Jump Sheath as a term in the Kydex sheath industry has probably been coined by the Edge-Works team. It is a descriptive term used in the marketing some of our sheaths but is by no means BS. Jump sheath means exactly what it implies: a sheath designed for those who would jump while wearing a fixed blade knife. With regard to Jump Qualified or Jump Certified gear, in particular knife sheaths, it would depend on who you are talking to as to what is required or if it even applies. Some Military units have requirements for this others do not. For many this type gear is left to the discretion of their Jump Masters. US military differs from foreign militaries and so on. Of the sheaths that we make and label Jump we have include features that meet or exceed any requirement or standard that has been presented to us as necessary for an individual to use in his particular job. There is however, no all-controlling agency that I know of rubberstamping sheaths as pass or fail.
We first arrived at the term Jump Sheath during the development of the All-way Sheath.
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http://209.132.70.61/sheaths.htm )
In this development process we conducted extensive research as to what features would best meet the needs of todays Military personnel in the way of a knife sheath. In particular the needs of Victor unit Marines to include those in Force Reconnaissance and other specialized missions. At the time, as now, we had uncommon insight as to what was desired by the individuals of those units and the type of missions they train for and are likely to be involved with. This insight was acquired in several ways. First Nearly all of the Edge-Works full time staff are prior service Marines. As well, nearly all of our part time staff are active duty Marines (several of which are currently attached to 2nd Force Recon at Camp LeJeune). Added to this is a core of individuals who we call sponsored evaluators. Sponsored evaluators receive from Edge-Works prototypes and production products. They use them, abuse them, and return them with comments as to what works what doesnt and what is needed. All our sponsored evaluators either have served or are currently involved in occupations that give their opinions above average credibility. The combination of all this qualified input is functioning gear that is lacking only in BS.
Types of activities that we consider to fall under the term Jumping are Repelling, Fast roping, Helo casting, Static line jumping, and all the various free fall jumping scenarios. Any of the above activities involve the potential of a violent impact with the ground, water, or your buddy. Free Fall jumping (particularly HALO & HAHO) involves the highest altitudes, fastest speeds, and the heaviest loads as far as gear to the jumper of any of the jumping activities. It was our premises that a sheath that had the desired features to address the needs of the Free Fall jumpers could be readily adapted to the needs of the others.
Common dangers to Jumping with a fixed blade knife are, number one; the blade coming through the sheath and impaling the one wearing it. I have personally seen this happen while fast roping and in our research heard of many other instances. Second; is the likely hood of the knife coming out of the sheath because of an inadequate retention method or the inadvertent undoing of the retention strap. In either instance a loose knife while in rapid motion is potentially dangerous.
To address those problems we designed a sheath that was hard shelled (Kydex) that was far less likely to soften and bend and better capable of preventing the blade from pushing through. Next we included features to allow the sheath to be attached to the thigh and not just the belt. A sheath that is attached just on the belt in a fall can be flipped point up increasing the likelihood of self-impaling. Last, we made the retention redundant reducing the possibility that the knife will come free unexpectedly. The above features do not just make sense but are things that we were hearing over and over from jumpers and individuals calling them selves Jump Masters while doing our R&D for the All-Way and are things we continue to hear today as must have features. Hard shell, thigh mount and two points of retention.
Companies who are marketing their knives with Jump Sheaths or sheaths that are adaptable via attachments to become Jump Sheaths and they include all the features listed above are in no way over hyping their product or as some have suggested pushing BS. Those pushing sheaths as Jump and they do not have the above features
is a different story.
