just start one and work on it until it's done . So that means I often do something to the sheath , then have to walk away from it for a few hours while I wait for the glue to dry or something . It is a system that works well because I manage to get other chores done around the home and that keeps my wife happy :)
Actual man hours to make a sheath I have no idea .
But from memory that one I sent Dave was started on Saturday morning and finished Sunday morning because I had to drive out to work Sunday afternoon . I did use a pre-made molded top that I found in my scrap bin for that sheath though and that speed up the process quite a bit .

I'm in the process of making version 2 of the Beltless this weekend and will have it finished by tonight ( Sunday ) , but I started it on Friday night because I had to wet mold it , and also a bit of trial and error has gone into this one as its different from the first and that always adds to the time spent .

Ken
 
I did get a chance to spend the day in Tehachapi. I took a number of pictures and once I get them uploaded, resized and hosted I'll start a thread. :)

I was really happy to see your work because I've admired it for so long. So clean! I think you and I are probably making sheaths at about the same rate. It takes Dave roughly 20 minutes to make one up. Silly efficiency.

I'll look forward to seeing your version 2. :)
 
Here is my Version 2 .
The flaps of the double ended pouches also act as the attachment system to the belt loops of the jeans .
I haven't bothered to refine the finish of this sheath as there are a couple of areas of the design that could be improved upon in version 3 .
But the whole idea of this was to see if the concept will work and give me a working model to trial .
I will wear it this week at work and see if it handles the real world , it certainly has worked around home for the last couple of hours :)
Its hard to take a good picture of yourself wearing one of these things .







Ken
 
You ARE Batman !!! ;)

Very cool Ken, nice forming there!
G2
 
Dang Ken thats cool! At first I'm thinking That won't work you get your knife out and the whole thing is dangling and floppiing around and then (about the end of the first cup of coffee) I think Duh! just re snap Dave geez! When you coming by for a shop visit? I need help on my molding and you definity have er down
 
Horsewright said:
Dang Ken thats cool! At first I'm thinking That won't work you get your knife out and the whole thing is dangling and floppiing around and then (about the end of the first cup of coffee) I think Duh! just re snap Dave geez! When you coming by for a shop visit? I need help on my molding and you definity have er down
Click to expand...

Its surprising Dave , but the bend and memory of the flaps keep it in place even if they are unfastened . I tried undoing both ends and jumping up and down outside on the lawn and it didn't move or come off , the overall length is kind of important as is the bend in the middle , it all combines to kind of wedge it between the loops .
The test is going to be wearing it at work in a hard use environment .
The pics are a bit deceiving , in real life its not that big , it looks like its the size of a jumbo jet in those photos which is a trick of the angle and camera .

Ken
 
now seriously, could you do a wip/tutorial for your wetforming? i'm not sure, but that sak/flashlight sheath is probably closer to 3mm leather than 2mm... i couldn't get this kind of shaping if my life depended on it... also did you dye the leather or is it pre dyed?
 
Its funny that you all have mentioned the wet forming when it is one of the areas that I'm not happy with . I wanted it to be more defined than what I got .
I wanted to make the two pouches out of the same piece of leather for a few different reasons . The flashlight switch is on the end of the handle so if you make a closed end you run the risk of the flashlight being accidentally switched on when you push it into the sheath , also I wanted to create a stretching tension on the sheath as it bends in the middle to conform to the curve of your body , but the end result was that I didn't get the definition I wanted where the two pouches meet .
Wet forming is one of the more enjoyable aspects of making sheaths in my view .
Next time I'm making something I'll take time to photograph the process .
It's not hard , you just need to take your time and don't rush it .
The leather used isn't pre-dyed and I didn't take many pics as I was making it , but here are couple .

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I didn't use my best leather for this one as it was always going to be a prototype , so its a bit rougher than I would usually use , the dye is British Tan but I really put it on heavy to darken it and to harden the leather as much as possible .

Ken
 
Hope you guys don't mind me sharing this design on this thread....
Here is a design of sheath for carrying just beneath your belly (mentioned in my post somewhere above) , initially I was going to retrofit the studs actually on my favorite jeans/pants in a belt less scenario, but changed to a belted prototype, this is a rough finished product so be gentle on the critics I had only been doing leather work for a few months.

This could be adapted in many ways, but the concept I wanted was to be able to remove the knife before entering a bank or similar secure conscious establishment.

The belt piece could be adapted to belt less and still maintain the clip off concept (quicker perhaps)

I tested this for a few weeks and the knife stays put due to the large studs.

jrwc0.jpg


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Day three at work and all is well . The only problem I've encountered is the front flap coming undone a couple of times .
The flashlight stayed put and the sheath didn't move because of the bend in the flap , but it had me confused as to why it was happening .
I just worked it out though , over here in Australia we drive on the wrong side of the road compared to most of you guys .
I'm wearing this sheath on my left side , so when I put my seatbelt on and off the seat belt clip sometimes catches the flap . I might try wearing it on my right side , the beauty of this is you can wear it either way .
Its strange that this problem is happening though because I've worn pouches on the left a lot and don't remember it being a problem before .

583785fa6f331a6e6ad1847c73d511e7_zpsxgxqmauh.jpg


Ken
 
Ken , that's one of the reasons I came up with the clip off sheath so when I drive it can be unclipped, I found all my sheaths, either cross draw, vertical etc interfered with seat belt ( also drive on the left), and of course being right handed too.
 
Eldergeek I really like that idea. I can see where that would be very advantageous like the beltless idea.
 
Hi.

Very cool idea. I'm working on a sheath with similar possibilities (horizontal and vertical carry). My idea is to have four "male" snap buttons on the back of the sheat, in a square. Get another piece of leather to be the loop part, with four "female" snap parts. depending on how you fasten them, it is horizontal or vertical.

This beltless sheath could be one-size-fits-all if one of the ends had a metal stud and some holes to change its position. I'll try to get a prototype to see if it works.
 
Wow those are all very cool.
And very well executed.
 
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