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Does kydes sheath harm the blade?
- Thread starter hjmuaz
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2010
- Messages
- 491
What BC said. Kydex scuffs happen, no way around it but the edge should never be effected on a well made sheath.
Not necessarily. In many cases blade contact with sheath can be avoided or minimized.
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2007
- Messages
- 2,738
Please explain how contact with a sheath when inserting/extracting a blade can be avoided.
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2010
- Messages
- 535
I think he meant edge, not blade.
ive had several kydex and leather sheaths, honestly ive seen just as much wear with the leather as kydex. with the kydex the edge should be in the seam of the 2 halves. so it shouldnt touch. if it did it might cause more wear than leather. either way ive never seen edge wear caused by any sheaths ive used. not going to say it cant happen though.
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2010
- Messages
- 8,340
Welcome to BF!
It have to be a really screwed up sheath, if edge cuts the kydex.
No, I meant the blade. When you insert/extract the blade, there usually some contact with kydex, but it is possible to minimize it to the point when sheath doesn't really scuff the blade.
I spent quite some time re-adjusting one factory sheath and right now it doesn't leave scuffs on almost mirror like finish.
As you can see here, there are some factory grind marks visible going across the blade, but there are no usual kydex marks going along the blade. I must say it isn't easy to get a perfect fit.
The most important thing when making a good kydex sheath is to use spacers and not just sandwich the blade between kydex. Good retention can usually be achieved by holding on to the handle instead of the blade.
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2009
- Messages
- 1,421
I agree with you there. If the blade scrapes the sides during sheathing and unsheathing, then that is due to user's actions. A good kydex sheath should allow a careful user to avoid scratches.
Scratches, rattles, and weak retention can be avoided with skill. I'm not there yet.
unlike traditional leather, kydex is less troublesome to maintain as it is durable.
when anything is secured via friction, it's bound to wear down the softer surfaces which come into positive contact.
bare steel would hardly be marred immediately by materials by which it is able to cut away.
as has been pointed out, trapped residual material past a certain level of hardness will affect bare steel and most certainly a great majority of blade surface finishes.
it maybe a pain, but it's good practice to rinse and blow out whatever grains of grime that might be residing inside a sheath before resheathing after use.
kydex is a great material which can safely secure a blade from external damage,
and a correctly designed sheathing system does help to lower the instances of accidental blade tip sheath punctures thereby avoiding any woes or cause for grievous personal injury.
i can live without a leather sheath, but it would be unthinkable to do away with kydex or any equivalent synthetic materials on the account of any possible cosmetic after effects.
when anything is secured via friction, it's bound to wear down the softer surfaces which come into positive contact.
bare steel would hardly be marred immediately by materials by which it is able to cut away.
as has been pointed out, trapped residual material past a certain level of hardness will affect bare steel and most certainly a great majority of blade surface finishes.
it maybe a pain, but it's good practice to rinse and blow out whatever grains of grime that might be residing inside a sheath before resheathing after use.
kydex is a great material which can safely secure a blade from external damage,
and a correctly designed sheathing system does help to lower the instances of accidental blade tip sheath punctures thereby avoiding any woes or cause for grievous personal injury.
i can live without a leather sheath, but it would be unthinkable to do away with kydex or any equivalent synthetic materials on the account of any possible cosmetic after effects.