Folder Belt Sleeve

harronek

harronek

Joined
Nov 29, 2013
Messages
2,493
I made this Belt Sleeve up quickly the other day , because I don't like clipping a knife in my pocket .
I just needed a quick fix , and thought I'd try out the idea using it at work .
This thing is just a Sleeve there is no inside to it and the back of the knife just sits against your belt , the retention is actually really good maybe bordering on to good .
It has worked so well I think I will take this idea further and spend some more time and effort on the next one .

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Ken
 
Innovative, always thinking outside the pocket ;)

I imagine it is held pretty firm with the clip having to pass over the leather, strong retention.

Cleanly done sir and even a photo of it on your belt ! Not an easy task either!
G2
 
Gary W. Graley said:
always thinking outside the pocket ;)


G2
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That's good :)

You should use that in your advertising , for your sheaths .

Its a bit hard to describe but the curve and tension of your belt adds to the retention of the knife , so it's not just the clip holding it in place .
I made this one to go over my front left pocket in a kind of cross draw because the right hand side of my work belt is for my Leatherman .
I think I will make a few more when I get my new Spyderco for both left and right to see what I prefer .
I purposely made the hole for the clip on this one round instead of a slot to make sure that a big hole will work , I want a " round hole " in the Sleeve to match the famous Spyderco hole on the knife .

Ken
 
Very cool Ken. I'm guessing you are really liking that roughout these days. I see you using a lot of that. Innovative thinking on this project. Years ago (30ish odd years) I made a couple of pistol slides the same way where the belt was basically the back of the holster.
 
Nice and simple design. Question: how do you keep it from just sliding along your belt when you put the knife in and out?
 
Horsewright said:
Very cool Ken. I'm guessing you are really liking that roughout these days. I see you using a lot of that. Innovative thinking on this project. Years ago (30ish odd years) I made a couple of pistol slides the same way where the belt was basically the back of the holster.
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Thanks Dave .
I'm intrigued to hear about these Pistol slides you made ( pistol slides is a term I've never heard before , is that what this sheath I've made is ? I just called it a sleeve because I didn't know how else to describe it ) , you wouldn't have any pictures or an old one sitting in a drawer out in the shed that you could show me ?

Rough out is cool stuff , and yes lately I've been turned to the Rough side :)
I've been enjoying simplifying my leatherwork and trying to take it back to the most basic elements , Rough out really fits well with that whole idea .
There are a couple of little features I will change on the next one of these , and it will be more refined , but I'm very happy with how this has worked considering it took me minutes to design and make , not hours like is normal for me .


Ken
 
Blue Sky said:
Nice and simple design. Question: how do you keep it from just sliding along your belt when you put the knife in and out?
Click to expand...


That's a good question and one I haven't really contemplated .

I can extract the knife one handed without the sleeve moving along the belt , even if that was a problem , just like other horizontal sheaths I've worn and made positioning it up against a belt loop would eliminate the problem .
It doesn't move any more than any other sheath does , the tension of your belt holding the back side of the leather against your pants seems to hold it well , maybe using Rough out leather has helped and that gives it extra traction against the denim .
When the knife is inside the sheath it tightens the whole thing up and it doesn't move easily .
When the knife is out of the sleeve then it obviously loosens it up and it can be moved backwards and forwards , because it is now a loose fit .
I hope that makes sense :)


Ken
 
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This is not the simpler one I was talking of but I don't have any pics of that. So imagine just cutting along the upper horizontal line of stitching at the trigger guard and cutting the holster till you intersected with the other upper horizontal line of stitching. Thats what it would look like. No back just that front piece. No stitching or tooling just a rectangular piece of leather with two slots cut in it. Crude but crazy effective and worked on just about any gun. This one pictured I made for my brother and his CZ85. It does have a back which is why the stitching of course and the retention strap. The more holsters I make the more I'm getting over that retention strap. Its there mostly for why?
 
Outstanding work Ken! I have two large folders that I dont carry for the same reasons as you. I really need to take the time to do something like this. I love minimalist work, the fancy stuff is cool, but this stuff is what catches my eye.
 
Thanks to all who have commented favourably about this .
Its interesting to see over time the path that I've headed down in regards to what interests me in the world of leather .
I have become more and more inclined towards simple practicality , and making things that work in the real day to day world , and to use a local saying here " Earn their Tucker " .
I still enjoy making sheaths that have burnished edges and beautifully straight stitching , but how it carries , lasts and performs is currently higher on my " Want " list and cosmetics have become less important .
Gary Graley earlier in this thread wrote " Always thinking outside the pocket " and to me that is the highest compliment I think I ever recieved here , that sums up my enthusiasm for sheath making .
I think I'm in a wonderful position by being an amateur and not a pro , its pure luck and not good management , but I'm free to do what ever I want without customer demands or expectations .
Thinking up new designs or different ways of doing existing ideas is what puts a smile on my face :)


Ken
 
Ken thanks for the idea, I had to try that,and also tried some new dye which is now more even than dye I used before.
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That looks great Macan!! Real cool with that colored knife in there.
 
Excellent :thumbup:

How are you finding the retention of the knife ?
My one is still working perfectly and is still as tight as it was when new .
I have developed a technique of removing the knife that involves pushing on the exposed end of the knife ( not the pivot end ) and that starts it on its way out of the sheath , then the pivot end is grasped and the knife is removed . It sounds more complicated than it really is , but it makes it easier to remove the knife and to overcome the clips grasp and to get the bend of the clip started over the leather .
This type of Sleeve - Slide is extremely efficient and simple .

Ken
 
Thank you guys. The retention on my sheat is too good I have to loosen that little somehow.Again this sheat is great idea, simple and functional
 
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