How do you prevent a fixed blade from bouncing around in its sheath?

T

Thirteenth Star

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Apr 1, 2004
Messages
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I just unboxed my first BK7, and although I like the knife, I'm not crazy about its Chinese made sheath. In particular, I do not like how the blade can move laterally when it's in the sheath. Is there a recommended material such as cotton I should pack in the sheath to prevent unintentional blade movement?
 
Thirteenth Star said:
I just unboxed my first BK7, and although I like the knife, I'm not crazy about its Chinese made sheath. In particular, I do not like how the blade can move laterally when it's in the sheath. Is there a recommended material such as cotton I should pack in the sheath to prevent unintentional blade movement?
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Alot of guys are going to suggest you get a custom sheath made for it.
 
If its the sheath I'm thinking of you can remove the insert and heat it up with a hair drier or heat gun and press it to the blade to get the retention you like.
 
Thirteenth Star said:
I just unboxed my first BK7, and although I like the knife, I'm not crazy about its Chinese made sheath. In particular, I do not like how the blade can move laterally when it's in the sheath. Is there a recommended material such as cotton I should pack in the sheath to prevent unintentional blade movement?
Click to expand...

Get a custom kydex sheath made, that's the only way I know of to fix it.
 
I've gotta agree with the better sheath idea.
However, my BK-16 rattle around a bit in the plastic liner inside the stock sheath. I read about adhering some paracord on the edge side.

I superglued a piece of 550 to the inside of the liner, and trimmed to length. Rattle is gone! If you don't have time or money for a custom sheath, it's a good interim step.
 
The crk green beret sheaths have like a foam insert down at the bottom of the kydex with an opening for the point. Imagine with some careful fitting it wouldnt be too hard to duplicate. Shouldnt require any gluing/permanent modification either.
 
I was just thinking -- the bow quiver for my broadhead arrows uses a foam insert to keep the broadheads in place, so why not just cut up some foam and work it down towards the bottom of the sheath? I'm going to give it a try...
 
Success...at least for now!

I stuffed a piece of foam approximately the same width and thickness of the sheath, and approximately 3.5" long, into the sheath as far as I could with a long blunt piece of plastic. The blade rattle is gone.

I don't know how long this solution will last, but thus far it works and no minced pieces of foam have fallen out of the sheath just yet. When I unstrap the knife's handle from the sheath, the blade pops out somewhat as it's pushed out by the foam, but it's not pushed out by an unbearable amount and this will perhaps change with time.

Altogether, this modification was a success in my opinion, though I'm still annoyed with Ka-Bar for not having devised and implemented a solution to the blade rattle issue so I would not have to do so.
 
You can glue a piece of paracord down the edge side as well.

And at least you got a sheath. There are many producers out there that give you a sheath that will either fall apart, or else is made out of cardboard. Consider that you got a functional sheath at the price you paid. Yeah, it's not the best sheath out there. But find me a consistently better sheath from a production company that's making comparable blades at comparable prices. Sure, ESEE comes with kydex. But a custom kydex (which will be better than the stock ESEE) sheath and custom micarta scales for a Becker will still leave the Becker cheaper than the ESEE.
 
When I purchased a Ka-Bar USMC ten years ago, it came with a simple kydex sheath. Although simple, it's a good fit for the knife because, at least to an extent, it's warped just enough so it grips the blade snuggly enough to secure it, but not so much that it's difficult to remove. I just don't understand why something similar wasn't done for the BK7 so it doesn't rattle around. Its sheath is actually better than the average sheath fundamentally IMO for the pricepoint, so I can't understand why they just didn't make a small adjustment to its design to make it MUCH better.

BTW, do the newest kydex Ka-Bar USMC sheaths still have a slight warp?
 
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