- Joined
- Mar 22, 2011
- Messages
- 1,084
Hey everyone,
Most of you probably don't know or care but I was just part of an expedition that is doing a megatransect of South America through the wide part. It has gone through the Andes and the extreme environments of the cloud forests of the Eastern Andes and the Amazon Jungle. I joined the expedition for a short time around Iquitos, Peru.
The Amazon 5000 Expedition's leader is Mickey Grosman.
His knife of choice for the expedition has been the Pathfinder (Dave Canterbury's knife) made by BHK. By the time I saw it, the knife had done about 2100 miles. The knife was doing great.
He and I both favor the low riding knife sheath style for a fixed blade of this size. The sheath that comes with the Pathfinder knife is a really good sheath. The extremes of environment that the knife and sheath have endured are amazing. It has been freezing cold in the mountains, hot and dry in some semi-desert, wet 100% of the time in the cloud forest, and humid and nasty-hot in the jungle. The knife and sheath have been in and out of rivers, swamps and lagoons. By the time I joined the expedition, Mickey had developed the opinion that the leather belt loop and sheath back components of the sheath should be made of Kydex. The extremes of super wet to super dry, and super hot to super cold had taken a toll on the leather portion of the sheath. Mickey had some extra stitching placed by a cobbler in a village.
As seen in the above photos, he also added an extra layer of retention by using a piece of surgical tubing tied with bank line. Don't get me wrong, the sheath was still quite functional and is clearly an example of fine craftsmanship and intelligent design, but the extremes of environment demanded too much of the leather.
My current fixed blade of choice is the BK-16. It comes with a very good sheath as well, and I have had no problems with the sheath. I especially like the pocket on the front which holds my sharpening stone and lighter.
It originally came with two of the nylon button straps for retention, but I removed one and replaced it with some shock cord. I got that idea from IAwoodsman. I also like that the back of the sheath is compatible with Molle gear and that it offers three positions of belt carry, depending on how you set it up. So my reason for making a new sheath was NOT because the old sheath has any problems.
I took the sheath design from the Pathfinder knife and incorporated a few design changes that work better for my style. I also included the aspects suggested for improvement based on 2100 miles of a megatransect of South America.
It is big and ugly but it is simple and it works. Complicated stuff fails. I spaced the grommet holes to be compatible with Molle gear in case you would want to tie it onto a pack. I've added a 10 foot length of paracord to help accomplish that task. The Chicago screws holding the lower part of the kydex to the belt loop have been treated with Lock-Tite and superglue.
I also incorporated Mickey's idea for a secondary retention system using latex surgical tubing tied with bank line.
I'm headed back to the expedition in the near future so the sheath will get some extreme environment testing. In the moderate climate of Iowa, it has done very well. The advantage of using leather for the belt loop is that there is some flexibility between the kydex and the belt loop portion of the sheath. You lose that with my sheath. I've shaped it with a gentle curve so that it rides very well over the anatomy. The shaping makes up for the lack of flexibility a little bit but the sheath is still stiff. If that is a big deal to you, you probably wouldn't like this sheath.
This was my first knife sheath. The execution was far from perfect but it is functional and the design is rooted in experience and reality. I'll be evaluating it and making improvements as I need to.
Most of you probably don't know or care but I was just part of an expedition that is doing a megatransect of South America through the wide part. It has gone through the Andes and the extreme environments of the cloud forests of the Eastern Andes and the Amazon Jungle. I joined the expedition for a short time around Iquitos, Peru.
The Amazon 5000 Expedition's leader is Mickey Grosman.
His knife of choice for the expedition has been the Pathfinder (Dave Canterbury's knife) made by BHK. By the time I saw it, the knife had done about 2100 miles. The knife was doing great.
He and I both favor the low riding knife sheath style for a fixed blade of this size. The sheath that comes with the Pathfinder knife is a really good sheath. The extremes of environment that the knife and sheath have endured are amazing. It has been freezing cold in the mountains, hot and dry in some semi-desert, wet 100% of the time in the cloud forest, and humid and nasty-hot in the jungle. The knife and sheath have been in and out of rivers, swamps and lagoons. By the time I joined the expedition, Mickey had developed the opinion that the leather belt loop and sheath back components of the sheath should be made of Kydex. The extremes of super wet to super dry, and super hot to super cold had taken a toll on the leather portion of the sheath. Mickey had some extra stitching placed by a cobbler in a village.
As seen in the above photos, he also added an extra layer of retention by using a piece of surgical tubing tied with bank line. Don't get me wrong, the sheath was still quite functional and is clearly an example of fine craftsmanship and intelligent design, but the extremes of environment demanded too much of the leather.
My current fixed blade of choice is the BK-16. It comes with a very good sheath as well, and I have had no problems with the sheath. I especially like the pocket on the front which holds my sharpening stone and lighter.
It originally came with two of the nylon button straps for retention, but I removed one and replaced it with some shock cord. I got that idea from IAwoodsman. I also like that the back of the sheath is compatible with Molle gear and that it offers three positions of belt carry, depending on how you set it up. So my reason for making a new sheath was NOT because the old sheath has any problems.
I took the sheath design from the Pathfinder knife and incorporated a few design changes that work better for my style. I also included the aspects suggested for improvement based on 2100 miles of a megatransect of South America.
It is big and ugly but it is simple and it works. Complicated stuff fails. I spaced the grommet holes to be compatible with Molle gear in case you would want to tie it onto a pack. I've added a 10 foot length of paracord to help accomplish that task. The Chicago screws holding the lower part of the kydex to the belt loop have been treated with Lock-Tite and superglue.
I also incorporated Mickey's idea for a secondary retention system using latex surgical tubing tied with bank line.
I'm headed back to the expedition in the near future so the sheath will get some extreme environment testing. In the moderate climate of Iowa, it has done very well. The advantage of using leather for the belt loop is that there is some flexibility between the kydex and the belt loop portion of the sheath. You lose that with my sheath. I've shaped it with a gentle curve so that it rides very well over the anatomy. The shaping makes up for the lack of flexibility a little bit but the sheath is still stiff. If that is a big deal to you, you probably wouldn't like this sheath.
This was my first knife sheath. The execution was far from perfect but it is functional and the design is rooted in experience and reality. I'll be evaluating it and making improvements as I need to.
