First (and last) pancake

Macan · Jul 5, 2015

I had to try to make pancake just to see how it goes, and thats a lot of work-stitching. I could make it more simple by not stitching around the slots but I think that with stitch it is better-more beautiful. I dont have a free hand groover so it was difficult to stitch around the folder. Please hit with criticism

I think that those horisontal sheats I posted here before, are much more easier to make and more practical

harronek · Jul 5, 2015

I think it looks very good :thumbup:

You do do bring up a good point though about other types of folder sheaths being easier and more efficient .
I only make folder sheaths and although I've been tempted to try making a pancake style sheath I have hesitated for those reasons you mentioned .
I just feel that a pancake style sheath is overkill when it comes to housing a small folder . They definitely have a place for fixed blade and pistol holsters where size and weight have to be taken into account .
Dave ( Horsewright ) makes some of the best pancake sheaths I've seen , but again they are for fixed blades , as the old saying goes " Horses for courses " .
I personally like a horizontal folder sheath for work , but vertical is my favourite for around home and after hours .
I wonder if there is a way to make a minimalist folder pancake sheath which is really downsized to better fit a folder ?
What knife is the sheath for - how big is it ?
After all of what I've just said though , I do like it

Ken

Brumby53 · Jul 6, 2015

Hi Macan,
I have only made a couple of pancake sheaths so have no real expertise in them .... looking at yours I can't help but wonder if you over-complicated it by closely shaping the leather to follow the contours (Horizontal & Vertical) of the knife ... there a shapes and curves happening everywhere.

wolf-man-12 · Jul 6, 2015

I like both Sheaths about the same as they both say use me and show me off while I tote your Knife around.!**
What more could you ask for.?

Horsewright · Jul 6, 2015

Macan that sheath looks great. You did a very nice job on it. Also good to see ya back hadn't seen you around in some time. I use to do that stiching around the slots on some holsters but never have on sheaths. It does look cool but doesn't really do anything. Reason I never did it on sheaths was I never knew exactly where the slots were gonna be and sometimes there simply wasn't room. I think for a folder a vertical pancake sheath is the way to go, seems to carry the best and take up less room. Just like Brumby illustrated. I make these for folks and also its the same as my Leatherman sheaths. You just change the interior stich line for whats going inside. Same pattern for a Case trapper to a Leatherman Surge just change the stitchline.

Thanks Ken. I once had a horsetrainer ask me to make a pancake sheath, crossdraw, 45 degree carry, for his I phone in an Otterbox. As part of his business he spent alot of time on his phone and often he was horseback while doing so. He had a couple of my knives in pancake sheaths and really liked them. He wanted one exactly the same only for his phone. Thought it would carry well and he'd be able to access his phone easily while riding. Well it simply wouldn't work. I dinked around with the pattern most of the day and the best I could come up with was massive. Just way too bulky. I called him up and told him it was too huge and he swung by saw the patterns and agreed. We just didn't proceed, wasn't gonna work. I was making vertical phone cases at the time and he ended up going with one of those.

Pancakes aren't for everyone, I don't have one. I don't find them particularly comfortable. But those that like them REALLY, REALLY like them. I'd guesstimate I make probably 400-500 of them a year.

harronek · Jul 6, 2015

Horsewright said:
Pancakes aren't for everyone, I don't have one. I don't find them particularly comfortable. But those that like them REALLY, REALLY like them. I'd guesstimate I make probably 400-500 of them a year.

Dave , I'm interested that you mention this .

I've never worn one , so can't comment from first hand knowledge , but from pictures I've seen , the way that many pancake sheaths sit against the body and also distort the belt when angled slots are used to produce a cant effect , they don't look that comfortable or efficient to my eye .
What is the origin of the Pancake style of sheath - holster ?
How old is it , and what application was it originally designed for ?
What percentage of cross draw as opposed to right hand pancake sheaths do you think you make ?
I'm tempted to make one just to see for myself

Ken

vilePossum · Jul 7, 2015

well macan, i really like the sheath as well, so no worries. a free hand groover (one of those where you can switch around) is on my wishlist as well.
i tried the pancake design for a pen and flashlight assembly, and generally speaking most vertical sheaths prove to be a problem for me to carry... how to put this mildly... in addition to a belly i am also well... a bit fat above the hips... but not where my pants and the belt ride. so anything i wear on the belt has to be almost flush with it's top as not to stab me or be uncomfortable... (i am trying to reduce those areas, but still)... so so far pocket carry, horizontal or on a belt loop/dangler style are the only comfortable ways for me to carry stuff in a sheath.

Horsewright · Jul 7, 2015

I've posted this pic before. This was Christmas orders last year when the sheaths were getting finished off and getting ready to ship. The knives were already done for each of these sheaths. This is a pretty typical batch. I count 47 sheaths of various types. Of those 23 are pancakes. Of those only 2 are (both on the right side of the pic, darker, one has a knife in it the other doesn't) what I call a Vertical Pancake or strongside carry. The rest are crossdraw. I would say those ratios are pretty typical for me.

I have several wholesale customers. They seem to gravitate towards the pancake sheath. One in particular orders about 98 percent pancakes. He owns a gunstore and carrys knives from 12 different custom knife makers. His store is in the mecca area of custom knives so I'm happy that mine sell well there cause his customers have plenty of others to choose from. He reported to me a while back that his customers tell him that it takes about 2-3 months for the pancake to break in, then they love it. Another wholesale customer is a ranch in WY. This is not a dude ranch but a place where advanced horsefolks go to learn more from acknowledged masters. Cattlework, colt starting, horsemaship the whole deal. They want a variety of my sheaths but lean heavily towards the horizontals not the pancakes. Another, proably the greatest vaquero type horseman alive at the time, and a friend travelled the country putting on clinics. He ordered 100 percent pancakes. He would sell the knives at his clinic, through his website and at shows that he attended.

I think the attraction of the pancake is how close it rides to the body. It spreads the weight out over a larger area (particularly important with a pistol), making it comfortable to carry that weight. I don't know the history but maybe Eaglestroked will chime in. I believe he said in the holster thread that he knew the guy that had invented the pancake hoslter. I made holsters of this type years before I made any sheaths. About 18-20 years ago I was competing in a ranch roping. One of other contestants had a pancake..ish more of a dinner plate sheath attached to the belt of her chinks. That got the wheels turning for me. Refine, refine, refine take away whats not needed, make it better. From the saddle for the saddle. Here we are now.

Macan · Jul 7, 2015

Thank you guys. I was last month often in other town by buisiness, and that pancake and one case for external hard disc took a lot of my time because I have made them for a first time and still didnt finished that case.This sheat is for a friend who wants to buy folder same as my, which I posted here earlier

Dave its nice to hear that you can sell so much sheats, and that picture is great to see(fellow knifemakers in my country just dont beleive that you can make 50 knives a week. That catch with just moving a little stitch fpr accomodating different knives is great. I think that its just little bigger bump ander sheat when its not wet formed
Brunby53 I wil try to use that type of sheat alolg with a stitch catch Thanks again