For those of you who actually EDC a HideAway Knife, how do you carry it? The options that they suggest on their website are not practical for me since I wear a suit most days and won't wear it on my belt (really not discreet enough). I've tried mounting it inside my suit jacket using the "Bro-Clip" so it hangs down like the Boker Bud Nealy Specialist. However, those damn clips can put holes in your suit and rip the fabric.
I love the knife and would EDC it if I could carry it discreetly and without ruining my clothes. How do you folks carry it? Please help, throw some suggestions at me. Thanks.
Easier than you'd imagine!
I just went through this thought process last month while planning for an overseas trip to a country where;
A) EDC knives were not permitted, (i.e. allowed by law.) :grumpy:
B) I needed to wear a suit, but wearing a suit didn't lend itself to concealment.
The criteria for my sheath were that
A) the knife didn't pattern the clothing so no visible knife shapes
B) the knife could still be deployed and re-sheathed easily and quickly, i.e. it remained vertical and not dragging at my clothes.
C) comfortable enough so that I wasn't constantly aware of the knife
D) Left handed use (I'm a lefty.)
E) It didn't have to be pretty. It just had to work...
For this trip I chose to carry a larger bladed axis-lock folder. (Your HideAway Knife would be a much easier to conceal and carry knife.) I chose to carry it in my left front pants pocket, which made it a challenge not to drag down my pants or fall to the bottom of the pocket. My original thoughts had been for smaller dress knives while wearing a suit but this sheath worked so well that I can continue to use larger ones with dress clothing.
I made a couple of these because I wasn't sure which knife I was going to take with me. I started with a piece of 5-6 oz. veg tanned leather and cut it to the shape of the pocket, about 1/2" smaller, from the bottom to just below where the slash cut opening begins, planning to use the rough side out towards the cloth/hair side in towards the knife. (The knife goes behind the stiffer leather, closer to my leg.) I skived the front edges to they wouldn't show against the cloth and stitched a piece of split thick suede to the back side, following the general contours of the knives I planned to carry when wearing dress pants; Benchmade 710, Spyderco Military, a thin Al Mar or a very thin Moki. Then I dampened the veg tanned leather and molded it around my thigh, being sure that the edges were given some extra inward molding so they wouldn't press against the front of the pants when my leg pressed against the sheath from behind and show the shape of the sheath against the cloth.
I decided upon using suede and rough-out leather so that there would be plenty of friction against the cloth to keep it in place when I withdraw the knife. Only the friction of the leather against the pocket material holds it in place, yet it never moved at all when I withdrew the knife to use it for chores. Using veg tanned leather allowed me to make it conform to the shape of my leg while in the pocket, keeping the edges from pressing outwards against the cloth. The 5-6oz leather is just stiff enough to keep the knife from imprinting on the pants material but not so stiff as to be noticeable in the pocket, and the inner suede strong enough to keep the knife from moving around but still soft enough to allow easy withdrawal and re-entry. The knife stays upright in the pocket at a slight angle, just as if it were clipped to the pocket's edge, doesn't show from the front or the top, and it easy to deploy. the large size of this sheath evenly distributes the weight of the knife over the entire area of the front of the pants so there is no 'dragging' or 'drooping' of the cloth showing the outline of the knife. For a fixed blade knife I'd add a spline to keep the blade from cutting the sheath. :thumbup: As for size of the fixed blade, you are only limited by the depth of your pocket to the slash opening (provided you don't want any of the sheath to be visible.)
I think accurate cutting of the heavier leather is important when making this design so that it fills the pocket without stretching it. The exact size of the inner suede pouch isn't as critical so long as it covers 3/4 of the knife leaving the end free to be grabbed by the fingers for withdrawal. (The front, stiff leather covers all of the knife.) I find that one of my sheaths will accommodate several different size and shape folders, yet still perform as required. This design isn't as fast as a pocket clip, but it met all my criteria and will be something I'll continue to use when wearing dress clothes.
Stitchawl
