Camo kydex

Justin King · Jan 11, 2010

Has anyone tried the forest or urban color camo kydex that Knifekits has availible now on their site? I ordered some of the desert digi a few weeks ago and have discovered that the camo pattern comes off pretty easily. You really have to baby it just to get the sheath finished without any damage to the finish, you can practically take it off just rubbing it against clothing. The color of the base material does not match the pattern colors either so when you get a spot rubbed bare it really looks like crap. I'm disappointed. Are the other colors any better?
I want to add that the product description on thier web-page says that this should not be an issue and that the finish is tough enough to withstand bead blasting as a surface treatment. I do not believe this description was there when I ordered the piece I have now, so it is quite possible that I have a different product or an older version. I was just hoping for some objective input from anyone else who has used this stuff.

hoopster · Jan 11, 2010

I haven't tried it yet mostly because it's so much more expensive than the other colors. What temp. did you heat it to and have you tried contacting them about the issue?

Justin King · Jan 11, 2010

I heated it to 350 F. I tested some portions which I never heated and they are the same. It really wouldn't be much of an issue if the base material matched one of the pattern colors, I would have thought that would be a no-brainer.
I have not contacted them about it yet but I might tomorrow. I am wondering if they changed their product since I ordered this stuff, but that was only about a month ago... the stuff I have would definitely not stand up to bead blasting as they state on the web-page.

hoopster · Jan 11, 2010

350 F might be too hot. Maybe someone more knowledgeable than me could comment on that but I've found that sometimes around 300 the kydex can actually fuse together which indicates to me that it's not just softening but melting. Is it possible that you melted the surface or some sort of camo coating? I would try it around 275-285 and see what happens. Kydex is still very workable at those temps. I usually heat around 295 for 4-5 minutes. How long you leave it in may be an issue also.

Justin King · Jan 11, 2010

I appreciate the input. I ordered a 12" by 24" sheet, so I have plenty of material left which I have never heated, and the finish is just as fragile, so I don't think it's because I over-heated it. I will try heating it at a lower heat for a little longer next time though.

hoopster · Jan 12, 2010

Justin King said:
I appreciate the input. I ordered a 12" by 24" sheet, so I have plenty of material left which I have never heated, and the finish is just as fragile, so I don't think it's because I over-heated it. I will try heating it at a lower heat for a little longer next time though.

In that case, I'd definitely check with the distributor. I'm really hoping some one else who's tried the camo kydex will chime in. I'd like to try it someday but don't want to spend the extra money on something unstable. Please let us know what you find out.

Justin King · Jan 15, 2010

Well I decided the only way to know for sure was to have the stuff in hand, so I ordered 1 sheet each of the urban and woodland camo. It is definitely a different product from the desert pattern stuff I got from them recently, the new stuff has a tougher finish, although it is still a coating of some sort, and can be scratched through. The digi pattern is also much finer than the desert pattern I got.
The really good news is that the base color of the kydex is black which color appears in the camo patterns so when the finish does wear a little it will not be so glaring. The texture is also fairly heavy so when the surface rubs off there is still some color down in the texture. I think it is a huge improvement over the stuff I got from them last time. Hopefully they are using a better base color for the desert pattern as well.

hoopster · Jan 16, 2010

Justin King said:
Well I decided the only way to know for sure was to have the stuff in hand, so I ordered 1 sheet each of the urban and woodland camo. It is definitely a different product from the desert pattern stuff I got from them recently, the new stuff has a tougher finish, although it is still a coating of some sort, and can be scratched through. The digi pattern is also much finer than the desert pattern I got.
The really good news is that the base color of the kydex is black which color appears in the camo patterns so when the finish does wear a little it will not be so glaring. The texture is also fairly heavy so when the surface rubs off there is still some color down in the texture. I think it is a huge improvement over the stuff I got from them last time. Hopefully they are using a better base color for the desert pattern as well.

Thanks for the update. I don't see a need for the camo kydex yet but I'll have to try it eventually, it looks pretty sweet.