care for leather handle and sheaths

[m_ev]

I have a sog leather desert dagger and want to keep the handle and sheath from drying or cracking but do not want to discolor them in any way. any suggestions would be appreciated

 

[David Martin]

Olive oil works good on leather . It will darken it some but will lighten back over time and not allow cracks . Use a light coat. DM

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Paste wax or neutral shoe polish. Don't apply any oil to the leather.

 

[orthogonal1]

I have a sog leather desert dagger and want to keep the handle and sheath from drying or cracking but do not want to discolor them in any way. any suggestions would be appreciated

Wax will protect them for a time.

But for treatment, I'd get over the discoloration of the leather for a knife I am using. I use Fiebings and Bick and Oakwood products for leather.

 

[Bushman5]

have you considered doing a beeswax dip? melt beeswax in a double boiler, soak the sheath for a 10 seconds, fling off the hot wax and buff dry with a rag. Insert knife and the sheath will form to it. Waterproof

 

[Hitthespot]

Beeswax is an excellent protectant for leather. It's natural, waterproof, and will not cause the leather to dry rot, crack, or dry out. Some manufacturers specifically state not to place oil on leather sheaths. IIRC Randall made is one of them. Oil can make the knife difficult to insert and remove from the sheath.

Bill

 

[leatherman]

Fiebings "Leather Balm with Atom Wax" is an excellent all around protecter. I use it for most of my work. Just rub it on with a rag and buff when its dry.

There are some good paste waxes, but read the ingredients, some have volatile distillates. Same goes for neatsfoot oils, some are great, but if its says "compound" avoid.

Sno Seal, believe it or not, is one of the better products out there for conditioning your leather. Aussie Leather Conditioner by Fiebings is another great product. Both contain beeswax.

Caution on the beeswax dip, its the easiest way to ruin a good sheath if your not very very careful. Well, besides drying it in the microwave that is. Its much easier, and safer to use one of the above products.

Edit: I just read the darkening part. The Leather Balm With Atom Wax will darken the least of all these. Aussie Leather Conditioner will slightly darken the leather. Sno Seal says on the bottle that it will darken the leather. Paste waxes will do some darkening, but not badly.

Is the SOG sheath an oil finish or does it have a gloss to it?

 

[L. Richard]

Renaissance Wax doesn't darken leather appreciably. You can get it on ebay. However, a pure wax may protect leather to some extent, but it doesn't prevent it from drying out. Neutral shoe wax may be the best compromise, although it may have a slight darkening effect due to some neatsfoot oil content. Sno Seal is another good product. Oils soften leather, which is undesirable for hiking boots, so products such as Sno Seal and Nikwax do not contain oils, as far as I know.

 

[m_ev]

i want to thank everyone for the information provided it has all been very helpful, Thanks again, Mark