Cold Steel SRK Sheath - TIGHT!!!

L

Lyndino

Joined
Feb 22, 2022
Messages
84
Got myself an SRK SK-5 last week and the knife feels wonderful in the hand, robust yet light. Sharp AF out of the box.
But the sheath is something else. It's really REALLY tight, like 2 hands to remove it tight.
The blade and the spine contact the sheath at the same time and it's cutting into the sheath. I know it's plastic and what not but it doesn't feel right.
I've reached out to GSM the same day I received it in the mail but have received no response (not surprised by the comments this place praises them for).

So I figure I have 2 options:
1, order a kydex / polymer sheath online somewhere.
2, I was thinking of forming a piece of copper wire (household electrical wire) the same dimensions of the sheath / blade, running it down the blade side and out the drain hole on the bottom, then using a battery to heat up the wire just enough to melt / soften the plastic and quickly inserting the blade to shape it?

Thoughts?

https://imgur.com/0lzTBuC
 
I have never seen one of these coldsteel sheaths in person or from this angle. That is a terrible design, and I can see why people say they suck. Personally I would tape up the blade and see if I could soften the plastic with a heatgun or hairdryer and remould it a bit, and failing that maybe fill it full of glitter and send back to GSM with a letter explaining how bad it sucks.
You would better of just buying a properly made kydex sheath from someone here.
 
1. You have the option of replacing that sheath with a Kydex one, Leather one or a Nylon one. Several places offer Kydex, one maker I know offers leather, and the Spec-Ops Combat Master 6in short sheath will fit the SRK. A number of people have had issues with the OEM Secure-Ex sheath as it is glass filled nylon and if it contacts the edge it can dull the blade. That said, many people also have had no problems.

2. If you choose to keep the OEM sheath and want to adjust the fit, I would try to locate the exact point(s) where it is too tight. Then, with the knife in the sheath hit that area with a hairdryer on max heat and close. If that Secure-Ex sheath behaves like a Kydex sheath, it should stretch it out at the tight spot. You might want to "wiggle" the blade just a little bit.

I did this with my Kydex sheath for a Cold Steel Trailmaster a little while ago. A heatgun (like $20)would have made it easier but I managed to get away with a hairdryer.
It may be worth trying, and if it totally fails you can still look at replacement sheath options.

As you've noted, Customer Sevice for Cold Steel after the GSM takeover has become non-existent. As you just got this SRK last week you might want to contact the dealer to see if they would replace it.
 
I went through the same thing with my SRK that I picked up a couple months ago. It was also contacting the edge, enough so the after testing a number of draws there was plastic shavings falling out of the sheath and noticeable dulling of the blade..

I ended up just ordering a RK kydex sheath with a tek-lok for it. $45 well spent imo.. Plenty of other good sheath are also available, many good makers on this forum..

Some may argue spending the same on a sheath that you did on the knife is dumb, but a sheath can make or break carrying your knife. Same ideology as spending 2x on your scope than you did on the rifle .. And the RK is 100x nicer to use than the OEM sheath.
 
I might try modding the interior of the sheath using a flat file.

Flat files typically have one edge cut so it can be filed with. I might use the edge of a flat file to enlarge the spine side of the sheath, inserting the file down into the sheath and filing up/down/in/out, stopping and testing the fit after every few strokes.

I say "might" because I don't have the knife and sheath to examine, and I can't tell from the pic how thick the sheath material is along the back and how much could be removed. If the sheath material is thick in that area, with material to spare, I would imagine it would only take the removal of a very small amount of material to achieve a decent fit for the blade.

Such files are widely available at chain hardware stores like Home Depot, etc, and they're inexpensive.
 
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Lyndino said:
Got myself an SRK SK-5 last week and the knife feels wonderful in the hand, robust yet light. Sharp AF out of the box.
But the sheath is something else. It's really REALLY tight, like 2 hands to remove it tight.
The blade and the spine contact the sheath at the same time and it's cutting into the sheath. I know it's plastic and what not but it doesn't feel right.
I've reached out to GSM the same day I received it in the mail but have received no response (not surprised by the comments this place praises them for).

So I figure I have 2 options:
1, order a kydex / polymer sheath online somewhere.
2, I was thinking of forming a piece of copper wire (household electrical wire) the same dimensions of the sheath / blade, running it down the blade side and out the drain hole on the bottom, then using a battery to heat up the wire just enough to melt / soften the plastic and quickly inserting the blade to shape it?

Thoughts?

https://imgur.com/0lzTBuC
Click to expand...
Option # 3. Use a heat gun or hairdryer to heat up the mouth of the sheath .

If using a heat gun , go easy until you figure out how much heat to just soften slightly . Don't melt your sheath !

Hairdryer might take awhile to get the sheath softened . Be patient .

Insert knife , pull it out ...repeat until it feels right . Might need to reheat several times .

Might help to rock the handle side to side, inside sheath while warm .

Don't overdo it . You don't want it too loose .

Option #4 . Just use the knife .

Repeated drawing will eventually wear in the fit .

The sheath will wear on the softer handle material .

#5 . File down the tabs / high spots slightly, inside the sheath .
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Unless you are burdened with excessive wealth , I would try to work with the supplied sheath before buying another one .

I have a ton of these SecureX types and they have always worked fine for me . :cool:
 
You can use a heat gun or maybe a hair dryer to soften up that part of the sheath and spread it out a bit....
 
Does Buck or Kabar have a sheath that would work? 🤷🏻‍♂️
They can be bought cheap.
 
If you plan on carrying and using it regularly I strongly recommend just biting the bullet and ordering a kydex sheath. They aren't wildly expensive and a decent one will make the knife vastly more pleasurable to carry and use. Cold Steel Secure-Ex sheaths have been pretty bad even before the GSM takeover and I can't imagine they've improved.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
If you plan on carrying and using it regularly I strongly recommend just biting the bullet and ordering a kydex sheath. They aren't wildly expensive and a decent one will make the knife vastly more pleasurable to carry and use. Cold Steel Secure-Ex sheaths have been pretty bad even before the GSM takeover and I can't imagine they've improved.
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They’re not all ill-fitting. In my experience with Cold Steel knives, sometimes the dimensions of the knife and even sheaths differ from batch to batch. Ordering kydex turns a $35 knife into an $85+ investment easily. Not really worth it IMO. I’d sooner exchange it and hope for a better fit.
 
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jux t said:
They’re not all ill-fitting. In my experience with Cold Steel knives, sometimes the dimensions of the knife and even sheaths differ from batch to batch. Ordering kydex turns a $35 knife into an $85+ investment easily. Not really worth it IMO.
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Ill fitting is less my issue (though it's not great) than the fact that they use some kind of glass reinforced plastic that dulls the blade whenever it contacts the edge. I don't mind resharpening, but I prefer to do it because I used the knife rather than because of the sheath.

Personally, if I'm carrying a knife regularly and drawing and resheathing it fairly often, a nice sheath that I never have to spend time thinking about is very, very worth the $$.

If it's more of a blade for the accumulation/collection or a beater you keep in a vehicle or toolbox, then I'm much more likely to accept whatever factory sheath comes with.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Ill fitting is less my issue (though it's not great) than the fact that they use some kind of glass reinforced plastic that dulls the blade whenever it contacts the edge. I don't mind resharpening, but I prefer to do it because I used the knife rather than because of the sheath.

Personally, if I'm carrying a knife regularly and drawing and resheathing it fairly often, a nice sheath that I never have to spend time thinking about is very, very worth the $$.

If it's more of a blade for the accumulation/collection or a beater you keep in a vehicle or toolbox, then I'm much more likely to accept whatever factory sheath comes with.
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It’s all about the fit when it comes to these hard plastic sheaths. Kydex will dull an edge as well, with a Rockwell R hardness of 90. None of this should be a concern with a well fit sheath. The fit of that sheath is bad, and it should be exchanged.
 
goldie said:
You can use a heat gun or maybe a hair dryer to soften up that part of the sheath and spread it out a bit....
Click to expand...
This makes the most sense to me. I do appreciate the outrage and the suggestion to get revenge, but since I live in the real world, I know not everything is perfect. As a contractor I am constantly buying tools and consumables, and quality or customer service isn't what it was even just a year or two ago. In my world, a tight sheath doesn't seem like a huge deal, so think DocJD DocJD and you have the right idea.

As IM pointed out, CS sheaths have been problematic over the years. Some folks love them and have no problems, and other claim nearly irreversible damage by the supplied sheath. Sad, seems like the carrying vehicle for the knife would be some kind of priority. But then again, how many hundreds of thousands of CS knives are sold that have sheaths that work just fine? Don't know. You might even be better to order another one and see it the sheath fits better.

Search "make my own Kydex sheath" and "homemade Kydex sheath" etc., and you will see how easy these sheaths are to tune up to make it just what you want. Or, make your own. A heat gun is cheap and I use mine for a lot things so I have one on hand. I had a Kydex sheath problem with a knife years ago, the knife was too loose in the sheath. I searched for help everywhere, and landed on YouTube. I watched a video where the maker showed at the end of the fabrication how to tune up the sheath for the "final fit" and I had my sheath tightened up to my liking in about 15 minutes.
 
jux t said:
It’s all about the fit when it comes to these hard plastic sheaths. Kydex will dull an edge as well, with a Rockwell R hardness of 90. None of this should be a concern with a well fit sheath. The fit of that sheath is bad, and it should be exchanged.
Click to expand...
Hrr hardness really isn't at all comparable to Hrc. Hrr is specifically used for very soft and thin materials. Glass filled nylon, for example, is measured on the Rockwell M scale, which is for much harder materials. Your edge contacting a kydex sheath won't dull your edge anymore than the knife edge contacting pretty much anything.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Hrr hardness really isn't at all comparable to Hrc. Hrr is specifically used for very soft and thin materials. Glass filled nylon, for example, is measured on the Rockwell M scale, which is for much harder materials. Your edge contacting a kydex sheath won't dull your edge anymore than the knife edge contacting pretty much anything.
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It’s not good for the edge. Worse than leather. Again, it’s an issue of poor fit, and it’s my opinion that a $35 knife is not worthy of a $50+ custom sheath. YMMV.
 
jux t said:
It’s not good for the edge. Worse than leather. Again, it’s an issue of poor fit, and it’s my opinion that a $35 knife is not worthy of a $50+ custom sheath. YMMV.
Click to expand...
Sure, it's a bit worse than leather, but glass filled plastics are an order of magnitude worse than either. End grain wood cutting boards are better than bamboo for your edge, but I'll happily go with either over, say, glass or marble.

As far as the added expense, that's definitely up to the user. As I said, for me, if it's going to be something I carry and use pretty regularly an upgraded sheath is well worth the expense.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Sure, it's a bit worse than leather, but glass filled plastics are an order of magnitude worse than either. End grain wood cutting boards are better than bamboo for your edge, but I'll happily go with either over, say, glass or marble.

As far as the added expense, that's definitely up to the user. As I said, for me, if it's going to be something I carry and use pretty regularly an upgraded sheath is well worth the expense.
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I know from experience that the SK5 SRK knives don’t all rub the edge on the sheaths, so it makes more sense to exchange it than to pay more than the price of the knife for custom kydex. To me at least.

These things fly off the shelves because they’re $35 and they work. Sometimes there’s an outlier, as in OP’s case.
 
Funny you mentioned tuning up a sheath i did do that with a kydex sheath i made i used a heat gun in the end to tighten it on the top if you have one you can use that and maybe a big flat head screwdriver or old butter knife to push the plastic back/open it up a bit.once it cools it should be wider ..
 
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